Visiting the Cliffs of Moher? Buy your tickets online

The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has recently launched an on line booking system at www.cliffsofmoher.ie. From any page on the website you can click through to book tickets to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience and save 17%. It's easy to book tickets. Simply select the number of tickets required, proceed with credit card details and print out your booking sheet. Bookings are valid for one year after purchase and are not date specific. A standard adult ticket costs €6.95 and a family ticket (2 adults and up to 4 children) is €18.20. This includes access to all public facilities, car parking for one vehicle and entry to the award winning Atlantic Edge Exhibition. Why not take the tour of the Cliffs and watch a video online, or sign up for the biannual newsletter to keep up to date on exciting news from the Cliffs. Cliffs of Moher voted Best Irish Visitor Attraction in first ever Irish Consumer Travel Awards. More info...

Children’s Book Festival 2009 launched

Councillor John Crowe officially launched Children’s Book Festival in Seán Lemass Public Library, Shannon, on Oct 3rd. Hundreds of young visitors along with their parents enjoyed non-stop entertainment provided by James Sexton Event Management in a four hour extravaganza of fun, including disco dancing, juggling and magic while sampling some delightful treats from a chocolate fountain. The hero of the day was Famous Seamus, who unicycled and juggled with hurleys and knives, all at the same time, to prove that men really can, multi-task. Saturday’s celebrations kicked off a full month of children’s activities in Clare’s fifteen library branches. Visit your local library or the library website for details of upcoming events in your area.

Free lecture series on the life and times of Brian Boru

The first of an ongoing series of lectures on the life and times of King Brian Boru was held on Thursday 1st October in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This series is being held as part of the backdrop to the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf in 2014, in the hope of developing a large-scale celebration and tourist attraction in the Mid-West region that year. The topic under discussion at the lecture was the nature of Munster – apart from being a world-famous rugby team, it is also, of course, one of the ancient Irish provinces or cóiceda – the Irish word having the literal meaning of ‘Fifth’. Since there are only four provinces in Ireland, this name has caused much historical pondering as to where the “lost” province may have been. According to Dr Catherine Swift of Mary Immaculate College one of the oldest suggestions, found in the 12th C Lebor Gábala Érenn (Book of Invasions of Ireland) was that Munster in fact was originally divided into two provinces, east and west, along a line from Cork to Limerick. A second idea, postdating the rise of Clare power under King Brian, was that in ancient times, Munster was originally divided along north-south lines, paralleling the later kingdoms of Thomond and Desmond. (A third notion, dreamt up by people from the area of Mullingar, was that there was a lost province surrounding the Hill of Uisnech in the centre of Ireland and a fourth, promoted by the great Irish historian and patriot, Eoin MacNeill, was that there was a separate province surrounding the hill of Tara). The relevance of this to the story of Brian Boru is the fact that the first step on his family’s rise to national prominence was their takeover of the kingship of Munster in the mid tenth century. The political implications of that takeover are obviously related to the size of that kingdom and the resources it enjoyed. The next lecture, on the 8th October, is on the history of the royal centre of Cashel and its role in early Irish history. Each province had its own royal centre in Celtic Ireland – the others are Rathcroghan outside Tulsk in Connacht, Emain Macha or Navan Fort outside Armagh in Ulster and Dún Áilinne outside Kildare in Leinster. Cashel, however, has many unique characteristics in comparison to the others and the point of the lecture is to examine its distinctive character and make suggestions as to the importance of the Rock and its surrounding population in the early history of Munster. This topic feeds into the same issue as the first lecture – namely what was the nature of the political authority enjoyed by early kings of Munster? And how did Brian Boru benefit from his takeover of that power? The lectures are given by Dr Catherine Swift of Mary Immaculate College and are held at 7pm and are open to all. Refreshments will also be provided and there is time for discussion and debate after each lecture.

The Kitchen Session with Frank Custy from Toonagh Hall

This video is just a flavour of a two hour radio programme broadcast from Toonagh Hall on 18th January 2009. Hear the full podcast at http://ragandbone.ie/2009/01/224/. The Kitchen Sessions is a unique series of radio programmes broadcast live from homes in County Clare, Ireland as well as from the homes of Clare people abroad! Listen each Sunday evening at 5pm on Clare FM (http://www.clarefm.ie), check out the repeat on Wednesday at 7pm, or get the podcast. The Kitchen Sessions is a Rag and Bone Production for Clare FM, supported by the BCI Sound & Vision Scheme and the Arts Offfice of Clare County Council. More Kitchen Sessions...

