Jenga Pod

06/09/2024

03/09/2024

15/08/2024

💛💙 Visit County Clare, the home of great times! 💛💙

🚶‍♀️ Explore the rich history and vibrant culture of medieval Clare's Capital with Ennis Walking Tours! 🏰

📜 Join local guide Dr. Jane O’Brien as she leads you through the atmospheric streets and "bow-ways" of this colourful market town. With a PhD in History and an MA in Local History, Jane offers an entertaining and thought-provoking tour, blending historical sources with the modern realities of Ennis. 🌟

🗓️ Tours operate year-round for private bookings, with pre-scheduled tours from May to October. Perfect for history enthusiasts and those looking to uncover the secrets of this extraordinary town.

Discover Ennis with Ennis Walking Tours and immerse yourself in its captivating past!
Read more here:
🔗 https://visitclare.ie/activities/ennis-walking-tours/

14/08/2024

Carrigaholt, Shannon Estuary, Co.Clare
https://westclare.net/

14/08/2024

06/08/2024

31/07/2024

12/07/2024

E-bikes (Electric bicycles) are a wonderful way to explore the quiet cliff roads & country lanes of the Loop Head peninsula.

Book your e-bike on their new website today and enjoy an afternoon exploring the peninsula.

https://www.loopheadebikes.ie/

08/07/2024

💛💙Visit County Clare, the home of great times! 💛💙

Discover the natural wonder of the Bridges of Ross in West Clare. Located on the western side of Ross Bay near Kilbaha, this stunning sea stack offers breath-taking views just a short walk from the car park. Once part of three ‘bridges,’ the sole remaining sea stack continues to captivate visitors with its rugged beauty.

08/07/2024

The castle at Carrigaholt has always been a beautiful landmark, from its location in the estuary to the view it offers when you drive into Carrigaholt from Kilkee.

Read more: https://loveloophead.com/wander-around-the-grounds-of-carrigaholt-castle/

06/07/2024

Kilbaha, the last village on the Loop Head peninsula, is tucked into a small, sheltered bay at the western edge of the Shannon Estuary. Looking south across the river, the village enjoys arresting views of Kerry Head and the Brandon Mountains.
Kilbaha’s small, picturesque pier was built in the early 19th century to cater to the large numbers of people making their living from fishing, gathering seaweed, and piloting large ships going up the Shannon to Limerick docks. It was also used by cargo vessels bringing supplies to Loop Head Lighthouse, four miles west of the village. Around the headland from the pier, and visible as you approach the village from the east, is a castellated turret built by the Keane family for the Victorian ladies to enjoy the view. The ruins of the Keane home stand nearby on the top of the hill.

02/07/2024

26/06/2024

Barnyard open 7 days from 9am

25/11/2023

If you are fighting through traffic just now or scrabbling for a parking space and pushing yourself along a busy street....
Imagine driving along the Loophead coast road, Free parking here at The Long Dock. Combining a coffee some dining and some Christmas shopping....sounds good doesn't it!

06/11/2023

10/10/2023

Scattery Island, County Clare, 1880.
Uninhabited since 1978, this truly remarkable photo captures a moment in time on one of Ireland's least known but most fascinating islands.

An unnamed man takes a moment to rest and gaze towards the mainland, while another continues to work on his currach.
At the time of the photo the population of the island was at its zenith (according to Clare County Library's fantastic account of island life), with the currachs facilitating the main source of employment for the island residents.

As can be most clearly seen in the foreground, many of the dwellings (the area being known as 'The Street') were rope thatched.
Until fairly recent times, Roped houses were a feature of the landscape all along exposed Atlantic coastal locations, from the Beara Peninsula in the far south-west, right up around the west coast, and on around the north coast all the way down to the beautiful uplands of County Down.

In practice, a network of hand-made súgán (straw) ropes were stretched horizontally and vertically over the thatch and tied to timber or stone pegs that projected from the walls of the dwelling, below the eaves.
When firmly secured, these straw ropes ensured the thatch remained steadfast, regardless of the ferocity of the gale.
Our ancestors knew what they were doing!
Less than twenty intact examples (that still utilise the original pegs) now remain, all in County Donegal.
Additionally, on Valentia Island, County Kerry, a lone example is just about hanging in there under a tarpaulin covering.

At the time of the 1901 census all fifteen of the occupied dwellings on the island were classified as second or third class houses, indicating that none of the dwellings were one room cabins and that all had windows and a chimney.
All were sturdy structures with thick stone walls and eleven of the fifteen were still thatched.
During the course of the twentieth century a couple of the still thatched dwellings had a tin covering fitted over the original roof structure.
The surviving historic thatched roof structures all rotted and caved in after the island's remaining inhabitants began to depart for the mainland as the twentieth century progressed.

The island is now in the care of the State (OPW), with the majority of the dwellings in the photo having been reroofed in recent years (hence the inclusion on this page), all with distinctive red tin roofs.
A similar intervention was carried out on a number of the dwellings on the now uninhabited UNESCO listed Scottish island of St Kilda.
Indeed, the impression given by the uniform whitewashed walls and red tin roofs on Scattery Island is quite striking, though not historically accurate to the lived experience of many of the island's inhabitants, at least during the period discussed here.

The approximate date Robert French took this incredible photo is hard to pin down as there are two separate listings on the National Library of Ireland's website.
One listing places the image among a group of photos which the National Library dates as being 'published/created' in 1865.
The other listing places the date somewhere between 1870 and 1890.
For the purposes of this post I've erred on the side of caution, opting for a totally unscientific 1880 date.

01/09/2023

Swimming in the "Po***ck Holes" and the Cliffwalk, two of the many popular activities in Kilkee, Co.Clare
westclare.net/kilkee.htm

25/08/2023

There are many reasons to visit Loop Head:

🎻 - traditional Irish music sessions
🚲 - rural roads to cycle
🗺 - walking trails with amazing views
📸 - the best photographic locations
🌊 - wave watching on the cliffs of the Wild Atlantic Ocean
🌹 - wildflowers
🦋 - biodiversity
🐦 - birdwatching
🩱 - wild swimming
🐬 - home to numerous Bottlenose Dolphins
🛁 - seaweed baths

24/07/2023

Loop Head Peninsula is approximately 72km round trip from Moyasta to the Loop Head Light House. You can easily make a trip in one day where you will see many unique sites. But why rush - book in for the night and take your time over some of the most inspiring scenery steeped in history and meet the friendliest locals who are always happy to tell a story.

14/07/2023

On Fridays we eat fish.... and we know the perfect place for fish and chips. Keatings Kilbaha. With fresh, locally caught fish and friendly service its always been a firm favourite for locals and visitors time and time again.

13/07/2023

Loop Head Summer Skies ⛅

Having earned its name as one of the Wild Atlantic Way’s most dramatic headland, Loop Head offers something for everyone.

Book your tour of the lighthouse: https://loopheadlighthouse.ie/