This article is from page 9 of the 2013-05-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
IN THE last three years the Loophead peninsula has gone from one of West Clare’s best kept secrets, to attracting thousands of visitors every year and being shortlisted as one of the top five places in Ireland to visit.
Much of the credit for the prominence of the Loop has been attributed to the local community who is working hard to promote the area and the opening of the lighthouse as a tourist attraction during the summer of 2011.
The numbers of tourists visiting the lighthouse has increased steadily since, and figures release yesterday (Monday) shows that despite the inclement weather conditions of the past two months, more than 2,000 tourists passed through its doors.
That is an average of 250 people every weekend.
The 19th century lighthouse’s opening hours will be extended to weekdays from the June bank holiday weekend and will remain open up to the end of September, attracting even more tourists.
The speculation of a local ghost is also adding to the mystery at the westerly lighthouse, with modern day ghost busters currently writing up a report of their findings in the historical building.
And the peninsula has been shortlisted in the last number of days as one of the five finalists in the The Irish Times Best Place to Holiday in Ireland competition.
For the competition – which has been running since March – members of the public were invited to nominate the places they love to holiday. The shortlist features three remote areas of natural beauty: the Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary; Inishbofin island, Co Galway; and Loop Head peninsula, alongside Derry city and Killarney, Co Kerry.
The Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly, congratulated the people of Loop head and said;
“The fact that Loophead has made the shortlist from an entry list of more than 1,400 destinations throughout Ireland is testament to the quality of the tourism product on offer. A huge amount of work is being carried out by local community groups, supported by Clare local authorities, to promote the peninsula as a visitor destination to both domestic and international tourists.”