Crime Thriller Awards 2009

The Crime Writers’ Association has joined with Specsavers to present the 2009 Specsavers Crime Thriller Daggers on October 21st. The CWA Dagger Awards are the longest established literary awards in the UK and are internationally recognized as a mark of excellence and achievement in the field of crime and thriller writing. The literary awards to be presented are the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for a new author of note and the Hall of Fame Dagger, which honours the achievements of the genre’s greatest exponents, past and present. A brand new award is being introduced this year – the ITV 3 Bestseller Dagger – which will be voted for by ITV 3 viewers.

On the shortlist for the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel are:
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
In the Dark by Mark Billingham
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block
A Whispered Name by William Brodrick
The Coroner by MR Hall
Dark Times In The City by Gene Kerrigan

On the shortlist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller are
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
The Last Child by John Hart
Calumet City by Charlie Newton
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
The Interrogator by Andrew Williams

On the shortlist for the ITV3 Bestseller Dagger are
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
Until it’s Over by Nicci French
Silks by Dick and Felix Francis
Tea-time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander Mccall Smith
The Business by Martina Cole

Dick Francis, Alexander McCall Smith, Nicci French, Harlan Coben and Martina Cole are all in the running for the new ITV3 Bestseller Dagger. The awards ceremony on October 21st will be televised as the culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming. Other awards to be presented on the night include the Film Dagger, the TV Dagger, the International TV Dagger and the Best Actor and Actress Daggers.

Celine Kiernan Wins The Reading Association Of Ireland Award 2009

The Poison Throne, the first book in the internationally-acclaimed Moorehawke Trilogy by Irish author Celine Kiernan, published by The O'Brien Press, was announced as this year's winner of the prestigious Reading Association of Ireland Award 2009, at the 33rd annual Reading Association of Ireland Conference, held in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra on Thursday, 24th September, 2009. Established in 1984, the Reading Association of Ireland Children's Book Award has been awarded every second year to the authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and adolescents published in Ireland

Clare County Library celebrates Roald Dahl Day

Back row, left to right - Eldalie Mooney (Tuamgraney), Hazel Sturton (Tuamgraney), Turlough O' Cinneide (Scariff), Anne Marie Flanagan (Ennis), Sean O' Rourke (Mountshannon). Front row, l to r - Rhian Quigley (Newport), Shane Walsh (Ogonelloe), Andrew Cahir Whelan (Ennis). Missing from the picture Liam O Sullivan (Lisdoonvarna) and Rowan Powell (Miltown Malbay).

On Friday 25th September the winners of the Design a Chocolate Bar competition were announced in Scariff Public Library while customers enjoyed a chocolate tasting thanks to Wilde Irish Chocolate. The competition, run by Clare County Library with generous prizes provided by Wilde Irish Chocloate, Tuamgraney, was held to celebrate Roald Dahl Day 2009 on September 13th. Children aged 13 and under were asked to imagine designing a new chocolate bar for Willy Wonka. In excess of 600 entries were received from children all over the county. Patricia Farrell of Wilde Irish Chocolates presented the prizes. The winners were:
1st: Sean O' Rourke, Mountshannon 'Celtic Credit Crunch Bar' - Prize:€100 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate and limited edition Celtic Credit Crunch Bar produced by Wilde Irish Chocolate.
2nd: Liam O' Sullivan, Lisdoonvarna 'Wildely Wicked' – Prize: €50 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate
3rd: Rhian Quigley, Newport 'Runaway Rasins' – Prize: €25 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate
Consolation Prizes were presented for:
Wackiest Bar - Rowan Powell, Miltown Malbay 'Willy Wonka's Seaweed Surprise'.
Most Thoughful Bar - Turlough O' Cinneide, Scariff 'Our Family Bar'.
Best Artwork - Hazel Sturton and Eldalie Mooney Tuamgraney 'What Kids Want (WKW)'.
Cutest Bar - Andrew Cahir Whelan, Ennis 'Ba-ba Bar'.
Funniest Bar - Anne Marie Flanagan, Ennis 'Giggle Goo'.
Most Do-able at Home Bar - Shane Walsh, Ogonelloe 'Wonky Bar'.

The Irish Wildlife Trust (Clare Branch) is holding talks and a guided walk to look at erosion of sand dune systems at Fanore on Saturday 10th October, meeting at Fanore National School at 11am. There will be speakers from the IWT, Clare Coounty Council, National Parks & Wildlife Service, Birdwatch Ireland, a botanist and geologist. After a break for lunch, there will be a guided walk looking at the Fanore sand dunes at 2pm. This event is free. For further details contact Jim Martin 087 9319459 or see www.iwt.ie and its Facebook page.

Overlander in Doolin

Australian travel writer Overlander meets Tom Frawley in Lahinch, and interviews banjo player Kevin Griffin about why Doolin has become the traditional music capital of Ireland...

Autonomous Librarians Liberation Front - by Buzzbee