Category Archives: Event

GAA Scrap Week Fundraiser

Clane GAA have organised a scrap metal collection from May 28th to June 2nd to raise funds for their under age teams. Please drop off any scrap metal to O’Connell’s Yard, Millicent Road, Clane this week. For all the details including a list of the types of items accepted please see the Scrap Week Fundraiser Details. Why not take a quick look in the back garden, attic or shed and see if you can de-clutter and support our under age GAA teams at the same time?

Keep a date – for the annual Parish Fête

The Clane Union of Parishes has announced the annual Parish Fête will be held in the grounds of the Hewetson School, Millicent, on Sunday May 13th. The fun (and, for the first time, live music) kicks off at 1pm when special guest 9 year old singer/songwriter Ashley Tubridy will open the event. For more details please see the dedicated Facebook page.

Spring Clean 2012 – thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who turned out today and in previous days to help clean up the countryside around Clane. With the initiative coordinated by Tír na Móna, and with support from An Taisce, AES and Kildare County Council, the local effort was spearheaded by Cllr Pádraig McEvoy. Members of Clane Tidy Towns and Clane Community Council organised teams of volunteers of all ages, and spread out around the local roads. A phenomenal amount of rubbish was removed, some of it with a JCB, and Clane’s Main Street also received a thorough spring clean.

Many residents’ associations took the opportunity to clear up their public spaces, and this waste was removed also.

To help sustain energy levels throughout the day a wonderful cup of tea and lunch were provided by the volunteers in St. Kevin’s GAA, Staplestown.

To minimise landfill, the rubbish collected was segregated, and the various piles of green waste, general waste, electrical appliances, metal, tyres and litter (collected on an ongoing basis) can be seen in the accompanying photos.

All who helped out can sleep easy that this volume of rubbish has been cleared from our environs. If you spot dumping appearing from now on, please inform Clane Tidy Towns or the Kildare Litter Warden hotline at 1800 243 143.

Clane Community Council – Best Themed Float 2012!

Clane Community Council was delighted to be awarded Best Themed Float for the Clane St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2012. Featuring Oisín Aosta, Oisín Óg, Niamh and a team of warriors and volunteers from Clane Tidy Towns, the team dragged the last boulder out of Clane, revealing a beautiful village twinned with Tír na nÓg.

Despite the inclement weather there were smiles all round during the parade itself and it seemed like everyone had a great day.

A big thank you to everyone who helped put our float together, and a very well done to the St. Patrick’s Festival Committee for pulling off a fantastic 8th festival in a row.

Happy St. Patrick’s Weekend!

This is going to be a packed weekend for Clane Community Council! Proceedings kick off at 3pm with our entry in Clane’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade…keep an eye out for Oisín, Niamh and their special announcement in association with Clane Tidy Towns. We also have our Church gate collection this weekend – all support is gratefully appreciated. Finally we are participating in the “Reeling In the Years” exhibition in the Parish Hall on Sunday from 11:00am to 5:30pm. Please drop in and say hello.

Liffey Cleanup at Clane – Sunday Feb 19th

Clane Trout and Salmon Anglers Association are organising a cleanup along the Liffey on Sunday February 19th. Starting at Alexandra Bridge, where the Sallins Road crosses the Liffey, the cleanup will continue downstream, along the Liffey walk. Many hands make light work – if you could spare an hour or two why not come along and lend a hand – kick-off at 10:00AM!

Your invitation: Clane Heritage Forum – Discussion Day

All are welcome to take part in a forum on Clane’s rich heritage this October. It will take place in The Westgrove Hotel on Saturday 22nd October. Registration is from 2.00pm  with the main events starting at 2.30pm and finishing at 6.00pm.

National and local speakers will make short presentations of value and interest to all. Speakers include Éanna Ní Lamhna broadcaster and author. Your views are important so come along.

This event is organized by Clane Community Council and will be opened by Clane Lord Mayor Dessie Marron.

For more information please see the Clane Heritage Forum Flyer.

Congratulations to all our Community Games athletes

Congratulations to all the young sports men and women from Clane and Rathcoffey that represented Kildare at the the recent National Community Games finals.

Our 12 local swimmers had a very successful weekend at the National Community Games finals. While a number of the boys had a tough draw this year in the heats, they achieved excellent success with Matthew Walsh-Hussey receiving a Bronze medal in the boys U-8 freestyle and Enda O’Connell receiving a 4th place bronze medal in the boys u-14 freestyle. The remainder of the team performed well with Eoghan Maguire reaching the semi-finals and Peter Doyle swimming strongly in his heat. A very young boys relay team – age 13 – performed exceptionally in the u-16 relay as they reached the semi-final. We expect great things from this team in the coming years.

