キルキー：アイリッシュタイムズによれば、「アイルランドの休暇に最適な場所」！

We are nearly-retired Mainers originally from Massachusetts and the Midwest. The kids are gone (mostly), and the grandkids visit when they can. We're happy to have this retreat in a gorgeous coastal spot on the "Wild Atlantic Way" of County Clare, and we hope you'll enjoy it, too.

Tom's grandfather emigrated from Kilkee just about a century ago, in 1913. Thus it was especially meaningful recently to buy a little piece of the Old Sod. Kilkee is a wonderful place -- quiet in the off-season, hopping in the height of the summer, with great amenities from restaurants to music festivals, and the unmatched magnificence of its broad, sandy beach, protected by reefs that produce spectacular displays of crashing waves, best viewed from the gorgeous cliff walk above the surf. (The best cliff walk in the world, says Russell Crowe!) Visitors have come since Victorian railroads linked the West to Limerick and Dublin. Charlotte Bronte honeymooned here; Richard Harris summered and retired here. (He was 4-time Kilkee racquet champ; his statue is at Diamond Rocks.) For families, there is always plenty to do. For golfers, Kilkee is a fabulous jumping off point to some of the best golf in Ireland (and has a course of its own when you just don't want to drive to Lahinch, or Doonbeg, or Ballybunion).

It's tough to beat a day in Kilkee: breakfast featuring fresh bread from the local bakeries, an early cliff walk, then perhaps lazing on the beach or a day trip to any of a dozen sights in Clare or beyond (the Killimer car ferry, 20 minutes away, will whisk you over to County Kerry at least once every hour.) Lunch overlooking the bay, a bike ride, seaweed massage, maybe a nap or some reading at home, dinner outside your condo or at a fine restaurant downtown, perhaps a spectacular Moore Bay sunset. Maybe some traditional music at the Greyhound or another Kilkee pub, then off to bed with the sound of crickets and lowing of cows. Repeat and vary as desired. Moore Bay Holiday Homes is located close enough to the heart of town to be convenient, but not so close as to keep you up at night when the parties get going. Privacy and quiet are available when you want them, town amenities and 'craic' when it suits you.