THINK OF the west of Ireland and it’s fair to say that south Clare does not spring to mind, which is a great shame as this little-known area has a great deal to offer. We recently explored the Clare coastline running from the seaside town of Kilkee to the dramatic Loop Head thrusting out into the Atlantic.
It’s an area of dramatic coastline and many surprises that we hope to return to in a future article. Our visit coincided with a fierce summer storm which howled in from the sea, but surprisingly this did little to dampen our spirits, such was the delight we found in exploring what was a new corner of Ireland to us.
I have to confess that I’m not much attracted to seaside places but Kilkee won me over with its perfect horseshoe bay, safe beach and attractive shoreline buildings. The town takes its name from Cill Chaoi, Caoidhe’s Church, and by the end of the 18th century when sea-bathing became a popular pastime, there were regular steam vessels operating on a daily basis between Limerick and Kilkee, giving rise to “the Kilkee Season”, and which drew many famous people of the day to the town. Among them were Charlotte Brontë, Rider Haggard, and the poet Alfred Tennyson.
From Kilkee, we took the coast road towards Loop Head. This first skirts Intrinsic Bay – so named after the “Intrinsic” ship from Liverpool that came to grief under the cliffs with the loss of 14 lives in January 1936. These cliffs are a continuation of the world famous cliffs at Moher and to my mind are much more impressive than the more tourist-orientated development further up the coast. Their great height is at first not apparent given the lack of any reference point, but when I attempted to photograph my car in a lay-by on top of the cliffs I was staggered to find it was reduced to a tiny red dot atop the ledge.
The coast road continues on for about 9km before turning inland to meet the R487 main road from Kilkee to Kilbaha and on to Loop Head. About 2km before the coast road turns inland is Castle Point which has a promontory fort and a castle worth visiting.
One should also divert to the Bridge of Ross – a spectacular bay enclosed by high cliffs – a short walk from the road. Returning to Kilbaha, which is the most westerly village on Loop Head, the road leads on a further 6km to the Loop Head Lighthouse.
During this last stage of the journey the triangular nature of the peninsula is apparent with the mouth of the Shannon Estuary to the left and the Atlantic on the right. There is an overwhelming feeling here of the end of Ireland, the very edge of our island trust out into the fierce Atlantic.
The lighthouse itself (which recently opened to the public) was one of four known Irish stone-vaulted cottage-type lights built on our coast around 1670. The cottage lighthouse with its coal fire was replaced in 1802 by a more conventional lighthouse, and this in turn was replaced by the present structure designed by George Halpin in 1854. More recently, in January 1991, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and is monitored via a telemetry link from the Commissioners of Irish Lights headquarters at Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
South Clare provided us with spectacular coastal scenery, interesting roads and a fascinating journey’s end at the historic Loop Head Lighthouse, and we look forward to continuing our exploration of this underrated part of Ireland at a future date.
Recommended
StaySleep where Che Guevara stayed, at the Strand Bistro and Guesthouse
EatThe award-winning Murphy Blacks Restaurant
SeeLoop Head lighthouse has simply magnificent views. Also, check out some of the 140 bottlenose Dolphins at the mouth of the Shannon
For more routes and information, see The Irish TimesGreat Drives app at irishtimes.com/mobile