On Sunday, the girls team also performed very well in their respective heats with Aine Maguire reaching the u-8 semi-finals; and Claire Delaney, Zoe Mason and Eimear O’Connell both coming 4th in very tough heats. The girls u-16 relay team performed very well by winning their semi-finals, only to be subsequently disqualified on a technical infringement – a very disappointing result to an excellent team performance by the girls.

A great exciting weekend with some excellent swimming by all competitors.

Thank you to the Westgrove Hotel whom facilitated training sessions for the squad over the summer. A very special Thank You to coach Paul McLoughlin for all his experience, time, energy, enthusiasm and most of all fun.

Swimming team training with Paul McLoughlin

Swimming team preparing for the finals with coach Paul McLoughlin in the Westgrove Hotel

In the Gaelic football events our boys made it all the way to the All Ireland final and picked up silver medals, losing out to Carrick-on-Shannon in the end. our under-12 girls also made it all the way to the medals, being awarded bronze after winning their play off.

Well done to everyone who participated in the games, and a big thank you to all those who helped make it possible. The coaches, the organisers, the parents:  everyone who supported Clane Community Games 2011.

Best of luck to our young sports-men and -women!

Clane’s Community Games is having a tremendous year.

After a very successful run of local and regional events, two teams from Clane/Rathcoffey are this weekend representing Leinster (Kildare – Clane) in the National Community Games Finals in Athlone. A record number of 12 of our swimmers are also representing Kildare.

The Under 10 boys Gaelic football team are scheduled to play the Muster representatives (Kerry – Rathmore/ Gneeveguilla) in the 2nd semi-final at 11.00am on Saturday 13th August. The winners of this play the winners of the 1st semi-final between Connaught (Leitrim – Carrick-on-Shannon) v Ulster (Down – Clonduff) on Sunday 14th August.

The Under 12 girls Gaelic football team are scheduled to play Munster (Cork – Glanmire) at 3.30pm on Saturday 13th August.

The full details of all these matches are below.

Our yong swimmers are also having a fantastic year. In fact more of Kildare’s representatives come from Clane/Rathcoffey than anywhere else: we have 12 swimmers representing Kildare in this weekends competition – all the details are below. The majority of these children have trained in the Health & Leisure Club on the Celbridge road which has recently closed.  However, we are grateful to the Westgrove Hotel for facilitating training sessions for the squad over the summer, coached by Paul McLoughlin.

Here’s wishing all the young sportsmen and women the best of luck in their matches.

Gaelic Football Under 10 Mixed

First Semi-Final: Connaught V Ulster
Leitrim – Carrick-on-Shannon V Down – Clonduff

Second Semi-Final: Munster V Leinster
Kerry – Rathmore/Gneeveguilla V Kildare – Clane/Rathcoffey

Gaelic Football Girls Under 12

First Semi-Final: Connaught V Ulster
Mayo – Charlestown V Cavan – Baileborough

Second Semi-Final: Munster V Leinster
Cork – Glanmire V Kildare – Clane/Rathcoffey

Gaelic Football Provisional Time Table:

Saturday 13th August:

  • 9.30am – U10’s 1st Semi-final
  • 11.00am – U10’s 2nd Semi-final
  • 2.00pm – U12’s 1st Semi-final
  • 3.30pm – U12’s 2nd Semi-final

Sunday 14th August

  • 9.30am -U10’s Play-off
  • 11.00am – U10’s Final
  • 2.30pm – U12’s play-off
  • 3.30pm – U12’s Final

Boys Swimming – Saturday August 13th:

  • Boys U8 Freestyle Matthew Walsh-Hussey
  • Boys U12 Freestyle  Eoghan Maguire
  • Boys U14 Breaststroke Peter Doyle
  • Boys U14 Freestyle Enda O’Connell
  • Boys U16 Squad  Enda O’connell, Peter Doyle, Dara McKeon, Brian Corbett

Girls Swimming – Sunday August 14th:

  • Girls U8 Freestyle Áine Maguire
  • Girls U10 Backstroke Claire Delaney
  • Girls U14 Freestyle  Zoe Mason
  • Girls U16 Freestyle  Eimear O’Connell
  • Girls U16 Squad Zoe Mason, Sinead Corbett, Rachel McCarthy, Eimear O’Connell

Community Council Golf Classic

For many years  Clane Community Council’s main source of funding has been its Annual Golf Classic, sponsored in recent years by Nellie Dillon-Ford of Larchfield Park Nursing Home. The money raised, totalling €5000 in 2010, supports the extensive voluntary work that the Council does in Clane village. Besides providing a forum for discussion of local issues and representation of the Community’s interests, the Council’s projects include Tidy Towns, Community Games, the Abbey Community Centre and its Garden of Remembrance, the Friary Graveyard on the Sallins Road, the recently opened Liffeyside Nature Park as well as the more established  Stream Park in the village centre . This year has been particularly expensive for the Council because of the need to spend significant sums of money on the fabric of the Abbey, so all money raised is much needed.

