Category Archives: Clane Community Council

Clane Golf Classic – August 16th

Clane Community Council is holding its 40th Anniversary Golf Classic on Friday August 16th in Knockanally Golf Club. Sponsored by Larchfield Park Nursing Home, the money raised will support all the voluntary work that the Community Council and its various subcommittees do throughout the year.

A three person team costs just €150 and sponsorship of a hole is €75.

Please support in any way you can. Contact Des Marron, Des Drumm, Nellie Dillon-Forde, Tom Cleary or Jack Kinsella for more information.

Celebrating Community in Clane – a special day

Community was Celebrated in some style on Sunday the 23rd of June last when Clane Community Council held a special Celebration of Community in the Abbey on Main Street. Festooned with bunting and banners, and with the Tricolour proudly flying on the newly commissioned flagpole, the Abbey was alive with dignitaries, special guests, displays from local voluntary groups, entertainment and a wonderful buzz of community.

Proceedings began at 3pm with the arrival of special guests the Mayor of Kildare Cllr. Micheál Spike Nolan, the President of Muintir na Tíre Mr. John Hogan and his wife Kay, and the Lord Mayor of Clane Mr. Des Marron. All were welcomed to the village green and given a tour of the Abbey and the various community groups that had set up their wonderful displays. These included the Scouts, the Red Cross, Clane Lawn Tennis Club, Clane Project Centre, The Evergreen’s, Clane Local History Group, the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, Clane Musical Society and Clane Community Council itself with its various subcommittees including Clane Tidy Towns, Clane and Rathcoffey Community Games and Clane Friary and Abbey Cemetery committee. The local branch of Comhaltas provided wonderful entertainment as people enjoyed the banter, renewed friendships and learned something new at the various stands they visited.

Master of Ceremonies Des Drumm then invited the Chairman of the Community Council, John Kennedy, to introduce our three special guests. The Mayor of Kildare, President of Muintir na Tire and Lord Mayor of Clane all addressed the crowd, as did the Chairman, all pointing out the wonderful achievements of the Community in Clane over the last 40 years and more. That the community had converted a roofless ruin of a building into the fine Community Centre that is now the Abbey was just one example highlighting what the community in Clane has been able to achieve.

The Chairman then announced the launch of a new Community award for a person, people or organization that has made an exceptional contribution to the community of Clane. It was the chairman’s honour to reveal that this award, the Claonadh Award, was indeed to be awarded that very day and a very surprised Mr. Tony McEvoy was announced as the inaugural recipient, to rapturous and sustained applause.

The presentation of the Claonadh Award was followed by the unveiling of a new plaque on the Village Green dedicated to Celebrating Community. This was followed by a wonderful spread of food and refreshments kindly donated by restaurants and shops in the Community. Larchfield Park Nursing Home also provided generous financial sponsorship to support the entire event.

After several months of planning, and indeed over 40 years of hard work by many community groups, everyone went home with a smile on their face. A sincere thank you to all who helped organize the celebration, all who contributed to it, all who participated, and all who attended.

We can all now see what the community can accomplish when it works together for the common good – imagine what achievements we will be celebrating in the years to come.

Celebrate Community in Clane this Sunday 23rd

The Abbey on Main Street Clane is the venue for a special celebration this coming Sunday June 23rd. As part of its own 40th anniversary, the voluntary Clane Community Council is organising a celebration of all things Community. With something for all the family, everyone is invited. Come along and meet some of the characters and some of the huge range of groups that contribute so much to the community of Clane.

Some wonderful achievements by the community will be marked, and wonderful contributors in the community will be celebrated. We will also look to the future, and encourage your ideas to help our growing community thrive even more in the years to come.

Clane Community Council look forward to seeing you there!

Spring Clean 2013 – Thank You!!

Saturday April 6th was Spring Clean 2013 and it was great to see volunteers from Clane Tidy Towns, Tír na Móna and many Residents’ Associations all out on the day giving Clane and it’s environs a thorough clean-up.

