Black Head

The headland

Black Head marks the north-western tip of County Clare. It sits northwest of Gleninagh Mountain, which rises to 318.5 metres. Here, the southern shore of Galway Bay shifts direction. The coast stops running east-west and starts running north-south. The view looks out over Kilrush Bay and the entrance to the great bay.

The drive up from the west Clare villages is part of the experience. The country is the Burren in its proper form. You see carboniferous limestone, terraced hills, and small settlements tucked into the hollows. The sea is at the end of it all.

The lighthouse

The light on the headland arrived late. It was built in 1935 and first established on 21 February 1936. That made it a late arrival among Irish lights. The story behind it is straightforward. Trans-Atlantic liners called at Galway in the 1930s. Their captains anchored off Ballyvaghan, east of Black Head. They complained about the conditions constantly.

A Galway Harbour Commissioners’ letter dated 18 September 1934 relayed those complaints. That letter got the light built. Robert MacDonald of Galway constructed the tower. It is a concrete structure, 4-metre-square by 5.1-metre-high. The optic is a fourth-order unit from Chance Brothers of Birmingham. A red sector was added in 1935. It covers Loo Rock and defines the anchorage. The land was a thirty-foot strip from the roadway to the sea. The Casey family of Morrough sold it for five to seven pounds.

What to do

Think of the headland as a stop, not a destination. The drive up the coast matters. The view over Kilrush Bay and into Galway Bay matters. The lighthouse at the end matters. Allow an hour for the stop. Pair it with the west Clare villages. Include Kilrush, the Burren, and the coast road. That makes a full touring day.

Practical

The headland and the lighthouse country are the end of the coast road from Kilrush. The lighthouse is a small tower on open ground. The weather on the headland is the west Atlantic in its proper form. The wind is the rule.