The  Council is  hoping for good levels of support from the Community in Clane for its Golf Classic at Knockanally Golf Club on Friday August 5th , with tee-times between 12 noon and 4pm. Recognising the more difficult times this year, not only has the cost has been maintained at €180 but this is now for a four person team, instead of three as previously. For those unable to play golf or put in a team then sponsorship of a hole is available at  €100 – and is restricted to one sponsor per hole.

The time sheet is in Marron’s Pharmacy, Main Street, Clane and Des Marron can be contacted at 045-868112 . Alternatively Des Drumm can be contacted at 086 2241761. Other members of the organising sub-committee are Nellie Dillon-Ford, Tom Cleary, Sean Kealy and Jack Kinsella , who will happily take bookings for teams!

All  support is very much appreciated by the Community Council and is being acknowledged with a certificate, which can be displayed in business premises, as well as in the Council’s publication Le Cheile,  local press as well as signs at the golf course on the day.

Clane Tidy Towns 2011 – kick-off April 16th

Having tackled various ceanup projects over the winter, and with the successful Clane Spring Clean event on April 2nd, Clane Tidy Towns are now looking forward to launching their 2011 activities in earnest on April 16th.

All are welcome to join in. Plans include preparing the street flower tubs and the approach signage for summer planting. The group will gather by the Stream park across from the Abbey on Saturday April 16th at 10AM – all equipment will be provided – we hope to see you there!

Spring Clean 2011 – thank you!

On Saturday April 2nd Clane Tidy Towns held the annual Spring Clean for Clane, armed with a National Spring Clean kit from  An Taisce, and the support of Kildare County Council and Clane Community Council. With some volunteers getting a head start earlier in the week, by the end of the day a substantial mound of rubbish had been cleared from our approach roads, country lanes, Liffey-side park, streams and rivers.

Some of the rubbish gathered during Clane Spring Clean 2011

The weather was kind, fresh air was enjoyed, and friendships were made and renewed. There were some surprises on the day too, including close encounters with some lobster-like animals – White-Clawed Crayfish – in the River Liffey!

Although two tonnes of general material had to be collected by Kildare County Council and sent to landfill, this year a substantial amount of the rubbish collected was metal and was segragated and is being sent to a scrap metal merchant. Similarly, the timber reclaimed has been kept for recycling.

Congratulations to all the volunteers who helped make Clane Spring Clean 2011 a success, and thanks to Cllr. Pádraig McEvoy for arranging the support and his hands-on help on the day.

Some more of the rubbish gathered during Clane Spring Clean 2011

Please help us keep Clane beautiful, and report any dumping you may observe to the local Gardaí or the Kildare County Council litter warden.

If you have some time during the week and would like to help Clane look its best this summer, why not come out and lend a hand with Clane Tidy Towns. They are kicking off their 2011 programme with a cleanup on Saturday April 16th, meeting at 10:00 AM at the Stream Park outside the Abbey. All are very welcome.

Give Clane a Spring Clean this Saturday

The daffodils are in flower and the trees beginning to bud: it’s time to give Clane a Spring clean. This Saturday April 2nd at 10:00 AM everyone is invited to gather where the Capdoo Road meets the Kilcock Road to help and play their part. Clane Tidy Towns and Community Council will organise small teams to go out and tackle key spots in and around the town. Our thanks to An Taisce and Kildare County Council for supporting this event.

Clane Friary – now a Kildare Historic Monument

The Clane Friary sub-committee have received good news regarding the Friary gates and official recognition.

Thanks to Kildare County Council and to Cllr. Padraig McEvoy for his great help in this regard, a grant has been confirmed towards new gates to replace the “temporary” gates that have been there for the last few years. The design has been agreed and Joe Horan will make them. We had hoped to have them up by Christmas, but given current conditions it is likely to be late January now.

Tony McEvoy has brought good news too from the Kildare County Council Historic Monuments Committee. The Friary has been added to the list of Kildare’s Historic Monuments and a sum of money will be given towards a professional survey of the ruins.

The Blessing of the Graves was held on November 7th and was very well attended indeed. Thanks to everyone who came for their great support. Thanks also to all the Sub-Committee for helping to have the graveyard looking so well and especially to Mark Moffatt, our “sound man” on the day, and to McKenna’s Hardware for providing the generator. Fr. Paul O’Boyle once again officiated with his usual good humour and relaxed style.

Des Drumm, Friary Sub-Commitee