The vision for Creative Ireland Clare is “to ensure the people of Clare discover and have access to cultural expression through creative activity”. Our active Local Authority Cultural Team harnesses the expertise of its members to deliver projects throughout the year. Our priorities include creating opportunities to access innovative culture based programmes, developing the county’s creative capacity and reputation and working collaboratively to develop cultural expression and wellbeing. These priorities have evolved through an understanding of the available external resources to the programme in Clare as well as the capacity of Clare County Council to deliver on the priorities.

There are several highlights in our current programme. These include an archaeological famine house excavation with Clare Museum, a series of Children’s Poetry workshops in Clare County Library, support to the glór Arts Schools Partnership and a programme of Memoir and Creative Writing workshops in Clare County Library as well as support to the innovative Arts Office Project Vision Symphony.
Clare Cultural Companions is organised by the Rural Development Directorate – this is a social network for Clare’s older citizens which allows people to attend events together as a group. Its aim is to provide increased opportunities for older people to engage with Clare’s vibrant arts and cultural scene and to help combat social isolation. The project was nominated for a Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Award in 2019.

Nine public Project Awards were allocated in 2019 to projects with a public interface/engagement. These included a Climate Change Project in Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna, Sparks Youth Film Festival, a boat-building project with Raheen Wood Active Learning for Adolescents ALFA and a wellness project in Burren schools on cures, traditions and health practices.
The iCAN Irish Community Archive Network project is led by the National Museum of Ireland and Clare County Council Heritage Office. Five local heritage groups are participating in addition to the “Reading the Local Landscape” students and their aim is to make more local history and heritage accessible online. The “Reading the Local Landscape” course is another Heritage Office initiative that has been held in four locations in Clare in 2018 and 2019.