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Carrigaholt Holiday Homes

Carrigaholt Holiday Homes Clare

Carrigaholt is a lovely little village with a bustling harbour watched over by a 15th century castle. The village is situated on the Loop Head Peninsula in County Clare.

It lies at the mouth of the Moyarta river, which flows into the estuary of the River Shannon about 15km from the tip of the Loop Head peninsula and about 10km from the resort town of Kilkee on the north coast of the peninsula.

The village boasts a ruined castle – Carrigaholt Castle – built in about 1480 by the McMahons, chiefs of the Corcabascin Peninsula. This tall, well-preserved five storey tower house stood guard over the mouth of the Shannon and the local fishing pier.

Fishing is still continued in the village with a small number of boats delivering their catches to a local processing company.

Carrigaholt is now famous for its dolphin and whale watching services. A local company (Dolphinwatch) offers boating trips to observe dolphins in the mouth of the Shannon River, home to one of the largest pods in Europe. The Carrigaholt Sea Angling Centre offers fishing packages for up to 8 fisherman at a time and runs a purpose built Lochin 366.

Catches include Ray, Conger, Bass, Dogfish, Tope, Cod, Pollock, Hake and Turbot. Bottom fishing from the pier will produce, dabs, flounder and lots of dogfish. Conger eels have been taken at night, right underneath the harbour walls.

The coastal scenery around Carrigaholt is spectacular with splendid examples of cliffs, sea-stacks, sea-caves, chasms and rocks; the well-known ‘Bridge of Ross’ is a sea-arch formed by marine erosion. An Oyster and Trad festival is held annually on the May Bank Holiday weekend and a Family Festival is held towards the end of August.

Carrigaholt has much to offer anyone who enjoys spectacular sea cliff scenery, bird watching, dolphin and whale watching, fascinating world-famous geology, wind surfing, kite surfing, fresh seafood restaurants and warm village pubs.