Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Patrick O’Donovan has unveiled the route for the Shannon Estuary Drive – the first in what is hoped to be a series of drives to be developed by Fáilte Ireland in collaboration with local stakeholders
The aim is to encourage visitors to discover the variety of inland visitor experiences as they travel along the Wild Atlantic Way. The Shannon Estuary drive is a looped route of approximately 135 miles.
“The Shannon Estuary Way new visitor experience provides a significant opportunity for Limerick and Ennis, as gateway towns to the Wild Atlantic Way, and will open up the region’s inland hinterland to visitors as well as support the strong local accommodation base and variety of visitor attractions and services along the route.
“As the Wild Atlantic Way continues to grow, we can now start to develop additional experiences for visitors to enjoy and, through initiatives like this, we can start to develop tourism activity which ensures a greater spread of visitors across the West of Ireland,” Minister O’Donovan said at the launch in Glin, County Limerick.
A brand new visitor friendly map of the Shannon Estuary route has now been designed and printed to promote the locality’s key visitor experiences, attractions, towns and villages. The map is now ready for distribution to local businesses and tourist information offices for the 2017 summer season. The map will also be available in key accommodation hubs and all major attractions along the route and will be published on www.wildatlanticway.com.
The Shannon Estuary drive is a looped route incorporates the following locations: Limerick City, Kilcornan, Askeaton, Foynes,Tarbert, Killimer, Labasheeda, Killadysert,Ballynacally, Clarecastle, Ennis and Bunratty.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.