Loop Head
Ceann Léime · Co. Clare
While the crowds queue at the Cliffs of Moher, the Loop Head peninsula an hour south offers cliffs, sea stacks and lighthouse drama with hardly anyone around. This long finger of land between the Shannon Estuary and the open Atlantic ends at Loop Head Lighthouse, and the whole peninsula has quietly become one of Ireland's favourite slow-travel destinations.
The lighthouse and the head
A light has burned at Loop Head since the 1670s, when a coal-fired brazier stood on the roof of the keeper's cottage; the present tower dates from 1854 and still guards the Shannon approaches. In season you can climb the tower with a guide for a view that takes in Kerry, the Blaskets and — on the clearest days — the Twelve Bens of Connemara.
Beside the head, a dramatic sea stack stands split from the mainland, wheeling with seabirds, and the EIRE 45 wartime sign is marked out in stone on the grass. Scenes for Star Wars: The Last Jedi were filmed on these cliffs too.
Bridges of Ross and dolphins
On the peninsula's north shore, the Bridges of Ross were once three natural sea arches — one survives, and the spot is also one of Europe's most celebrated sea-watching sites for rare seabirds in autumn. The Shannon Estuary alongside holds Ireland's only known resident group of bottlenose dolphins, and dolphin-watching boats run from Carrigaholt and Kilrush in season.
Getting there
Loop Head is about an hour from Ennis via Kilrush and Kilkee, following the R487 down the peninsula. The Loop Head Drive makes a circuit of the peninsula's villages — Carrigaholt with its castle and seafood, Kilbaha with its pub at the end of the world. Kilkee's own cliff walk along the Duggerna Reef is a worthy warm-up on the way down.
Where it is
52.5637°N, 9.9273°W
Nearby stops
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