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Lahinch, a small sea-side town in West Clare, has two principal claims to fame; a fine beach and a splendid links golf course.
The beach is open to the full force of Atlantic winds and waves, and on any fine Sunday between May and September most of the population of Ennis and its environs can be found disporting themselves on the long stretches of sand; parking on such days can be a real headache. Across the road from the beach is a modern, well-maintained and pleasantly warm swimming pool, and aquarium: much appreciated by families with children; there is also a tea-room and shop.
In recent years Lahinch has also become a bit of a 'mecca' for the surfing community, and has bcome a regular haunt of those who gather on the west coast of Ireland every year, for the surfing conditions to be found from this point all the way up to Donegal.
Complementing the beach, and not far from it, is a traditional eighteen-hole golf links which has a national reputation. It is a test for the most competent golfer, when the wind blows, which it does most of the time, and on a blustery day, for a hacker whose 'game' is likely to disintegrate under pressure, a round at Lahinch can be a humbling and chastening experience; indeed many golfers at the early stages of the disease have been cured here for good. Each summer it hosts the South of Ireland Championship, at which time it is to be avoided, for the tee-boxes are then set well back and the rough - a particularily stiff and edgy sort of dune-grass - is allowed to grow in upon the fairways. To cater for the duffer, and to rid the course people of such hackers, a new, non-intimidating eighteen-hole golf course was created some years ago adjacent to the real one; it is reasonably manageable. The real links was originally laid out by members of the Black Watch regiment, then stationed at Limerick, who with Scottish acumen spotted the golfing potential of this stretch of windy dunes.
Another peculiarity of this links course is the herd of meteorological goats: the locals insist that these beasts foretell the coming weather by the parts of the links on which they choose to graze, and that the golfers at the clubhouse can decide whether or not to leave the bar to play, which proves that fisherman are not the only sportsmen who are inclined to stretch the truth.
Other towns of County Clare
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