We arrived into Kilkee last weekend just in time to catch the sun setting over the bay which is viewed perfectly from our friend Anne’s house on the strand. She had invited us down for what turned out to be a highlight of our summer.
Not only is the location of the house perfect, but the surf-hut atmosphere and fact that the house is a no-tv/no video-games zone means that the children revert to all sorts of healthy native behaviors such as running around and playing games.
In the morning, Anne announced that she wanted to show us four secret spots in Kilkee before mass. So we set out for George’s Head which is a prominent headland at the northern mouth of the bay. We walked past the first secret which was the “Puffin Hole” (or possibly “Puffing Hole” ) where waves crash into an eroded rock causing water to shoot out the top. Unfortunately, the tide was too high for any puffing activity there.
The second secret, wasn’t really secret so much, but if you were a tourist you might head out to Byrne’s Cove for a protected swim and find yourself surprised by the tradition of men bathing nude here. Of course our girls casually responded: “We’re from San Francisco, we see that kind of stuff all the time..”
The third secret was a little sandy beach in a hidden cove that Anne calls “Horseshoe Bay”. I think she might be the only one who calls it that (besides us now). Just past this, we start to get adventurous and do a bit of rock-climbing.
The place we end up is the fourth secret which Anne has named “Seagull Shelf”. It appears to be one of the highest points of the headlands and is a sharp ridge of rock of rock at the top of the cliffs above the ocean.
You can lie right on the rock shelf and stick your head over to stare at the waves crashing on the rocks far below. Impressive and terrifying at the same time. Beats the heck out of the Cliffs of Moher.
We raced back from Seagull Shelf to Sunday Mass in a very large church which was as packed as I would have expected on Easter or Christmas – but this was just an ordinary Sunday. I’m told it is crowded because they only do one service per Sunday here, where in other towns there might be multiple times to go.
In any case, we had a beautiful lunch provisioned with fresh produce from the farmer’s market on the main street. I don’t even think they call it a Farmer’s Market here like we would in San Francisco. Here it’s just a market…the farmers are a given.
After lunch we headed out to the Pollock Holes – this was cool because you don’t see the name Pollock in too many places so we were very excited to see what geological wonder would be thusly named. Unfortunately, the fine partially sunny day was growing a bit darker and although it was still dry, it was starting to look a little less pleasant out. Nonetheless, we couldn’t *not* go to the Pollock Holes.
Turns out that the great rocky coastline of Western Ireland has formed deep protected pools here that are perfect for swimming in.
The Pollock Holes are not only perfect for swimmming, but they also harbor all manner of exciting marine life. The girls finally found the starfish in the wild that they have been searching for in every tidepool they see.
Here is a video of Grace trying to jump into the water and being distracted by the discovery of yet another starfish that she has to present to her sister. (you can hear the coastal wind coming in off the sea…and yes it is as cold as it sounds but this does not daunt the intrepid Irish swimmers)
Just as we were finished swimming and getting ready to go, the wind finally blew in a brisk shower which combined with the sun in the most exceptional double rainbow. Unfortunately, my iPhone camera doesn’t do it justice and only just captures the brighter main rainbow.
As a little parting blog-gift, here is a video of the same rainbow so you can see the whole thing.
You must be logged in to post a comment.