Clare Focus is an interactive web-site that provides daily up-dated information on a wide range of events - at the click of a button you find out that there is a surprising amount happening at any one time: all types of music, traditonal music sessions, live gigs, dancing, festivals, summer schools, shows, theatre, exhibitions, readings, cinema, county-wide farmer’s markets, children and leisure activities, community activities, celebrations, fund raisers, conferences, workshops, fund raisers, business events and much more.
At the moment the web-site lists 8 art exhibitions around the county – Mary Horan, at Lahinch Art Gallery, Emma Berkley at the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon, Deirdre O’ Mahoney at the XPO in Kilnaboy, 7 artists at the new Pavilion Theatre in Lisdoonvarna, Rena Lewis at Tides Gallery in Liscannor, Carmel O’ Doherty at the Glór Gallery in Ennis and a photography exhibition in the Snug Wine Bar in Mountshannon.
Co Clare has over 70 festivals, fairs and summer schools every year and on the August Bank holiday alone there were 6 festivals happening in the county – the Kildysart Cultural festival, the Scariff Harbour festival, Kilmilhil festival of fun, the Merriman festival in Killanena, and the Lughasa festival at Craggaunowen.
Clare is renowned for it’s traditional music and there is no shortage of choice with sessions in bars all around the county, trad concerts at the re-vamped Cois Na Habhna in Ennis, and The Riches of Clare lunch-time concerts around the county, but in additional to Trad music there is a host of other musical genres on offer, with summer music programmes in the Magnetic Music Café in Doolin featuring Teada, Siobhan O’Brian, Christy Mc Namara Trio, Sarah Mc Quaid, The Kane sisters and John Blake, Glór in Ennis offers Jazz, Swing, Opera, the Maynooth Guitar Orchestra and Trad, Tommy Fleming in Scariff and Kilkee, Opera hosted by the Kilkee Civic Trust and Opera Works, Regina Nathan in Labasheeda, and a range of local fundraisers give just some of the alternatives for a night out in the county listed on Clare Focus.
If you want an activity week-end or holiday with a difference, check out the training /workshops section of Clare Focus where you will find information on CELT – the Centre for Environmental Living and Training who organise week-ends in the woods and eco-trips with activities ranging from Tool making, Spinning and Weaving Bow Making, Yurt Wheel construction, to Stone Carving, Herblore, Boat Building and Sugan Chair making, Dry Stone & Lime Mortar Walling. CELT also offers opportunities for families to bring their 14-18 year olds along to participate in workshops. Or try a workshop with ISSA – Irish Seed Savers Association who offer year round workshops from growing in a poly tunnel, organic gardening, homeopathy, summer pruning to creating an orchard.
Of course, Clare is famous for it’s sea-based activities and is well known for it’s surfing, but for something a little different check out the Doolin ‘Seasearch Course’ for divers who want to learn more about what they see under water and how to protect the marine environment.
This web-site is a revelation in terms of the range and choice of things to do in Clare, but it is some of the additional features that really set the web-site apart and make it an invaluable tool for locals and tourists - there is a calendar of events with the option to search by ‘what’s on to-day’, ‘this week’, ‘this month’, ‘this year’ and these pages with the lists of events can be printed of. The home page gives ‘highlights’
Each event listed gives information on the date, time, location, programmes, contact details of the organisers, with direct links to e-mails and web-site of the event or organisation.
The fact that Clare Focus is an interactive web-site is probably what makes it work so well and ensures that it has such a wide range of regularly up-dated information from every area of the county - anyone with an event, activity, workshop, exhibition going on anywhere in the county can post the information on the web-site themselves. The attention to detail, the daily up-dates, the quantity and quality of information that’s available do not take away from the easy to use feel of the web-site and the original images from around the county add to the attractiveness of the site.
Clare Focus users can also sign up for a free, weekly e-newsletter which highlights the up-coming events listed on the site – so you will never have to miss out on anything happening in this vibrant county. Life for locals and visitors to Co. Clare has just been made a whole lot easier.
ENDS
For Further Information, Contact: Madeline Mc Aleer Tel: 086 4069189 Email: info@clarefocus.ie Web: www.clarefocus.ie
Background
Madeline Mc Aleer was born in Co. Tyrone and has lived in Ennis for 15 years.
I have previously worked in the statutory sector (5 years) and in various roles in the community sector (12 years).
Contd
Two years ago I took time out of the work place to research and develop an idea that had been in my mind for some time - setting up a web-site to promote the range of activities that happen in the community and social sectors in Co. Clare with the objective of improving networking, communication and information exchange in the county - designing a web-site that would useful, equally to locals and visitors to the county.
Clare Focus has won a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award (2006), received funding from the Clare County Enterprise Board (2007) and has been recently selected as one of the businesses to participate in LEAP (2008), a business mentoring, training and support programme delivered to early stage, high potential business entrepreneurs by the Enterprise Acceleration Centre at LIT in Limerick.
