Lahinch was just a great place to grow up. Three hundred odd people, no pun intended, a long sandy beach on one side, a rocky shore with tide pools on the other. The water was cold and the waves were strong, so I never learned to swim, though others were more brave. Now every other child surfs and we have three surf schools.
A swimming pool, dance hall and cinema opened in the late 1950s and life in Lahinch has not been the same since. We now have no dance hall or cinema, but we do have three discos and a nightclub, not to mention 14 pubs, and many hotels and restaurants.
And of course two 18 hole golf courses, which is what Lahinch is most famous for.
All in all it's a very busy little town in the high season, too busy for my liking, but as I have never had to earn a living from the place, nobody much cares what I think about that . If you want peace and quiet in Lahinch avoid July, August and bank holiday weekends.

When I was young, the combination of a high tide and a gale would send waves crashing over the house, and we could paddle in salt water in our front porch. If you don't believe me you can read this account from the Clare Journal of December 17th 1894. I was about two years old then.

"We hear the Aberdeen Esplanade was subjected to a genuinely critical test on Thursday evening when one of the highest tides in the last fifteen years occurred at the resort. The waves were of phenomenal force and flung themselves against the sea front in huge masses, washing over the the promenade. They broke against O'Brien's Lodge several times. The water entered the front door and and was dashed up on to the second floor, so terrible was it's velocity".

That wall was the Aberdeen Esplanade, now it is called the Battlements and is the wall in the bottom picture.
Or this account from The Clare Champion of January 7th, 1956

"During a recent spring tide at Lahinch, a child, Mary C.Comer, aged 6 years, was saved from drowning by the quick action of and presence of mind of very Rev. J.G. Jennings, P.P., Ennistymon....A spring tide was flowing at the time and suddenly huge waves came in onto the rocks in rapid succession....the little Comer girl was brought out to sea by the force of the receding waves."

My fifteen seconds of fame and they spelled my name wrong. Since then they have put big rocks below the Promenade to slow down erosion, but the waves at Lahinch still draw people from near and far during a storm, and the sea still washes over the Prom, up the lanes and down the street, as you can see in the black and white photo from 1978, which was sent to me by my cousin Mike Slattery, and the tail end of Hurricane Hugo caught by Micheail O'Dwyer in September 1998. We used to say that you could see New York on a clear day, but actually it should have been Newfoundland. Lahinch is a wonderful place to visit, and if you would like to read more about visiting Cillstifiann, which is the blue house in the photo at the top of this page, click below.

Rent Cillstifiann

Burren Page

Golf at Lahinch