A JCB and tractor and trailer were again hired this year to help out, and over the course of the day the areas tackled included:

The yard and ditches by the Health and Leisure Centre (Behan’s Yard)
The “Capdoo Business Park” site beside Lidl
The ditch on the Celbridge Road opposite Lidl
Nancy’s Lane
The ditches from Betaghstown Cross to Boherhole Cross
A corner of the green near The Orchard, Loughbollard
The Ballinagappa Road

Many Residents’ Associations also took advantage of the fine weather to tackle their estates, and several trailer loads of clippings and litter were gathered and removed.

Whilst more than two large skip-fulls of rubbish were collected in this year’s event, it was heartening to note that areas receiving deep-cleans last year did not need serious attention this year. Perhaps an increasing awareness of recycling opportunities, a growing intolerance towards pollution in our countryside and a string of successful prosecutions for illegal dumping are beginning to pay dividends. However we must continue to be vigilent. Please report any dumping to Clane Tidy Towns or the Kildare Litter Warden hotline at 1800 243 143.

A big thank-you to all who contributed to the event, and especially to Cllr Padraig McEvoy for coordinating the activities in Clane.

Sailing into 2nd Place…Together

Clane Community Council was delighted to be awarded 2nd Prize for Non-Commercial Floats in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

With a hoard of Vikings returning back to Clane for the Gathering, their longship – the M.V. Clane – boasted shields featuring many aspects of Clane Community Council: Tidy Towns, The Friary, Community Games, The Abbey, Clanewatch, Heritage, and the Liffeyside Nature Park.

Spreading the message that as a community “We’re all in the Same Boat”, the float invited everyone to “Let’s all Row Together”.

Well done to everyone in the parade for putting on such a good show, and our congratulations to the hard-working St. Patrick’s Festival Committee, and to everyone who supported them, for running such a fantastic programme of events.

Clane Tidy Towns announces Community Tree-Planting Scheme

Clane Tidy Towns is delighted to launch a community tree-planting scheme to help mark 40 Years of Community in Clane. It is hoped to plant up to 40 trees in and around the community. All residents’ associations and owners of publically accessible land are invited to apply for some of these trees. Maybe an existing tree needs to be replaced, or maybe a few new trees would sit nicely in some corner. Professionals have kindly volunteered to work with the successful applicants to help identify suitable species, sizes and quantities of trees for each site.

Please see our dedicated Communty Tree-Planting project page for all the details, and the application form.

New-look ClaneCommunity.ie Unveiled

The result of several months of behind the scenes work, the reorganised and refreshed ClaneCommunity.ie website was unveiled at this year’s AGM of Clane Community Council.

As well as sporting a new look and feel, the website now includes several features designed to make the website even more useful for the broader community.

Perhaps the most significant feature is the ability for community groups to requst their own web page. Voluntary groups that may not yet have any web presence may appreciate having a simple page on the internet that introduces themselves to the online world. All they need do is fill out the straight-forward form on the website to have their own page on ClaneCommunity.ie.

New articles for publishing on the website can now be submitted directly on the website by community groups. New events for the Community Calendar can also be directly submitted.

The website also includes new sections on Maps and Amenities in Clane. The Tidy Towns, Nature and Heritage sections have also all been expanded.

The updated website, and these new features, is one way in which Clane Community Council is marking its 40th Anniversary – celebrating 40 years of Community in Clane. We hope that this website will continue to evolve and become an important platform for the entire community in the months and years to come. If you can think of other ways in which it can be improved, please let us know.

Annual Clane Community Council AGM held

Clane Community Council held its annual AGM on January 28th.

Chairman John Kennedy addressed the audience, providing a status of all the various aspects of the council, and an update on its plans. He also sincerely thanked all the supporters of the Council, as he did all members of the Council for their hard work during 2012. The Secretary’s Report prepared by our Secretary Nick Fitzgerald was presented by our Assistant Secretary Des Drumm. It detailed the activities of the Council and its subcommittees during 2012. Treasurer Paul Carroll provided a comprehensive update on the Council’s financial position.

The reorganised and refreshed ClaneCommunity.ie website was unveiled during the night. It includes many new features and now boasts the possibility for all community groups to have their own web-page…something that all community groups are encouraged to set up via the simple group page request form on ClaneCommunity.ie.

A motion was passed, adopting the new Constitution prepared carefully over the last year.

