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Skibbereen Lions Club Santa Run

Skibbereen Lions Club is organising a 5K Santa Run on Sunday 4th December from the GAA grounds Skibbereen at 2 p.m.

€3/child. €5/adult. €10/family. Dressing rooms will be available and refreshments will be supplied afterwards.

All proceeds shared between 4 national schools in Skibbereen.

For more information contact Don Davis. 087/0601723

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Skibbereen Fashion Show Fri 4th November

Skibbereen Business Association in association with sixth years from Mercy Heights, Skibbereen will host a one off fashion extravangaza in the West Cork Hotel on Friday 4th November at 8pm.

The “Be Fashion Fabulous” event will exhibit the very best of local fashion, supported by Skibbereen’s local fashion stores, hairdressers and beauticians. The night will include performances from sixth year pupils as well as a special Christmas style makeover slot with a local personality.

The event will focus on key trends in fashion for the coming months for men and women with practical tips on how to wear them. There will also be a prize for the best dressed lady and man on the night as well as a host of special prize giveaways and an exclusive goodie bag for the first 150 people on the night.

There will be a host of fabulous prizes to be won on the night.  Tickets for the special fashion event are just €10 and will be available on the night at The West Cork Hotel.

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Skibb Beer Fest – Bank Holiday Weekend

Join the trail and win 3,000 Euro!

  • Live Music
  • Street Entertainment
  • Fancy Dress Parade
  • Halloween Parties
  • Inter Pub Fancy Dress
  • Vintage Day Monday
  • Loads of Prizes!!!!

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October Bank Holiday – Friday 28th – Monday 31st

Pub Trail Friday: 7pm-11pm, Saturday: 6pm-10pm

Register before 7pm Friday/6pm Saturday at any of the following bars:

  • Kearney’s Well
  • Cotter’s Bar
  • Fairfield Bar
  • Cahalane’s
  • Corner Bar
  • McCarthy’s Bar
  • Baby Hannah’s
  • Eldon Hotel
  • Annie May’s
  • Horse and Hound
  • The Paragon

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How To Win:

  • Max of 40 points can be scored!
  • 2 points for fancy dress costume.
  • Max 10 points at each of 4 trail pubs.
  • Each pub will set out puzzles/games/questions, etc.
  • Winner of €1,000 Announced at Cotter’s Bar Bar 11.30pm Friday.
  • Winner of €1,000 Announced 10.30pm Saturday.

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Rules

  • Over 18’s only
  • Free entry
  • Teams of 2
  • Follow trial set out by registered pub!

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Sunday

  • Fancy Dress Parade
  • Fancy Dress Parade will run from Hurley’s Garage to church car park 4pm
  • Face Painting for families at Ilen Street from 2.30pm

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Monday

  • Vintage Day at Ilen Street
  • Fun Day Guaranteed

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Live Music

  • Live music at participating bars throughout the weekend
  • Friday – Take That Tribute Band at Club Dakota
  • Saturday – Chasers
  • Sunday – Chasers/Club Dakota

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Enjoy Alcohol Sensibly, Visit Drinkaware.ie

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Chamber of Commerce News

Skibbereen’s Friendliest Employee is Brendan O’Brien!

UPDATE: Brendan O’Brien of Fields Supervalu is Skibbereen’s Friendliest Employee. Congratulations Brendan!

Skibbereen Business Association has narrowed down the town’s friendliest employees to ten people who will battle it out on Saturday 15th October in The West Cork Hotel to take the special award.

Almost one thousand nominations were received for more than 60 employees in the town. The ten employees with the highest number of nominations are; Rui Santos (Annie Mays), Kate Holland, Brendan O’Brien (Field’s SuperValu), Vitalija Bendziute (Pierce Hickey’s), Deirdre O’Donovan (Drinagh Co-Op), Marie O’Regan (Sean Murray’s), Joe Leahy (Hegarty’s Costcutter), Darren McSweeney (Tully’s Bookmakers), Bernice O’Shea (Skibbereen Medical Centre) and Mary Quinn (Cleary’s Pharmacy).

Mystery shoppers have also visited all businesses in the town to decide the winners of the other categories, namely Best Overall Business, Friendliest Small Business, Friendliest Medium/Large Business and Best New Business.

The awards will be held in The West Cork Hotel on Saturday October 15th at 8pm where Apprentice winner Steve Rayner will address local business people on customer service and building a better business. Tickets for the event are €15 and are available from Kalbo’s Café, North Street and Sean Murray’s, Main Street. Light refreshments will also be served with music by The Horny Devils.

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News

Discount Pack for SouthCoast Endurance Race Participants

The following businesses in Skibbereen have special offers available to participants in the 2011 SouthCoast Endurance Race. Offers are valid until 30 November 2011 (unless otherwise stated) on presentation of your race number. You may avail of each offer once only. Good luck in the race!

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Business Spotlight: Wish

Tell us about your business

Wish is an accessories and gift shop on North Street in Skibbereen. We stock a marvellous range of handbags, jewellery, scarves, belts and other interesting pieces with the emphasis on quality and value for money. We’ve been here 4 years now – we started with the recession!

