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QUILTY

CO. CLARE · IE

Quilty
Coillte, Co. Clare

The Wild Atlantic Way
STOP 09 / 09

Coillte · Co. Clare

A working fishing village where currach men once rowed out into a gale to save a wrecked crew, and a church got built to remember it.

Quilty is a working fishing village on the west Clare coast, strung along the N67 between Miltown Malbay and Doonbeg. Two hundred and eleven people at the last count. It has a church, a pub, a shop, a post office, and the Atlantic coming in hard across a low, rocky shore. This was Irish-speaking ground, classed as part of the west Clare Gaeltacht until 1956.

The thing to know about Quilty is the boats. At the turn of the last century the men rowed four or five miles out in currachs for haddock, ling, cod and mackerel, and the whole place lived off the sea and a bit of farming behind it. Seaweed was the other half of the living. Families gathered it off the rocks and dried it in long rows, and Quilty became one of the largest kelp producers on the west coast, beaten only by a stretch up in Sligo.

On 2 October 1907 a French three-masted ship, the Leon XIII, carrying wheat from Oregon to Limerick, lost her rudder off Mutton Island and was driven onto the reefs in Quilty Bay. The local fishermen took those same currachs out into an equinoctial gale and rescued the crew. A fund was raised to thank them, and the result is the Star of the Sea church with its round tower, finished in 1911. The ship's bell still stands inside it.

Do not come to Quilty for a surf beach or a row of cafes. The sand and the surf school are at Spanish Point, a few minutes north. Quilty is the quieter, harder-working neighbour - a pier, a beach or two at Seafield, big skies, and the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher away to the north on a clear day. Stop at the pier for five minutes and you have understood the place.

Population

~211 (2022)

Walk score

A church, a pub, a pier, and the Atlantic on three sides

Founded

Fishing settlement; church built 1909-1911 after the Leon XIII rescue

Coords

52.8167° N, 9.4500° W

01 / 09

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 rescue

In 1907 Quilty men rowed out into an equinoctial gale and saved thirteen sailors.

The French barque Leon XIII drove onto the reefs in Quilty Bay on 2 October 1907. Local fishermen took their currachs out through the Atlantic breakers and brought the crew ashore. The story built the church you can see from the road.

Stories & lore → 02 The work

Seaweed and fishing, not surfing and souvenirs.

Quilty was one of the biggest kelp producers on the western seaboard. Lobster, mackerel and bass still come in at the pier, and Wild Irish Seaweed run a hand-harvesting safari off the Caherush shore. The village does not chase the tourist trade.

Walks & outings →

02 / 09

The pubs.

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

The Quilty Tavern

The local, on the coast road

Village pub & bar

The pub in Quilty itself, on the N67. A straightforward west Clare bar - a pint, a fire, the racing on, and locals who will tell you the Leon XIII story if you ask and possibly if you don't. For anything more than a drink and bar food, the bigger spread of pubs and restaurants is at Spanish Point and Miltown Malbay a few minutes north.

03 / 09

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
The Quilty Tavern	Pub food, on the N67	€€	Bar food in the village itself. For a proper sit-down meal you are looking north to Spanish Point or Miltown Malbay, where the Armada Hotel's restaurant and Johnny Burke's bar do food, or south to Doonbeg.
Johnny Burke's	Bar & food at the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point	€€	Not in Quilty - a few minutes north at Spanish Point, attached to the Armada Hotel, where the hotel's story began over fifty years ago. A snug bar with an open fire, live music sessions, and a creamy seafood chowder that locals will point you to. The handiest food stop near Quilty.

04 / 09

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Clonmore Lodge B&B	Bed & breakfast, Quilty	A guesthouse on the site of a former landlord's residence, with panoramic views over the Atlantic. One of the village's own beds rather than a Spanish Point hotel.
Seacrest B&B	Farmhouse B&B, Quilty	A working-farmhouse B&B with views down the coast - on a clear day, out to the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. Quiet, rural, honest about what it is.
Quilty Holiday Cottages	Self-catering cottages	Self-catering between Quilty and Spanish Point, close to the beach. Useful if you want a base for the west Clare coast rather than a single night.