Executive officers for 2013 were also nominated, seconded, and elected:

Chairman: John Kennedy
Vice-Chairman: John Power
Treasurer: Nick Fitzgerald
Asst. Treasurer: Anne Noonan
Secretary: Paul Carroll
Asst. Secretary: Des Drumm
PRO: Tony McEvoy
Asst. PRO: Marion Doolan

For more information on the night please see here.

This coming year, our 40th, promises to be a busy but exciting year for the Council. We look forward to celebrating ’40 years of Community in Clane’ with everybody through all our various activities in the coming weeks and months.

Notice of Clane Community Council AGM

Clane Community Council will hold its Annual General Meeting at 8pm on 28th January 2013 in the Abbey, Clane. The meeting will include a motion to adopt an updated constitution. All are very welcome. Continue reading →

Let’s put Clane on the Map.

Over the last few years volunteers on Clane Community Council and elsewhere have been adding details of Clane onto OpenStreetMap, a free map of the world on the internet that everyone can contribute to, and everyone can use.

Clane is now quite detailed on the map, and the Community Council thinks it could soon be reproduced on posters or even in booklets. Residents, visitors, tourists, schools, students, businesses and even emergency services could benefit from such a map.

Before we print it, however, we would like to give everyone – residents, local organisations, business people any other interested parties – a chance to check it both for accuracy and completeness. Perhaps a house number is wrong, or an estate spelling is incorrect, or a business or amenity is missing.

So, we would be grateful if you would take a couple of minutes to quickly check the map and see if the amenities, businesses, and residential areas that matter to you are included, and included correctly. If you notice something that could be added or improved, you are welcome to email your suggestion to ClaneCommunityCouncil@gmail.com and we will try to take your suggestion onboard.

Please note that many dozens of websites and specialist maps on the internet are based on the data in OpenStreetMap, and downloads for mobile phones and car navigation systems are also available. Users of all of these websites and maps will also benefit from a more accurate Clane on OpenStreetMap.

So – please get exploring the map on www.OpenStreetMap.org, or zoom in the map below, and help us create an even better map for the whole community.

Please note that we cannot control exactly what details (such as business names) are drawn on any given map. This is decided automatically. We can however make sure that the details are stored in the underlying data, so that even details that are not drawn on a given map do appear in appropriate search results.

Clane Tidy Towns Award Night, and Person of the Year 2012

October 30th was the annual Awards Night for Clane Tidy Towns, with the eagerly awaited results announced for the 2012 Best Kept Estates and Best Presented Premises competitions.

With a record 21 local estates entering, prizes were awarded for Small, Medium and Large estate categories. Generously sponsored by Clane Project Centre, and supported on the night by local businesses Manzors, Doolans and P J Wallaces, the well deserving winners of Best Kept Estates were:

Small Estates:

1st Prize College Grove,
2nd Prize Mainham Wood.

Medium Estates:

1st Prize Park View,
2nd Prize Alexandra Park.

Large Estates:

1st Prize Abbey Park,
2nd Prize Central Park and Churchfield,
3rd Prize jointly awarded to Loughbollard and Alexandra Walk.

All estates that entered received a voucher to go some way towards recognizing the very valuable contribution they all make towards making Clane, our home, look so well.

Launched just a few years ago, the winner of the Best Presented Premises 2012 was also announced. This year the accolade went to Marron’s Pharmacy, and Lord Mayor of Clane Dessie Marron was delighted to receive the award.

The night was also the occasion when the identity of Clane Person of the Year, 2012, was revealed. This year Clane Community Council decided to award it not to an individual, but to an organization they felt embodies so much of what is good about Clane, and which truly demonstrates the deeper meaning of the word Community. Clane Person of the Year was awarded to the Clane Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul, and their President Austin Daly was honored to accept it on behalf of the 20 or so volunteers that work so hard for this tremendous organization, now supporting over 110 families in the immediate area. Special mention was also made of Moira Fogarty who could not be there on the night, but who has played such a key role in the organization since it’s inception over 28 years ago. Our sincere congratulations and gratitude to these very worthy winners.

Bonjour Clane!

