Tag Archives: The Wild Atlantic Way

The landmark Loop Head Lighthous will open to the public for the first time this year on  Friday. Located at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary on the Loop Head Peninsula, it is one of two “Signature Discovery Points” in County Clare along the route of the Wild Atlantic Way It also is a landmark location on the Loop Head Heritage Trail and is one of 12 Great Lighthouses of Ireland. Loop Head Lighthouse is steeped in history and is rich in maritime heritage, with its origins dating back to the 1670s. The existing tower style lighthouse was constructed in 1854 and was operated and maintained by a keeper who lived within the lighthouse compound. In January 1991, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation, and today is monitored by the CIL.

THE tourism industry is up 20% on last year in some parts of the county. As the summer draws to a close, former chairman of the Irish Hotels Federation and Lahinch hotelier, Michael Vaughan, has said that, on average across the county, it is up by 5% or 6% and that the hotel sector could be back to 2007 peak levels within the next two years. “It was slow enough at the early part of the year but it improved as we got towards the main months and certainly the Wild Atlantic Way has brought tourists out along the coast, there is no doubt about that. Certainly there has been an improvement of at least 5% and 6% on last year and last year was up too, so we are getting closer to where we were before the bust came about. I think the figure we would love to reach is back to 2007 figures, which was the height of …