05 / 09

Stories & lore.

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

The rescue that built the church

The Leon XIII and the currach men

The Leon XIII left Portland, Oregon, in spring 1907 with a cargo of wheat for Limerick. A storm off the west Clare coast tore her sails and carried away her rudder near Mutton Island, and on 2 October she struck the reefs in Quilty Bay. The villagers heard her bell tolling in distress for days. With the equinoctial gales running and Atlantic breakers across the bay, the local fishermen put out in open currachs, reached the wreck and brought thirteen men ashore alive. A national fund was raised in gratitude. The foundation stone of a new church was laid in July 1909 and Our Lady Star of the Sea, Stella Maris, opened in autumn 1911. Years later the ship's own bell turned up at a London auction and was returned to the village. It stands inside the church today, alongside a model of the ship in a glass bottle.

A Hiberno-Romanesque church with a round tower

Our Lady Star of the Sea

The church on the rise above the village is a Hiberno-Romanesque building of dressed stone, built between 1905 and 1911 as the memorial to the rescue. Its round tower, topped with a conical cut-stone cap, is a deliberate nod to the old Irish monastic towers and is the landmark you see for miles along the N67. Inside, the bell of the Leon XIII and the model ship in a bottle keep the story in the building. It is free to enter and worth the few minutes.

St Senan, a signal tower, and the seaweed living

Mutton Island and the kelp shore

Off the coast lies Mutton Island, where St Senan is said to have founded a church in the early sixth century. A signal tower was raised there in the early nineteenth century to watch for a Napoleonic invasion and to help the coastguard against smuggling, and the island later served for a time as a prison. Back on the mainland, seaweed was the steady living for generations - hand-cut, dried on the rocks, burned for kelp. The tradition survives: Wild Irish Seaweed, a fourth-generation family business, run guided hand-harvesting safaris from the Caherush shore just south of the village.

06 / 09

Things to do outside.

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

The pier and Seafield Down to the fishing pier at Seafield, where a sandy peninsula carries a beach on either side. This is the working heart of the village - boats, lobster pots, the Atlantic. Five minutes here is the village; longer if the light is good across to Mutton Island.

Short strolldistance

20-30 minutestime

Caherush shore walk South of the village around the Caherush shore, a rocky, exposed stretch of coast and the launching point for the Wild Irish Seaweed safaris. Big skies and bigger weather. Check the tide and wear boots.

2 km returndistance

45 minutestime

Spanish Point beach A few minutes north, a Blue Flag beach with a surf school, free parking and facilities. This is the sand and surf that Quilty itself does not have. Good for a longer walk and a swim in season.

Beach walkdistance

30-60 minutestime

07 / 09

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The coast is clear and rough and very quiet. Good light for the church tower and the pier.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The N67 gets busier and Spanish Point fills up, but Quilty stays low-key. The seaweed safari runs and the sea is at its warmest, which is to say cold.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

West Clare in autumn - big weather, long light, almost no visitors. Early October is the anniversary of the Leon XIII.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

An exposed Atlantic coast in winter. The pub is the shelter. Check it is open before you make the drive out.

◐ Mind yourself

08 / 09

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

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

Treating Quilty as a surf town

Quilty is a fishing village with a rocky, exposed shore. The surf school, the Blue Flag sand and the wetsuit hire are at Spanish Point, a few minutes north. Go there for waves.

Expecting a row of cafes and restaurants

The village has a pub, a shop and a post office. For a proper meal you are driving to Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay or Doonbeg. Plan accordingly.

Driving past without stopping at the pier

Most people do the N67 in fifth gear. The whole point of Quilty is the harbour, the church tower and the story behind both. Pull in.

Getting there.

By car

On the N67 coast road, between Miltown Malbay (about 7 km north) and Doonbeg (about 9 km south). Roughly 25 km south of Lahinch and 40 km from Ennis.

By bus

Local Link Clare runs services along the west Clare coast between Ennis, Miltown Malbay, Quilty and Kilrush. Check current timetables - rural services are limited. There is no train; the West Clare Railway closed in 1961.