This article is from page 16 of the 2012-05-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has pledged to return to the Loophead Lighthouse visitor experience with his family for a holiday, a commitment he made to the people of West Clare last Friday when officially opening the facility for the 2012 season.
Mr Kenny made his comments after he described the visiting the peninsula for the first time in glowing terms, calling it “a special day for me and my family” because “I feel I have come home here to Loophead”.
The Taoiseach’s grandfather, James McGinley, was a lighthouse keeper at Loophead from January 1933 until October the following year, a family link recalled by Mr Kenny during his three-hour stay in West Clare.
“I feel a very strong spiritual connection here because my grandfather served here as a light-keeper but my late mother ran around this patch of grass and my uncle was born here so there is a very strong family connec- tion in that sense,” he said.
“I remember him very well. Lightkeepers were meticulous people. They had to be — if that light wasn’t shining properly, well then sailors and mariners in distress could have suffered fatal consequences.
“This was the last light that people saw when leaving Ireland and the first they saw when they returned. They endured gales, storms, long weeks, the cold, loneliness, isolation, but these were men were sanguine, resilient, adaptable, resourceful, self possessed and who knew their job,” he added.
The lighthouse was opened to the public for the first time last year – an initiative sparked by a motion tabled to Clare County Council by local councillor Gabriel Keating (FG) in 2009 and taken on the local authority, Shannon Development, Loop Head Tourism and the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
A 11-week trial opening was a huge success and resulted in an estimated 17,000 people visiting the landmark building, which was worth an esti- mated € 400,000 to the local economy.
Earlier this year, Shannon Images was appointed to produce an interpretation plan that would further enhance the overall visitor experience at the lighthouse.
An exhibition focusing on the history of Irish lighthouses and the people who have operated them since the 17th century has been installed for the 2012 tourist season.
“The collaborative approach adopted by regional development agencies and the local community to enhancing the visitor experience at Loop Head is a model that could and should be replicated elsewhere throughout County Clare and, indeed, the rest of Ireland,” said Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).
“Heritage tourism is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world and therefore, we should consider the possibility of opening up and promoting some of other many existing heritage sites and structures that currently remain inaccessible to the public,” he added.