What do you feel is unique about business in Skibbereen?

Skibbereen is a combination of a vibrant local town and a busy tourist town. So we have loyal local customers year round as well as visiting tourists at holiday times. The best of both worlds.

What do you feel is key to business success in Skibbereen?

For us, it is constantly sourcing new and different products for our customers and offering a high standard of customer service. The business community is important too – supporting each other, promoting Skibbereen together.

What is your opinion on using the internet to bring in more business?

We currently use our website to showcase our range of accessories but we do not sell online yet. The website is a work in progress… It is essential to have an online presence though – even if it only gives a flavour of the business. `

Are you using social media to market your business?

We send promotional emails to customers on our mailing list but we have not yet embraced Facebook or Twitter. The to-do list is getting longer…

Contact

Wish
North Street
Skibbereen
Contact:
Emer Olsen/Catherine Roantree
Phone: 028 40321
Fax:
Email: Click Here
Website: Click Here

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News

A Brief History of Skibbereen

The Origins of Skibbereen

Skibbereen (population c. 2,000) is a vibrant market town serving a large hinterland. The town as we now know it owes its origins to a raid of Algerian Pirates on nearby Baltimore in 1631, when 100 people were taken as ‘white slaves’. A small number of survivors moved up the river Ilen to establish the town where it is today.

However, there was a much earlier settlement just east of the town, based around the castle of the overlords, the MacCarthys. This wealthy Gaelic family forfeited its estates during the turbulent 17th century. English Planters William Prigg and Samuel Hall were given Market Rights by a 1675 Patent. There was also a Cistercian Abbey on the banks of the Ilen from the 13th century.

The name Skibbereen is thought to have derived from ‘skiff’, a type of boat used for crossing the river. Prigg and Hall renamed it New Stapleton; however, it soon reverted to ‘Dear Old Skibbereen’.

Revolutionaries

Skibbereen is also said to be the ‘Cradle of Fenianism’. The famous Irish revolutionary Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa became politically active in Skibbereen just after the Famine. He went on to become one of the leading members of the Fenian movement. Rossa is commemorated in Skibbereen at O’Donovan Rossa Park, just outside the town. The Maid of Erin statue at the town square was unveiled by Rossa in 1904.

Another well-known Irish revolutionary, Gearóid O’Sullivan, took part in the Easter 1916 Rising. He raised the Irish flag over the GPO during that infamous rebellion.

O’Sullivan was a good friend of Michael Collins, another renowned West Cork revolutionary. Collins stopped at the Eldon Hotel in Skibbereen on August 22nd 1922. Later that day, he was shot dead at Béal na Bláth.

Capital of the Carberies

By the early 1800’s Skibbereen was an important regional town. In June 1843, Daniel O’Connell held one of his monster Repeal meetings in Skibbereen. Newspaper accounts of the time claimed up to 500,000 attended.

The decades after the Famine saw major improvements in the town. The building that now houses Skibbereen Heritage Centre opened as a Gasworks in 1867 and the arrival of the railway a few years later heralded a new era for Skibbereen.

Two newspapers were established in Skibbereen in the 19th century. One of them, the Southern Star, still has its offices in the town. The second newspaper, the now-defunct Skibbereen Eagle, is remembered for ‘keeping its eye on the Czar of Russia’.

Science was also to the fore in 19th century Skibbereen. The celebrated astronomer, Agnes Mary Clarke, was born in Skibbereen in 1842. The ‘Clarke Crater’ on the moon is named in her honour. Another Skibbereen native, Percy Ludgate, designed the ‘analytical engine’, which is regarded as the first portable computer.

Skibbereen was the Seat of the Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of Ross between 1851 and 1950. The Cathedral in North Street is still the most imposing building in the town. The town evolved to become a hub of industry and was a thriving market town throughout the 20th century, as it still is today.

Skibbereen is the most significant town in Ireland in terms of its Famine heritage and it has an important role in commemorating this pivotal period. Every street in the town has its own story and the people of Skibbereen are extremely proud of its unique heritage. Learn about this important period of Irish history at the Skibbereen Famine Story exhibition  Skibbereen Heritage Centre.

For further information and details on important buildings in the town please check  https://skibbheritage.com/home/skibbereen-history/
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News

South Coast Adventure Race

The date for this years event is now fixed for Saturday the 22nd October so you can pencil it into your diary. Hopefully we will have another Indian Summer’s day like last year which helped everyone along the course. The course will follow the same route as last year and will finish with an all new purpose-built assault course at the finish line. This is guaranteed to be both challenging and fun….!!

Visit the South Coast Endurance Website for full details.

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News

A Taste of West Cork 2011

A Taste of West Cork Food Festival, which takes place in and around Skibbereen, West Cork, brings together a unique mix of food markets and demonstrations, cookery competitions, special dinners, brunches and banquets, food-tastings, talks, exhibitions, children’s events, guided walks, boat tours and some great live music!

A Taste of West Cork 2011 runs from 9 – 18 September.

Visit the official website