Clane Community Council was recently delighted to receive an invitation to twin Clane with Moutiers sous Chantemerle, a village in the mid-west of France.

Twinning is a wonderful opportunity for communities to develop ties with new and interesting people and places. An opportunity to share culture, history, sport, music, stories, cuisine, languages and ways of life.

Moutiers sous Chantemerle have introduced themselves through this village booklet, and you may find something in there that triggers some thoughts on how a possible twinning might be developed between our two communities. The community council would be delighted to hear your ideas and suggestions. Please contact anyone on the council in person, or send an email to ClaneCommunityCouncil@gmail.com.

Merci Beaucoup!

Tidy Towns 2012 – the results are out!

The National Tidy Towns Competition results are out and all our businesses and organisations that are “Committed to Clane-Up”, all our residents that have maintained their ‘patch’, all our volunteers that weeded the main street, picked-up the litter, planted hedges and built nest-boxes can take a bow – Clane received a wonderful 274 points, an increase of 5 on last year.

This was a particularly uncertain year for Clane’s Tidy Towns Committee: due to recent growth in population we were moved up a category and in County Kildare are now in the same band as Kilcock, Athy and Kildare. However, joining this new category has encouraged the hard-working Tidy Towns team to think bigger, and we hope you’ll agree that the results can be seen in projects like the quickly maturing hedge on the approach road from Naas, the beautiful flower tubs on main street, the wonderfully maintained Garden of Remembrance (now carefully tended to by our Tús Scheme workers), and the nest and bat boxes that have gone up in and around the town.

The full adjudicator’s report for Clane can be downloaded from the Tidy Towns website. Why not take a look and see what caught the adjudicators eye – both good and bad. Perhaps you can think of new ways to help progress Clane even further in the competition – the committee would love to hear your ideas.

A big thank you again to everybody who contributed to Clane Tidy Towns 2012 – well done indeed.

Clane Heritage – Seeking Your Photos

Do you have old photographs of Clane that you think might be of interest? How about having some of them published through Clane Community Council Heritage Group?

All you need to do is send a copy with some key information to us and we will do the rest. If you supply an original we will scan it and return the original to you. Then sit back and see your photograph appear in a locally produced publication.

Any photograph connected with people from Clane or the Clane area itself can be of interest.

You can email photos to us at claneheritage@gmail.com. Alternatively, please drop your photos along with details to any of the following:

Marie’s – Niamh Ryan
Given Opticians – Natasha Given
John Daly 086 2583635 CCC Heritage Group
Des Drumm 086 2241761 CCC Heritage Group
Pat Given 086 2432359 CCC Heritage Group

Please remember to include your contact details so your originals can be returned to you safely.

Thank you.

Celebrate Heritage Week … in Clane

The week starting August 18th is National Heritage Week and this year we are delighted to announce it can be celebrated in Clane.

On Sunday 19th Clane Community Council has arranged a Wild About Clane Nature Walk by the Liffey, with experts from Birdwatch Ireland and Kildare Bat Group. The walk starts at 8pm in the Abbbeylands Shopping Centre Car Park.

On Tuesday 21st August starting at 8pm in the Library, Clane Local History Group are presenting a talk where local history experts will present on the topic Main Street Clane: Its Buildings and People.

Why not come out and enjoy your local heritage at one or both of these events…all are welcome and they are free of change. We look forward to seeing you there.

Clane Community Council Golf Classic – August 17th

Clane Community Council is delighted to announce preparations are well underway
for our annual Golf Classic to be held on Friday August 17th in Knockanally Golf Club. Teams of 3 will cost €150 and Timesheets are available in Des Marron’s Pharmacy on Main Street. There is an opportunity for local businesses to sponser holes for €100. Please contact Des Drumm or anyone on the Committee to find out more. Email enquiries can be sent to ClaneCommunityCouncil@gmail.com.

Clane Nest Box Scheme 2012 – the results!!

In early 2012 Clane Tidy Towns, in association with the Kildare Branch of Birdwatch Ireland, launched our Nest Box Scheme.

A selection of the nest boxes donated to Clane Nest Box Scheme

A survey identified several species that could be reasonably expected to be attracted to nest boxes in Clane, appropriate sites were identified around the town, and suggested nest box designs were drawn up.

