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MULLAGH

CO. CLARE · IE

Mullagh
An Mullach, Co. Clare

The Wild Atlantic Way
STOP 08 / 08

An Mullach · Co. Clare

The hilltop village above the west Clare coast - a GAA stronghold, a church the Big Wind half-wrecked, and three pubs. The surf is up the road.

Mullagh is a hilltop village in west Clare, inland of the dune coast between Quilty and Spanish Point. The Wild Atlantic Way runs along the shore below it, but most WAW travellers are pointed at the surf at Lahinch or Spanish Point, the trad at Miltown Malbay, or the Loop Head peninsula further south. Mullagh is the parish village they pass on the way - a real working community rather than a stop on the brochure.

It is the centre of Kilmurry Ibrickane parish, which takes in Mullagh, Coore and the fishing village of Quilty. The parish lends its name to one of the strongest football clubs in the county. Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA trains in Mullagh and plays out of Quilty, and the run of county titles through the 2000s, with Munster club championships in 2004 and 2009, is the thing this corner of Clare is proudest of. If you want to understand the village, go to a match.

The village has a national school on the hill, a shop, a takeaway, a filling station, a garden centre, a community hall, a sports field and track, and three pubs. St Mary's Church sits at the heart of it, a big church with a story in its missing spire. In August the Mullagh Horse and Cattle Show fills the field for a day of livestock, family events and the kind of country gathering that does not advertise to tourists.

For a visitor, Mullagh is a place to base near the coast without paying resort prices, or a parish to understand if you are touring west Clare properly. The beaches are minutes away, Miltown Malbay and its Willie Clancy Summer School are seven kilometres north, and Kilrush and the Loop Head road open south. Come for the real version of the coast, not the postcard one.

Founded

St Mary's Church begun c. 1839; centre of Kilmurry Ibrickane parish

Coords

52.8000° N, 9.4139° W

01 / 08

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The name

An Mullach - the hilltop.

Mullagh sits on rising ground inland of the dune coast, 5 km southeast of Quilty and 6.5 km south of Spanish Point. The name means hilltop, and from the top of the village the ground falls away toward the Atlantic and Mount Callan stands to the northeast.

Stories & lore → 02 Kilmurry Ibrickane

One of west Clare's great football clubs trains here.

Mullagh is the centre of Kilmurry Ibrickane parish, and Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA - county football champions repeatedly through the 2000s and Munster club champions in 2004 and 2009 - has its training complex in the village. The club plays out of Quilty. GAA is the social spine of this stretch of coast.

Stories & lore → 03 The coast nearby

Between Miltown Malbay and Kilrush.

Miltown Malbay is 7 km north, Kilrush 22 km south. The surf beaches at Spanish Point and Lahinch are close, but Mullagh itself is a farming and parish village on the hill, not a beach resort. That is the honest distinction.

Getting here →

02 / 08

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The village pubs

Local, GAA, parish

Three pubs in the village

Mullagh has three pubs for a village this size, which tells you how central they are to parish life. These are locals' bars - football talk, a pint, the parish notices on the wall - rather than tourist houses. For a wider choice of food and music, Miltown Malbay is seven kilometres north and Quilty has the seafront bars five kilometres west.

03 / 08

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Clare Country Cottages	Self-catering cottages	Self-catering accommodation in the Mullagh area, useful as a base for the west Clare coast without paying Lahinch or Spanish Point prices. Beyond this the nearer beds are at Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay and Quilty - check availability ahead in summer when the Willie Clancy week fills the whole district.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A spire that came down in 1839 and never went back up

St Mary's and the Night of the Big Wind

Building of the present St Mary's Church in Mullagh began around 1839, a large church planned to hold a congregation in the thousands, replacing an older Mass house. The tower and spire were almost finished when, on the night of 6 January 1839, the Oíche na Gaoithe Móire - the Night of the Big Wind, the great storm that battered the whole of Ireland - sent them crashing through the newly completed roof. The spire was never rebuilt. The church still stands at the centre of the village, a protected structure on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. The missing spire is its quiet historical scar.

The voice of GAA Sunday, and a singer of west Clare

Marty Morrissey country

Mullagh has given Irish broadcasting two of its better-known voices. Marty Morrissey, the RTÉ commentator and presenter whose name is practically shorthand for Championship Sunday, is a Mullagh man. So is P.J. Murrihy, the singer-songwriter whose ballads of west Clare life have a following well beyond the county. For a small hilltop parish that is a fair share of national airtime, and locals will tell you so.

The parish team that conquered Munster

Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA

Kilmurry Ibrickane is the football club of the parish, drawing players from Mullagh, Coore and Quilty. It trains on the complex in Mullagh and plays its home games in Quilty. The club took a string of Clare senior football titles through the 1990s and 2000s and went on to win the Munster Senior Club Football Championship in 2004 and again in 2009, reaching the All-Ireland club series. In a parish this size, those banner years are living memory and still talked about. The pitch and the pubs are where you will hear it.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Seafield Beach and the coast The nearest sea is at Seafield, on the coast west of the village toward Quilty - a quiet strand good for walking, swimming and seasonal birdwatching, well away from the busier surf beaches. The shoreline walking here is flat and open with big Atlantic skies.

Variabledistance

1h+time

Lanes around Mullagh Hill Quiet farm lanes climb and fall around the hilltop the village is named for. On a clear day the views reach toward Mount Callan, the coast and, on the best days, the Aran Islands offshore. Informal walking on quiet roads - watch for farm traffic.

3-5 kmdistance

1 hourtime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The coast is quiet and clear, and the GAA season is getting going. Good walking before the summer crowds reach the nearby beaches.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay in late June and early July makes the whole district worth visiting, and the Mullagh Horse and Cattle Show is the village's own August day out.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Big Atlantic weather, championship football in the air, and nearly nobody on the coast. A good honest time to be in west Clare.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

The Atlantic winter is serious on this coast. The village keeps going - the pubs, the church, the school - but bring weatherproofs and expect short days.

◐ Mind yourself

07 / 08

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a beach resort

Mullagh is a hilltop parish village, not a seaside town. The beaches at Seafield and Spanish Point are close, but the village itself is farming and football country. Come for the real community, not a promenade.

Looking for tourist restaurants and bars

The three pubs are locals' houses and the shop and takeaway are for the parish, not for visitors. For a sit-down meal or a music session, head to Miltown Malbay (7 km) or down to Kilrush.

Getting there.

By car

Mullagh is on the N67 coast road between Miltown Malbay (7 km north) and Kilrush (22 km south). Quilty is 5 km west on the coast, Spanish Point about 6 km north. Ennis, the county town, is around 40 km northeast.

By bus

Local Link Clare runs rural services through west Clare linking the coastal villages with Miltown Malbay, Ennistymon and Ennis. Check current timetables - rural frequencies are limited. The nearest mainline rail is Ennis, on the Limerick line.