Tag Archives: Kilkee Sub Aqua Club

The Kilkee Sub Aqua Club Christmas Day swim is back with a splash this year after it inspired Failte Ireland to film swimmers and Santa enjoying the chilly Atlantic waters. The piece is running on RTE television during December to showcase its weather forecasts. Christmas arrived early this year in #Kilkee, County #Clare. On a blue-skied early November morning over 160 locals braved the cold to be part of @Failte_Ireland's festive ad now running on @WeatherRTE @rte #KeepDiscovering pic.twitter.com/oXJfg3iHdk — Fáilte Ireland (@Failte_Ireland) December 14, 2022 The swim will be re-enacted for real at 12.30pm on Christmas Day. Hosted by Kilkee Sub Aqua Club, the swim has been running for decades and is now an essential part of Christmas Day in Kilkee for visitors and locals alike. “It’s a great day out for young and old and really has become a major community event. And of course it whets the appetite for the Christmas Day dinner,” says Vanessa Keane, the …

AN international research group has welcomed the public attention on Basking Sharks in the wake of a viral video shot by divers off Kilkee last week. The video showed a large group of the giant sharks engaged in a courtship ritual, something that was also observed off Clare’s coast at around the same time last year. A spokesperson for the Irish Basking Shark Group (IBSG) told The Champion, “Basking sharks frequently occupy Irish waters on and off from April through September. They are known to feed here, and based on instances like those observed last week where they are gathering in big groups, basking sharks likely come to Ireland to court and potentially mate.” The group’s store of knowledge has been greatly advanced in the last year, often through the help of the general public sending them pictures and reports. That then allows the multidisciplinary team to square the sightings with any environmental factors that may be bringing the sharks …

T has been estimated the recent re-opening of Kilkee Dive Centre, which had been closed for two summers, will be worth €250,000 per annum to the economy in the resort town. Meelick man Gary Kiely, who has lived in Kilkee for three years, applied for and was granted the lease by Clare County Council, which will be reviewed in 2015 At this week’s West Clare Municipal District meeting, Councillor Ian Lynch urged the local authority to actively market the facility. “A quick calculation of the input from Athlone Diving Club and three or four clubs in total, you’re looking at over €250,000 of an annual contribution to the local economy. Clare County Council needs to market this and not sit back and let Mr Kiely look after the building. There must be a marketing package put in place by Clare County Council to make this work and to make this sustainable,” he stated. Mr Kiely feels the €250,000 estimate is …