People were invited to create and donate nest boxes, and a wonderful total of 18 boxes (including 4 from the local Men’s Shed) were assembled, gratefully received, painted up and carefully installed.

Over the course of the breeding season these boxes were monitored under license from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and now that the season is over (at least for these nest boxes) we are delighted to share our results.

"With beautiful views over the Liffey..."

Despite the inclement weather which drastically affected the population of caterpillars on which most nestlings are fed, we are delighted to report that nests were constructed in 9 of the boxes, and young were successfully raised in 7 of these nests. Eggs were not laid in one of the nests, and in another the nest was abandoned for some reason before the eggs hatched. Of the 18 nest boxes originally installed a total of 37 young were successfully reared – a wonderful result for the first year of the scheme. All the nests were occupied by Blue Tit, one of our targeted species. Details of the nesting results were contributed to the BTO’s Nest Record Scheme to assist in long term research.

Of the 18 nest boxes installed we actually went ahead and installed a camera in one of them, and connected it up to a recorder. By shear luck, a pair of Blue Tits started to construct their nest in the box the day after the camera went in!! The complete nest was not visible to the camera but at least 9 eggs were seen to be laid and at least 8 young were counted leaving the nest a few short weeks later. The transformation from empty wooden box to chaotic home full of at least 10 birds was wonderful to witness, and we are delighted now to share some of the highlights below having uploaded them to YouTube. A big thank you to the staff and members of the John Sullivan Resource Centre who kept a close eye on the birds. They christened the mum Annabelle, and the dad was named Apollo. We hope you enjoy the clips below.

A big thank you to everyone who supported the Nest Box Scheme in 2012 – the results were very encouraging. Here’s wishing the 37 young that were raised all the best in and around Clane in the coming weeks and months.

Clane Community Council delighted to receive Intel Matching Grant…

Clane Community Council is delighted to have received a valuable donation from Intel Ireland as part of their matching grant scheme for approved charities. In a celebration on the Intel campus on May 29th our Chairman John Kennedy, Assistant Secretary Des Drumm and Council Member Peter Kirwan were presented with the cheque by Minister Phil Hogan and General Manager of Intel Ireland, Eamonn Sinnott.

Clane Community Council being presented with our Intel matching grant by Minister Phil Hogan and General Manager of Intel Ireland Eamonn Sinnott

Intel’s donation was based on the total amount of hours that Intel employees have volunteered towards Clane Community Council activities in 2011. John Kennedy, Chairman of Clane Community Council and himself an Intel employee was “doubly thrilled to see not only Intel employees donating their time to important community initiatives such as Community Games, Tidy Towns, and our heritage and environmental projects, but the Intel company itself reinforcing these employee efforts with valuable matching grants.”

A sincere thank you to Intel and Intel volunteers for their generous support.

Community Games results coming in…

Some Community Games match results have come in recently…well done to all the players representing Clane and Rathcoffey, and thank you to all those that are facilitating and supporting these games in any way:

U/10 Football: Clane and Rathcoffey beat Carbury in Clane Monday 30th April. The score was: Clane/Rathcoffey 5-12, Carbury 0-00

U/14 Camogie: Clane and Rathcoffey beat Carbury/ Braodford in Carbury Friday 4th May. The score was Clane/Rathcoffey 3-00, Carbury/ Broadford 0-00

U/12 Girls Football: Unfortunately the Clane and Rathcoffey team were beaten at home by Monasterevin on Monday 30th April.

Committed to Clane-Up!

Clane Tidy Towns are delighted to announce the launch of their new “Committed to Clane-Up” initiative. Businesses and organisations that commit to cleaning up around their premises are provided with a “Committed to Clane-Up” sticker to display in their shop window. Clane Tidy Towns are delighted with the enthusiasm local businesses have already shown signing up to the scheme and salute them for playing their part in making Clane an even better place for locals and visitors alike.

If your business or organisation would like to join the scheme please send an email to ClaneTidyTowns@gmail.com or drop down to the village green in front of the Abbey on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm where the volunteers gather for the regular weekly cleanups.