Local history, beautiful scenery, tea and scones; oh and some walking aswell!

We were joined by 25 walkers for another fabulous walk in Whitegate yesterday as part of our Active Age monthly guided walks. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for this 7.5km loop which started at the Half Barrel Bar & Restaurant and took us along quiet roads where we were surrounded by scenery and history.

Local man Tom Holland joined our walk and provided the most fantastic historical knowledge on the route, including;

Williamstown Quay, where, during the Famine many Irish people started out their journey to a new life (and in more recent history, where local men rowed their boats across the water to the dances in Dromineer, Co. Tipperary for a drink and a dance); The maids quarters at the back of the former Williamstown House, where Michael Egan, Brud McMahon, Alfie Rogers and Martin Gildea – the Scariff Martyrs – were captured in November 1920, taken by steamer to Killaloe and shot on the bridge by a force of Auxiliaries.

We also stopped and took time to admire a fairly well preserved Lime Kiln and the beautiful and peaceful Dromaan Harbour.

Returning to Whitegate, we were delighted to take the opportunity to sit and indulge in fresh baked scones and as much tea & coffee as we could drink (all for just €3.50) in the Half Barrel and we would like to say a huge thanks to the management and staff here for facilitating us.

The next Active Agers walk is scheduled for Thursday 25th October at 11am – it will be hard to match the Whitegate walk so we are still trying to decide on  the route for this but we will keep you posted.

 

History and Views galore in East Clare!

East Clare saw some fabulous weather last weekend for our Guided walks. Looking at the weather forecast in the days leading up to the weekend, we had fears of needing to cancel our walks due to the threat of storm Bróna arriving just in time to “blow us off course…….”

However, we were able to continue with our planned walks; both of which proved to be most enjoyable.

Pictured at the entrance to the site of the former Tulla Workhouse during the Tulla Famine Walk.

On Saturday 22nd, we were joined by 28 walkers who were eager to learn about the buildings, sites and the people associated with the Great Irish Famine in Tulla. Tulla was one of the hardest hit parishes in Ireland with a population decrease of over 20% in ten years. This was the second time we had run the Tulla Famine Walk – due to it’s popularity during Tulla Weekend of the Welcomes and Heritage Week 2018, we decided to run this again and we definitely made the right decision. The group heard stories about starvation, disease and separation of families; our ancestors from 150 years ago.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Jane Halloran, Dalcassian Origins and Tulla Reaching Out for her fantastic research for this guided walk.

On Sunday 23rd, 38 early risers headed off from Two-Mile-Gate (Ballycuggaran Blue Flag Beach) at 6:30am to walk the Ballycuggaran Looped Walk to watch the sun rise over the beautiful expanse of Lough Derg.

Could we have asked for a better morning? As they say, a picture paints a thousand words……………………

All monies raised through these walks will go towards the future maintenance of both the East Clare Way and the Mid Clare Way walking routes and with a great contribution of €250 raised from these walks, we would like to say a huge thank you to all who came along and supported Clare Walks Ltd.

Keep an eye on our Events page or our Facebook page for our future guided walks.

The mysterious woman on the plaque……

Have you ever heard of Annie M.P. Smithson?

I hadn’t until our Guided Heritage Walk on 19th August last brought us past her former temporary residence – a small cottage near Kilnasoolagh Church of Ireland chuch in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Clare.

A few of us stopped outside the wall of the cottage as we were intrigued by a concrete plaque which hung on the wall of the cottage which read “Chónaigh ANNIE M.P. SMITHSON Údar agus Banaltra anseo 1907 – 1910”.  For those who don’t speak Irish (or those that have forgotten it from your school days) it reads “ANNIE M.P. SMITHSON Author and Nurse lived here 1907 – 1910”

I took a photo of this plaque so that I could do a little bit of research on this lady and her link to the area. I must admit I was a little in awe when I started doing some research on this lady and her fascinating life.

Annie Mary Patricia Smithson was an Irish novelist, poet and Nationalist. She was born into a Protestant family in Sandymount in Dublin in September 1873.

Her mother and father were first cousins and her father died when she was young. About 1881 her mother married her second husband, Peter Longshaw, who owned a chemical factory in Warrington in Lancashire. As a result Smithson lived for a number of years in England. She disliked her stepfather and referred to him always as Mr Longshaw. There were five children from this marriage.

She was christened Margaret Anne Jane, but took the names Anne Mary Patricia (Annie M.P.) on her conversion to Catholicism.  She converted to Catholicism in March 1907 and became a fervent Republican and Nationalist. She became a member of Cumann na mBan and campaigned for Sinn Féin in the 1918 general election.

Smithson always had dreams of becoming a journalist but abandoned this ambition in order to train as a nurse and a midwife. She trained in London and Edinburgh, before returning to Dublin in 1900. In 1901 she took up a post as district nurse in Millton, Co. Down. There she fell in love with her colleague Dr James Manton, a married man. Deciding that a relationship was impossible, she left Millton in 1906. They kept up a correspondence until her conversion to Catholicism in 1907, when she burnt his letters.

 

She was Secretary and Organiser of the Irish Nurses Organisation from 1929 to 1942. She wrote for the Irish Nurses’ Magazine and edited the Irish Nurses Union Gazette.

In 1917 she published her first novel, Her Irish Heritage, which became a best-seller. It was dedicated to those who died in the Easter Rising of 1916. Smithson published many journal articles but is best known for her romantic novels which have a strong Nationalist tone. In all, she published twenty novels and two short story collections. Other successful novels included By Strange Paths and The Walk of a Queen. Many of her works are highly romantic and draw on her own life experiences, with nationalism and Catholicism featuring as recurrent themes. In 1944 she published her autobiography, Myself – and Others.

From 1932 onwards she shared a house in Rathmines, Dublin with her stepsister and her stepsister’s family. She died on 21 February 1948 of heart failure at 12 Richmond Hill, Dublin and was buried in Whitechurch, County Dublin. What an amazing life she led….and she lived in Newmarket-on-Fergus.

Just goes to show, you never know the history you are passing by when you are out for a walk!

Tulla Famine Walk – back by popular demand!

Join us on 22nd September to walk the places around Tulla associated with the Famine and hear about the effects of the Famine on our parish.
This 7km guided walk will pass some of the buildings that played important roles in the Famine in Tulla and you will hear about some of the people in Tulla who tried to assist those in need.
Following the success of the Tulla Famine Walk in August as part of Tulla Weekend of the Welcomes, we have decided to host this event again as part of the Clare Walks Ltd. walking weekend.
Meeting Point: Tulla Library. Registration from 1:30pm with walk starting at 2pm. Parking is available throughout the village.
The walk will take approximately 90 minutes and light refreshments will be served afterwards.
This walk is free of charge with an optional donation.
All monies raised will go towards the future maintenance and upkeep of the East Clare Way & the Mid Clare Way walking routes.

For further details contact us on 065 683 5912 or 086 358 6293
info@clarewalks.ie

The walk is being organised by Clare Walks Ltd and all research for this guided walk was carried out with thanks to Jane Halloran, Dalcassian Origins & Tulla Reaching Out.