Tulla Céilí Band stamp of approval

One of Clare’s most cherished traditional groups has been honored by An Post by being included in a new series of stamps celebrating Irish traditional music. The Tulla Céilí Band are featured in a set of four stamps which also depict Planxty, The Bothy Band and De Dannan, with whom of course Clare's Maura O'Connell sang so memorably. "The series of four stamps celebrates the phenomenon and the legacy of Irish traditional music. The bands are captured at the height of the trad boom during the purple patch of the seventies. Each of the stamps is painted by Irish artist Finbarr O’Connor, with typography by Steve Simpson." Click for more...

Birds of Ireland: Facts, Folklore and History by Glynn Anderson

“Hearing the hoot of an owl is associated with bad luck. However, if you hear an owl, all is not lost: you must immediately take off your clothes, turn them inside out and put them back on. Luckily, most owls appear at night...” This is just one of the many informative and entertaining facts contained within this attractive book on Irish birds. The book starts with an overview of the history and folklore of Irish birds. In Irish mythology, birds were sometimes seen as omens, and there were countless beliefs, proverbs and curses associated with them. The book tells us that birds inspired poets such as Hopkins, Yeats and Heaney and influenced place names in Ireland like the Curlew Mountain in Roscommon and Hawk’s Nest, County Antrim. Physical descriptions and facts and figures on each species of birds found in Ireland is given together with the associated beliefs and traditions, proverbs and similes, curses and poetry, weather lore and culinary traditions. So if you are trying to ensure your husband’s fidelity, sew a swan’s feather into his pillow; if you need a cure for baldness, burn a raven and boil its ashes with mutton fat which then should be rubbed into the head; if you have jaundice, fix your gaze on a Yellowhammer - the bird will die but you will be ok. These and other useful snippets of information are contained in this book that can be dipped into again and again to provide entertainment for anyone with even a passing interest in Irish birds or Irish folklore. Birds of Ireland: Facts, Folklore and History is published by The Collins Press (2008).

Creature of the Night – new book by Kate Thompson

When Bobby's mother moves the family from Dublin to a rented house in the country, she hopes they will escape the moneylenders who make her life hell and that a fresh start in the country will steer Bobby away from the undesirable habits and people he is involved with in the city. But Bobby yearns for city life and getting back to what he does best: stealing from the crowded shopping streets and racing stolen cars at night. Parallel stories running simultaneously in Thompson’s books are a regular feature of her writing, and here again the personal journey of Bobby is paralleled by the story of a previous tenant who once lived in their newly rented house and who mysteriously disappeared. The longer Bobby spends in the old cottage, the more convinced he becomes that something very strange is going on there. Was there really a murder? And if so, was it the one he has been told about? Thompson’s characters are, as always, well rounded and truly authentic. Combined with an excellent story line with a touch of fantasy, this book is an excellent read for older children and young teens. Kate Thompson was a founder member of the North Clare Writers Workshop and has many stories and poems featured on the library website. Creature of the Night is published by The Bodley Head (2008).

Be a judge for the Costa Book Awards

Do you love books? Have a passion for reading? And like to express your opinions on both? Then the Costa Book Awards want to hear from you! For the first time, Costa is offering one avid reader a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the final judging panel of this year's Costa Book Awards and have a say in which book is named Costa Book of the Year 2008. To enter write a 300 word piece telling what you believe to be the perfect book to read with a cup of coffee and why. Then in less than 500 words write about your relationship with books and reading and why you think you should join the final judging panel. Closing date for submissions is 31st October 2008. A shortlist of 12 entrants will be chosen and asked to come to London on Tuesday 25th November for a book review debate on 'Day' by A.L. Kennedy. The Costa Book Awards team and author Joanna Trollope will oversee the debate, as a result of which one winner will be selected. Standard-class travel expenses for the 12 shortlisted entrants will be reimbursed by the Costa Book Awards. If you win, you will be required to read all five Costa Award-winning books. You'll then attend and participate in the final judging meeting to select the overall 2008 Costa Book of the Year. You'll also attend the Costa Book of the Year awards gala dinner and ceremony with a guest on the evening of Tuesday 27th January 2009. You and your guest will stay overnight in a central London hotel following the awards dinner and ceremony. And to top it all off, your winning book review will be published on the Costa Book Awards website. See www.costabookawards.com for further details. Good luck!

