Kilkee, the elixir of life

Well-known Limerick writer, Maureen Sparling reflects on one of her favourite places

“With lofty hills and time-worn crags,
Here is the spot where time just lags.”

I speak of Kilkee, of course, a sleepy seaside resort 40 miles from Ennis in West Clare. Often referred to as Corca Baiscinn, it boasts only one main street, O’Curry Street (formerly Albert Road), which runs parallel to the Strand Line. So, it is quite impossible to duck anyone you may not wish to meet because if you don’t bump into them going down O’Curry Street, then you surely will do so when you round the corner and walk back the Strand Line.
Since the 1800s there has been a steady flow of people frequenting this spot for their summer holidays, people who travelled mainly from Limerick but in later years, you might come across people from any county of Ireland there. Why then, one may ask, is a seaside resort that has but one main street and no night-life except for the old reliable, the pub, still so very popular well over a century and a half later?
Well, first and foremost, the salt sea air blowing across the vast Atlantic Ocean is vibrantly exhilarating. As far back as the 19th century, people made the trip there simply for the improvement or for the enhancement of their health. One such person was Mary John Knott, a Quaker from Cork. Having spent two months in this reclusive and may I add, exclusive, spot back in the year 1835, she took notes during her sojourn there which resulted in her having a book published, entitled Two Months in Kilkee. In that book, which was very wisely republished by Clasp Publications some years ago, she records the following observation, “The waves are seen from our windows, dashing to the tops of the cliffs, upwards of 60ft high. The scene is truly magnificent. The sea is magnificent, qualities of light, white foam, resembling snowballs or flocks of white birds blown into the country.”
Carrageen moss grew plentifully all along Kilkee’s coastline but its value wasn’t discovered until 1830. During a famine at that time, the moss was first used as a food and was deemed to be very nutritious. Soon it became a vital food for infants and invalids. Kilkee was also deemed a very good place to visit to be cured of injuries or for pains in the joints. Patients would be rubbed with seaweed that had been boiled in jelly. The benefit of the seawater was also a vital aid to good healing results. People were known to drink 25 pints a day.
But to return to my own impressions as to why this truly aquatic gem, which has been dubbed The Queen of Irish Watering Places, is still so very popular for the summer vacation. Well, beyond a very fine golf course stands the ever-present George’s Head, jutting out like a giant nose into the ocean and visible from almost any vantage point. Following an overnight of heavy rain, a person might be lucky enough to gather a bagful of mushrooms, that is if one is willing to climb the steep incline to the very top. A short distance away is another famous landmark, that of Burns’ Cove, for over a century a male preserve. However, of late years, the scene has changed drastically, which is no doubt due to the dogged perseverance and, may I say, the bravery on the part of a few pioneering ladies. Although I have not had the courage to venture down to said cove, to them I say, well done.
Over on the West End, where a younger version of that great actor and loyal Limerick and Munster rugby supporter, Richard Harris was in recent years sculpted in bronze belting forth his tennis racquet, there is the famous five-mile cliff walk. The dashing, crashing waves along that stretch have to be both seen and heard to be believed. Forget about your pills, this exhilarating walk is enough to cure most ills.
If you veer to the right a few yards into this walk, you will encounter another famous landmark, that of the Amphitheatre, so called because it was at this very spot that many Shakespearean plays were acted out and more besides back in the latter part of the 19th century and on into the earlier part of the 20th century. It is a well-documented fact that the bould Richard Harris kept audiences enthralled at this very spot in his youthful years. It is circular in shape and if you close your eyes, you can readily imagine the players performing, surrounded by a captive audience.
Kilkee also boasts a fine crescent or horseshoe-shaped beach that stretches from the East End to the West End. Over by the Diamond Rocks on the West End there are no less than three Pollock Holes, each one a very popular spot for serious swimmers.
Now, so far I’ve mentioned only a series of very simple, basic things but in the environs of Kilkee, basic things tend to reach monumental proportions. In the words of the poet, Aubrey de Vere:
“Here, man is nought, Nature supreme,
Where all is simply great that meets the eye,
The precipice, the ocean and the sky.”
Another renowned Limerick poet, Criostóir O’Flynn, who had a poetry collection published entirely on Kilkee, entitled Summer in Kilkee, makes the following observation:
“Yet George’s Head was carved by the sculpting waves,
Increasingly gargoyled with each winter storm,
The ruins on Bishop’s Island were mainland buildings
Around the time that Brian Boru was born.”
And yes, I almost forgot to mention the fact that the fishermen still stand outside that famous landmark, the Bayview, which was established in the year 1883, with crates of mackerel drawn from their early morning catch. As you make your meagre purchase, you’ll soon realise that the price you paid simply defies the rising unpalatable inflationary prices as off you go with your newspaper package, to bone and gut the said purchase before preparing a delicious oven dish together with added breadcrumbs, tomatoes and more. Ah but you’d lick your fingers after it.
And sure where would we be without the freshly picked dilisk and periwinkles, which are to be found on sale at either end of the strand line throughout the summer months. With your lightly salted delicacy you will be issued with a straight pin or two with which to manoeuvre the squiggly-wiggly, curly-wurly edible object from the safe, secure confines of its shell-covered enclosure.
All you need now is a cool pint of Guinness to wash them down. Speaking of the drink reminds me that a man having once asked a publican as to what time he closes, promptly received the reply, ‘September’.
Yes, there is that extra, added luxury. The pub owners down in this oceanic paradise seem not to comprehend the meaning of that dreaded word ‘Time’. In fact, they seem to be totally oblivious to its meaning. Sure that belongs to an altogether different world, the fast-moving one. Richard Harris described this Hacienda by the Sea as his ‘spiritual home’. Is it any wonder?
“Here by the crescent sea the children play,
Or bask in sunshine on the sandy bay;
Search in the rocky pools for crabs and traces
Of wondrous things in deep sea-weedy places.”