demm42 - County Clare (Ireland) #4/6

County Clare Coastline (Kilkee - Kinvarra)

On this page I'll continue the tour around the coastline of County Clare, from Kilkee through Doonbeg, Spanish Point to Lahinch, and then briefly past Doolin, Fanore, Ballyvaughan to Kinvarra.

We leave Kilkee on the N67 towards Milltown Malbay. The first village you come to is Doonbeg, a typical irish village with a golf course that boasts some of the finest golf in the world (someday I fancy taking up golf when I make my fortune, I wish). It (the golf course) certainly seems to get a fair few mentions on the internet.

Doonbeg also appears to play host to a few festivals thoughout the year. Checkout the Doonbeg Info webpage for more details.

A little further up the coast we found the beach which we considered to be the nicest in County Clare. The other thing we liked about this beach is the fact that its off the beaten track which makes it fairly peaceful. We came back four times during the week to enjoy all the usual beach activities from rock pooling to building sandcastles to paddling.

The next village is Quilty, which is spoilt by the smell of the seaweed in the bay (overpowering when the winds blowing the wrong direction). This is a shame because it's another nice village with a local shop worth a stop if you hungry or thirsty.

A little further up the coast you get the choice of continuing along the N67 into Milltown Malbay before turning left towards Lanhinch, or turning left onto the R482 which then takes you through Spanish Point which I believe is named after one of the Spanish Armada ships was wrecked off Mutton Island nearby.

Continuing up the coast we reach the surfers paradise that is Lahinch.

If you like the surf, then this is the place to go, where you can hang out with other surfers, ride the waves, and generally do the things that surfers enjoy doing.

For everyone else, its another lovely small town with a main street that consists of quite a few shops (but don't expect to spend hours looking around the shop) and numerous restaurants/pubs, most of which I wouldn't have minded visiting for a bite or drink (if I wasn't driving).

Mrs O'Brien's Kitchen was the place that really caught our eye, although we weren't quite ready to inflict our over excited daughter on them (or their customers).

And finally, something I haven't mentioned yet on this page of the tour, public toilets. Yes from Kilkee, this was the next place where we found public toilets.

The next part of the coastline from Lahinch to Kinvarra we didn't really tour in any great detail, so I'll briefly mention what we did see. Liscannor, the first vilage out of Lahinch has a lovely gift shop next door to the village shop. This was one of the few gift shops we found that was particularly aimed at the visitors to the area.

The Cliffs of Moher and O'Briens Tower are short distance up from this, but expect to pay at the car park if you visit during the daytime.

Doolin is another of the few villages that's aimed at tourists. Ferry trips to the Aran Islands can be caught from here, and Doolin itself has numerous accommodation options, a small fun fair and is said to be (on some websites) the traditional music capital of Ireland.

The road up to Black Head and around to Ballyvaughan certainly feels remote, but is picturesque with a beach (and toilets) at Fanore. Look out for the fish and chip caravan outside the pub (can't remember it's name). The chips are definitely recommended.

The final stretch from Ballyvaughen along the N67 takes you through the villages of Bealaclugga, Burren onto Kinvarra (sometimes spelt Kinvara), our final destination on the tour of the coastline.

This village has a lovely bay (as you can probably see in the picture) along with another nice yellow painted pub (not in the picture. I really must learn to start taking notes of the places I visit!!).

We had a walk around the village which once again is very nice. A few shops (and pubs/hotels) can be found along the main street, although the place has a generally unspoilt feel to it.

And you can probably guess the only thing it's missing. Yes, toilets (unless you go in a pub).

Just outside Kinvarra is Dunguaire Castle. Built in the 1500's, the castle has changed hands numerous times and is now owned and run by Shannon Heritage.

It can be visited during the summer months although we didn't actually have a tour around due to arriving at the castle late in the day. Okay, the prices put us off as well. This said, it did look an interesting place to have a look around and learn about the history of the area. The small gift shop is also worth a visit.

I apologise for appearing to rush this last section of the coastline around County Clare from Lahinch, but as previously stated we only toured this area on one of the days and didn't really stop anywhere along this section. This said, having just written about it, I do feel we missed out. Maybe we'll get back someday.

One final attraction probably worth a mention, is Aillwee Cave, near Ballyvaughan. Once again, we didn't visit it, but from hearing the comments from other tourists, it sounded well worth a look around.

Well that concludes page 4 of the tour. Check out page 5 for a look at Gort and the surrounding areas.