After Feakle we headed back to the West Coast, booked into a B&B in Spanish Point, and then took a short drive south to Kilkee, a resort town on the Atlantic.

View from our room on Spanish Point.

Folks harvesting Periwinkles on the Shoreline in Kilkee.

And a woman selling them nearby.  These tiny critters are delicious.

                                           Storm Clouds are rarely far away

And pass with a little rain.

Ireland is famous for its beautiful roses. This one graced a front yard in Kilkee.

There are small rental cottages along the main street.

Kids of all ages practice Hurley on the beach.

An old farmhouse sits on a bluff above the ocean.

Kilkee, like most resort towns, is attracting new development. We passed Trump’s massive golf resort not far from here.

After we had a fish and chips lunch in town we headed back to Spanish Point where Mitch played a late round of golf on the links course next to our B&B. True links golf courses are located on the ocean, are hilly, and have a deep rough. Bring plenty of golf balls.

Here’s Mitch heading for his ball in the sand trap. “Almost” a great tee shot from the ridge in the background. But this ain’t horseshoes.

The next day we traveled a short distance north to Lahinch, another beach town on the Atlantic. Surfing is quite popular and you can often see over a hundred surfers in the water at the same time.

 Surf School

Another Hurler on the beach. Very impressive.

We left Lahinch in the late afternoon of the August 11th and went into the small town of Ennis which is the center of County Clare. Here we checked out the old Franciscan Monestery (1380).

Relief of Saint Francis with Stigmata

Sculpture of Christ with hands bound

At the end of the day we headed back to Quin where we had started our journey eleven days before. We visited Knappogue Castle which we had missed the first time around.

Medieval banquets are held here, but no one was around when we arrived. There was, however, a lovely walled garden on the grounds.

A short distance away was the Craggaunowen Heritage Project which is restoring and recreating dwellings, farms, and everyday life from the Pre-historic and Early Christian Eras.

The Tower House of Craggaunowen Castle was built by John MacSioda MacNamara around 1550. The MacNamara clan dominated the region for more than a thousand years.

The Crannog- Common lake dwelling during the Iron Age and Early Christian Periods.

The Brendan- a rendering of the vessel captained by St. Brendan the Navigator (6th Century) who some claim was the first explorer to arrive in the “Promised Land” across the Atlantic.

Then back to Ardsollus Farm B&B where we spent the last night before heading HOME.