Trades
O’Donnell’s forge, adjacent
to the Ballinruan crossroads in Crusheen village, is the sole reminder
today of that world of local tradespeople, still very much alive up
to the mid-century, which has now practically disappeared. A list of
the trades formerly carried on in the parish reads now like and index
to a vanished, an unfamiliar age, as indeed it is, not least in the
insight it gives us into the far greater population then in residence.
Up to the turn of the century and beyond , the parish could boast a
carpenter, mason, shoemaker, weaver, butcher, tailor, baker, sapper,
no less than 3 blacksmiths (two in Ballinruan)and a dancing-master (Liam
a’Rince), who lived in the laneway behind Clarkes.
Today little more than
the building trade is represented in the parish.
Cultural Life
Cardplaying (especially
"the old game") has always been extremely popular in the,
among young and old alike and from September to May there are a least
3 games nightly every week, on Monday at Fogartys, on Thursday at Clark’s
and on Friday at Ballnruan Community Centre.
Hurling has had a large
and active following fro several generations and the opening of the
new GAA pitch in 1990 for example, has been a great boon not just to
the hurlers but to the wider sporting community also as proven by the
advances made by the parish football teams in the past decade.
Certain traditional customs
such as "the Wren" have been given a new lease of life in
recent times, but one which has needed no reviving is the St. John’s
Eve (June 23rd) bonfire at McNamara’s Bridge on the Tulla
road (E2). Crusheen is one of the few places in Clare where this night
is still celebrated through song, dance and music and as a consequence
it has begun to attract outside attention, not least form the media.
Storytelling is alive
in the parish and one of the largest collections of folklore on tape
in Ireland is available on request to persons interested.
