Tag Archives: Wild Atlantic Way

A NORTH Clare councillor has been sharply critical of the decision by Fáilte Ireland not to erect Wild Atlantic Way signage in Miltown Malbay. Councillor Róisín Garvey told the June meeting of the West Clare Municipal District that sometimes local authority members knew better than Fáilte Ireland when it came to tourism development projects. In response to the Green Party member calling for Miltown, “the real gateway to West Clare” to be put on the route, using new signage, the tourism authority said it had no plans to do so. A written reply to Councillor Garvey’s motion from Miriam Kennedy, Head of the Wild Atlantic Way, said it was felt that Miltown was already part of the destination marketing plan. “Being on or adjacent to the Wild Atlantic Way,” Ms Kennedy said, “offers destinations an opportunity to influence the visitor’s travel patterns as they navigate along the route and given Miltown Malbay’s immediate proximity to the route, it is considered …

  A KILLALOE-based photographer has snapped up €40,000 for a local charity by completing a gruelling 1,000 kilometres along the Wild Atlantic Way . Ciara McCullough collected this donation for the Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick after running from Derry to Kinsale on consecutive days and welcomed other runners to join her during her arduous journey. The Ballinahinch native, who moved to Killaloe three years ago, is delighted to have raised such a large sum for this charity, having seen children benefit from their work. “I have witnessed first hand the work the Children’s Grief Centre does and what a positive impact it has on children. It is a charity that is close to my heart as it has helped people who are close to me. “I just wanted to give something back. I love the conversation the founder St Helen Culhane has around the topic of grief. “In Ireland we can dismiss things like grief as we feel we …

LOOP Head Lighthouse will open on Saturday, March 16 as the historic West Clare landmark opens to the public for the first time this year. The Kilbaha based lighthouse is located at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary on the Loop Head Peninsula, which is one of two “Signature Discovery Points” in  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 Commissioners of Irish Lights. The lighthouse, which attracted almost 25,000 visitors in 2018, will remain open daily (10 …

  The Government has come under fire for “neglecting” two of the main West Clare towns – Kilkee and Kilrush. Michael Haugh from Doonbeg is keenly aware of impact of rural depopulation in West Clare, having seen the closure of Baltard National School in recent years. He believes that urgent action is needed to secure a major new industry for West Clare. “The Government has neglected towns like Kilkee and Kilrush. They are putting no new industry into these towns. “I have been to towns in Kerry where ministers like Dick Spring got in industries to places like Tralee and Killorglin. “What can be done to create jobs? A big factory should be brought into Kilrush. They have these factories in places like Killorglin, Kenmare and Cahersiveen but not in Clare. “Our problem is we don’t have a senior minister. Brendan Daly brought the Kilrush Creek Marina to Kilrush, nothing else has happened since then. “We need a big industry …

From Carrigaholt in the Loop Head pensinsula to Carron in the northern part of the county, the Clare coastline offers unrivalled and breath-taking views. All along the Wild Atlantic Way, the world’s longest defined coastal touring route, the spectacular scenery embellishes the tourism offering from quaint eateries, to pretty seaside villages, sandy bays and cliff top walks. Put simply, the Wild Atlantic Way is inspiring, renewing, relaxing and invigorating and this week The Clare Champion, in collaboration with The Connacht Tribune, has published the first ‘Where West’ magazine, the ultimate guide to planning your holiday break along the west coast of Ireland. Business Development Manager with The Clare Champion, Leo O’Connor said Clare is renowned for its tourism offering and the development of the Wild Atlantic Way has added another important string to its bow. He said Where West is designed to showcase businesses and events throughout counties Clare and Galway encompassing all that is best along the Wild Atlantic …

IMAGES of Lahinch were beamed into the homes of some one million people in Sweden recently, in an episode of a popular TV show called Go’kväll. The show aired on Sveriges Television, the national public broadcaster in Sweden, and focused on seaweed-foraging and locally-produced beer. It also featured the spectacular County Clare landscape. Filming took place last summer and was supported by Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Viewers of Go’kväll saw reporter Joachim Vogel interview local seaweed forager Oonagh O’Dwyer, from Wild Kitchen, as well as Birgitta and Peter Curtin from The Burren Brewery. A separate episode featuring County Clare also aired at the end January, featuring Lisdoonvarna matchmaker Willie Daly and The Burren. “Tourism Ireland was delighted that Go’kväll chose to film in Clare. With an audience of more than one million viewers per episode, it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase County Clare and the Wild Atlantic Way,” said Julie McLaughlin, Tourism Ireland’s manager for the Nordic Region. …

The Wild Atlantic Way is one hour from winning even more tourists for 2018 thanks to a world-first social media competition that has seen Shannon Airport shortlisted for a Cologone, Germany route. Shannon will vie with two other airports – Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Trapani in Italy – in a vote-off in the first ever Facebook competition for an airline service. The novel competition by Eurowings offers the opportunity to regions to have a direct service to Cologne on its summer schedule for next year.  The service would be another major boost to tourism along the western seaboard, with the German demand growing for the unique and increasingly popular Wild Atlantic Way offering. The vote will take place on Eurowings’ Facebook account facebook.com/eurowings/ (the link will also be available on www.shannonairport.ie) between 2pm and 3pm on Wednesday. The airports were announced as the three shortlisted out of ten selected earlier for the competition. Shannon is the only Irish airport in Ireland to …

Travel bible Lonely Planet has named two routes on the island of Ireland – the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route – as two of the “world’s ultimate road trips”, in its new publication Epic Drives of the World. The Wild Atlantic Way covers the length of the west Clare coastline from Loop Head to Ballyvaughan. Welcoming the news, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “The inclusion of the Wild Atlantic Way in Lonely Planet’s new ‘Epic Drives of the World’ is wonderful news and will surely help to inspire travellers everywhere to put Ireland on their holiday wish-list. It is another well-deserved accolade for Ireland and our spectacular scenery, which provides Tourism Ireland with a great hook to continue to promote the Wild Atlantic Way and the island of Ireland around the world as a ‘must visit’ destination.”