The first time you come over the hill on the Kilrush road and see Kilkee laid out below you — the full horseshoe of it, the strand curving like a drawn bow, the Atlantic beyond — you will do what everyone does, which is pull in at the viewing spot and just look. Che Guevara painted here. Charlotte Brontë honeymooned here. And still, somehow, Kilkee stays off most Wild Atlantic Way itineraries. Their loss.
This Victorian seaside town on the West Clare coast wraps around one of the most perfect horseshoe bays in Ireland — and everything worth doing is within a walk of the strand. Here's how to spend a day in it, from first light to last pint.
Morning: walk the horseshoe
Start with the obvious: the mile of golden sand from the town to the west end, early, before the day-trippers arrive, when the only footprints ahead of yours belong to a dog and a swimmer. At low tide the bay is enormous, a great wet mirror for the sky. Come back at sunset, when the fields run gold down to the cliff edge and the Atlantic burns amber — it is the exact view we painted in Kilkee Bay at Sunset.
Midday: swim the Pollock Holes
At the west end, the receding tide leaves three deep, clear rock pools in the Duggerna Reef — the famous Pollock Holes. Generations of Clare people have learned to swim in them, and on a summer low tide you'll find three generations of the same family in the water together, all pretending it isn't cold. Go an hour either side of low water, and bring togs even if you swore you weren't swimming. You'll swim.
Afternoon: the cliff walk and George's Head
The looped cliff walk from the west end climbs past the old Victorian diving boards to Lookout Hill, then on along cliffs that locals will tell you — quietly, but firmly — outclass Moher. Across the bay, George's Head takes the full force of the ocean; on a big day, swells explode against its sea arch and you can feel the thump of it through the grass under your feet. That raw energy is exactly what we tried to catch in George's Head Storm.
Late summer bonus: the wildflowers
From July, the headland above the bay turns purple with sea asters catching the evening sun — the scene in Wildflowers at Sunset, Kilkee. Bring a camera, or better, don't. Sit down in the grass and let it happen around you.
Evening: stay past the crowds
Kilkee is best after the day-trippers leave: chowder and a pint, boats at anchor in the last of the light, someone's dog asleep in the doorway of the pub. If you want the feeling of a West Clare village after dark — the talk, the weather, the women who hold the whole place together — that's what our You Deserve This novels are made of. Twelve books, one coastline, start anywhere.
Make a weekend of it
Kilkee is the gateway to the Loop Head peninsula — our County Clare walking guide joins the two into one slow, unforgettable weekend on the Wild Atlantic Way.