This article is from page 27 of the 2008-04-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
DUCHAS na Sionna’s first newslet- ter highlighting aspects of the herit- age of Shannon town and its environs should have safely arrived in every house in Shannon by now. Those who did not could still pick up one of the remaining copies at the Sean Lemass Library at Shannon.
The formation of the Duchas na Sionna group was initially inspired by a wish to dispel the widely held belief that Shannon was built and developed on some marshy waste- land where nothing of any value or
significance existed prior to modern development. The group was formed by representatives of various other organisations based entirely in Shan- non like the Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society who produce the annual journal “The Other Clare’, Club na Sionna and the Shannon Wetlands Group and representatives of some local branches of national organisations such as Birdwatch Ire- land and Comhaltas Ceolt6oiri Eire- ann.
The current newsletter outlines many of the projects being under- taken by Duchas na Sionna which
will be of interest and significance to residents of Shannon. There are explanations on the historical ori- gins of the names of several local housing estates. There are facts and figures on the extent and signifi- cance of many of the historical and archaeological sites which still exist in the area. There is also an outline of the project to clean up and restore the The Shannon Wetland site which will, with time, revert to it natural state aS a wet meadow and provide a unique amenity and wildlife haven within the urban setting of Shan- non town. The _ restoration of this
wetland site has been supported and sponsored by The Heritage Council of Ireland, and the newsletter itself, which is produced on a fully bilin- gual basis, has been sponsored by Clare County Council.
The work of Duchas na Sionna and its members has been sadly over- shadowed in recent times by the sud- den and untimely passing of Oliver O’Malley who passed away unex- pectedly on Ash Wednesday. Oliver’s many generous and selfless contribu- tions to various aspects of commu- nity life in Shannon will stand as a lasting testament to his memory.