Team Player for Team Read

Clare Inter County hurler Tony Griffin met with young library members from all over Clare on Friday evening the 3rd of October at Clare County Council Headquarters, New Road, Ennis. Hundreds of children were present with their families to receive certificates of merit and spot prizes as a reward for taking part in the library’s annual summer reading scheme, Team Read. 2,500 books were borrowed from library branches and read during July and August by young book enthusiasts as a result of the scheme. Clare County Library would like to extend its sincere thanks to Tony Griffin, the invited guest of honour for the evening, who not only presented certificates but signed autographs and posed for photographs with the many young hurling fans who attended.

Best-selling children’s and teenage author, Karen McCombie comes to Clare.

Karen McCombie has sold over one million books in the UK alone and has been translated into 15 languages. She is the author of the Ally’s World, Stella Etc. and the Sadie Rocks series as well as a number of stand-alone novels. The Seventeen Secrets of the Karma Club, Karen’s latest novel was published in June 2008. Before becoming an author Karen worked on several teen magazines, including Just Seventeen and Sugar. Originally from Aberdeen, and now living in London, Karen kicks off her West of Ireland Children’s Book Festival Tour in Limerick libraries on Monday 13th October. On the following Tuesday she will be in Tulla, Scariff and Killaloe Libraries and Ennis and Shannon Libraries on Wednesday the 14th before touring Galway and Mayo Libraries at the end of the week. She is one of Clare County Library’s most popular authors for girls with her books always on the top ten most borrowed books list. Library staff in all branches are expecting a large turnout for the event.

Getting your Children into Books

Personalised or custom made books for children are becoming increasingly popular according to The Bookseller. With digital technology continuously improving, these books are easy to produce. Customers can now amazingly create characters with their child’s skin tone, hairstyle, eye and hair colour. Young readers are thrilled to see not just their own names in books but their faces also. HarperCollins publishers launched personalised books last year featuring their Noddy character. They plan to offer similar books based on other brands featuring pre-school TV favourites such as Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car in time for Christmas.

Sign of the Times

Delia Smith is to tackle the credit crunch with a reissue of her classic 1976 cookbook, Frugal Food. The book includes 170 dishes including oxtail hotpot, kidney-stuffed onions, braised pork with prunes, kipper quiche and herrings fried in oatmeal. The original has never been out of print, and was designed to advise those struggling with rising food prices. The title has been updated with colour photographs and a new introduction by the author. But at €25, the new edition may blow some budgets!

Super Thursday

Thursday October 2nd has been dubbed Super Thursday by those in the book trade as 800 new titles were published simultaneously in the UK in the publishing run-up to Christmas. Thursday is the traditional publishing day anyway but three times the usual number of books were published on October 2nd. Among them are a lot of heavyweight titles tipped by retailers as Christmas bestsellers – titles by celebrity chefs such as Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes, sporting stars such as Darren Clarke and Jonny Wilkinson and TV personalities such as Dawn French and Michael Parkinson. Booksellers remain optimistic despite the recession as books traditionally continue to sell well during tricky times.

Frances Browne Poetry Competition

Do you write poetry in Irish, English, or Ulster-Scots? Would you like the chance to see your work in print? Would you like to win a top cash prize? A Donegal newspaper, the Finn Valley Voice, is launching this brand-new poetry competition with a difference. For the first time ever, poets are invited to enter work in any of Ireland’s three national languages, Irish, English and Ulster-Scots, with a guaranteed top prize of €100 and trophy in each category. The competition is in memory of Frances Browne, the Blind Poetess of Stranorlar, one of the world’s most popular poets and childrens’ storytellers in Victorian times. Frances Brown is today best remembered for a unique - and at one time very popular - collection of fairytales, "Granny's Wonderful Chair". Sixty years ago, her collected volume of verse "The Star of Attesgia" and her novel "Hidden Sin" were being widely read. Frances Browne came from the Finn Valley. The Finn Valley is unique in being the only part of Ireland where the three national tongues, Irish, English and Ulster-Scots, are spoken by large sections of the population as first languages. The Finn Valley is also the only part of Ireland where the religious and demographic mix matches that of Northern Ireland, and is often cited as a role model for a pluralist Ireland… In that spirit, all are welcome to enter. Young or old, Irish or non-Irish, Irish-speaking, English-speaking or Ulster Scots-speaking – send along your entry to this groundbreaking new competition. In addition to the main prizewinners a selection of the best entries will appear in the Finn Valley Voice over the coming months.
Entry forms may be obtained by sending a stamped addressed envelope to the Arts Page, Finn Valley Voice, Ballybofey, Co Donegal. Entry forms may also be available from your local library or by downloading at www.finnvalleyvoice.com
Closing date for completed entries is Friday 17thOctober 2008