Lahinch

Lahinch An Leacht
—  Town  —
Lahinch Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°56′13″N 9°20′42″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Clare
Population (2006)
• Urban	600
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference	R134877
Website	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}

Lahinch or Lehinch (Irish: An Leacht or Leacht Uí Chonchubhair, meaning "The Memorial cairn of O'Connor") is a village on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon. The village is a widely known seaside resort and is home to the world famous Lahinch Golf Club. There is also a 1.6 km (1 mi) sandy beach at Lahinch. Lahinch has long been a popular destination for golfers, but in recent times, has also become a popular resort for surfing.

History

The village is located in the now obsolete Barony of Corcomroe which is coextensive with the territory of Corco Modhruadh Iartharach which forms the western portion of the túath of Corco Modhruadh which itself is coextensive with the Diocese of Kilfenora.^{[citation needed]}

Name

Lahinch is the anglicised form of Leath Inse and not related to Leacht Uí Chonchubhair. Recorded by the Four Masters as Leith Innse, which is a variant of the Irish word for a peninsula leithinis ("half island"), the name describes the village's location between the Inagh river and the sea. The ancient name for Lahinch, Leacht Uí Chonchubhair, which is still commonly used in Irish instead of the shortened official name An Leacht, refers to the memorial cairn (Leacht) marking the burial place of one of the O’Connor chieftains, who were the ruling clan of the district of Corco Modhruadh Iartharach. Nowadays. The town name is mostly spelt "Lahinch", but a selection of road signs in the area use the spelling "Lehinch". Pronunciation of the placename is somewhat between the two spellings.

Lahinch coast. View north, along the beach.

Sport

Golf

Lahinch is home to Lahinch Golf Club, a world renowned links golf course, founded in 1892, which has often been described as the "St. Andrew's" of Ireland. The original links was laid out by Old Tom Morris. Alister MacKenzie, who co-designed Augusta National Golf Club, redesigned and extended the links in 1927 for a fee of £2000.
Lahinch Golf Club is home to the South of Ireland Championship, an amateur golf tournament which began in 1895. Notable winners of the "South" include Joe Carr in 1969, Darren Clarke in 1989, Paul McGinley in 1991 and Graeme McDowell in 2000. Ireland's Pádraig Harrington has finished runner up in the "South" on two occasions.

Surfing

Of late Lahinch has become renowned as one of the foremost surfing locations in Ireland, as well as other watersports including kitesurfing and windsurfing. However Lahinch has some of the most dangerous currents. Another danger is weever fish which hide in the sand of the beach. In summer when the water is warm, it is quite common to be stung. The surf is good enough to attract thousands of surfers all year round.

Coast road south, N67,
leaving Lahinch, to Milltown Malbay

Lahinch beach became famous on May 14, 2006, when 44 surfers managed to ride one small wave, a new world record.

Soccer

Sporting Ennistymon FC is the local soccer club. The club has underage teams from U8s up to U16s who play in the Clare Schoolboy/Girls Soccer League. Sportings Youths and Junior teams play in the Clare District Soccer League. The club play their home games at the Lahinch Sportsfield.

GAA

Ennistymon GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club caters for underage and adult teams in both football and hurling. The Liscannor Ladies GAA club caters for girls and ladies from Lahinch/Ennistymon.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

Lahinch is the birthplace of Robert Dermot O'Flanagan who was Bishop of Juneau from 1951 to 1968. Lahinch is also the birthplace of professional golfer Paddy Skerritt.

Transport

Lahinch was formerly served by the narrow gauge West Clare Railway, which linked Kilrush, Kilkee and Milltown Malbay with Ennis. The railway station opened on 2 July 1887; the entire line (including Lahinch station) closed on 1 February 1961.

See also

List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

• Lahinch page @ Clare Library: Historical Background, Places of Interest, & Photographs