What the hell has happened to Kilkee?

Sal Butamol

Absolutely astonished at the state of Kilkee these days. Place is so run down and dead. Very sad to see. So many closed businesses and the ones that are open shut at 6pm (besides pubs)

Place is deserted.

What's going on?

Spent every summer there throughout the 80s and 90s but it is a sad shadow of itself these days.

Clareman

In my opinion the fact that everyone focused on building summer houses rather than hotels/B&B's in the 90's/00's so now there's no transient visitors, people going to a summer house are more likely to stop in Dunnes/Tesco/Aldi/Lidl rather than eat out or shop local.

Stanford

Kilkee has been a dump for many years now, lack of investment by local pubs/restaurants means that they only have a few weeks to make their money and it shows. Not to mention the scobes who descent down there for the weekends to drink on the beach

Sal Butamol

It's an awful shame. Place is beautiful but the town is a dump.

No facilities at the beach either.

That toilet behind the steps is the exact same as it was 39 years ago!

No showers at the beach either. Really, really poor.

Stanford

If its any consolation I was in Ballybunion last week and its the same dump it was 20 years ago

Sal Butamol

Considering all the hullabaloo about the Wild Atlantic Way it is shocking to see such a lack of vision

c.p.w.g.w

I was only down there a few weeks back and I thought the same, was even going to start a thread.

So many empty/unused units.
No Arcades left

Run down look around the place.

If the weather wasn't as nice, it would be almost depressing

Stanford

The people mostly visiting Kilkee now are people who own houses or mobile homes there and so want to get their usage from them, however most them shop for groceries in Kilrush and drink at home in the evening especially if they have kids so the town doesn't benefit that much

Stanford

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Considering all the hullabaloo about the Wild Atlantic Way it is shocking to see such a lack of vision

Well Failte Ireland put a lot of money into marketing the Wild Atlantic Way but it is for each business to make itself attractive for people to visit

Sal Butamol

Stanford wrote: »

Well Failte Ireland put a lot of money into marketing the Wild Atlantic Way but it is for each business to make itself attractive for people to visit

That's true but the facilities there (toilets/showers/etc) are 50 years old or more.

It's a disgrace.

As for the businesses, one family seems to have a stranglehold on the units...

Stanford

Sal Butamol wrote: »

That's true but the facilities there (toilets/showers/etc) are 50 years old or more.

It's a disgrace.

As for the businesses, one family seems to have a stranglehold on the units...

The traders there don't seem to be on the case of Clare Co Co

Sal Butamol

Thought the prices in some of the places sheer robbery too.

Thats always been the case though, robbing people for years down there. I don't have much sympathy for the business owners to be honest.

Stanford

Nor I, they had many good years and still robbed people, people now are realising that a week in the sun is probably cheaper and weather guaranteed

Gael85

Have been going down to west clare all my life. Usually avoided Kilkee in recent years as place is a dump. Prefer to socialise in the villages of Cross, Kilbaha and Carrigaholt back west. To me a lot of local businesses lack of ambition is holding them back. Go up to North Clare the pub, restaurants and cafes are thriving. With the Wild Atlantic Way there is more people passing through Kilkee than ever. Two issues I would have with Kilkee. 1.There is no proper hotel in town. The Ocean Cove and Kilkee Bay Hotel have never taken off and both are now idle. The Marine was going well for a few years under Matt Rea and is now vacant. 2. It impossible to get a taxi out of Kilkee at night. Nowdays people are not going to chance drink driving.

Mockba

The place has changed over the years and it is very family orinetated now as in you go there because you have a place of your own.
There isn't any gangs of young people coming for weekends any more , even the August or the june weekends.

Business have closed down but none of them were food shops , even if a lot of people shop in super markets.

One of the reasons for the dereclict buildings is due to there owners being in NAMA. But you can see now for sale signs going up all over th place and these buildings available for sale. SO i think slowly but surely it will get better.

Sal Butamol I think the only differnence between Killkee in the 90's and now is its missing a couple of amusement arcades and you have gotten older.

JPCN1

Stanford wrote: »

Well Failte Ireland put a lot of money into marketing the Wild Atlantic Way but it is for each business to make itself attractive for people to visit

Sorry, but I think County Councils must take a bit of responsibility here. Is running a bathroom in a scenic area beyond them? If so don't put in the same councillors...

BarryD2

Clareman wrote: »

In my opinion the fact that everyone focused on building summer houses rather than hotels/B&B's in the 90's/00's so now there's no transient visitors, people going to a summer house are more likely to stop in Dunnes/Tesco/Aldi/Lidl rather than eat out or shop local.

Presumably a few landowners in the area had a bit of a windfall then. Problem with windfalls is I guess that they don't sustain.

We were there last year in mid July and the place was hopping, very hard to park but then the weekend was fine and everyone descended.

billybonkers

Bring back https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cois_Fharraige

Sal Butamol

The public toilets at the beach ARE DISGUSTING

How much would it cost to put decent public toilets instead of that fancy roundabout near the bandstand?

JCX BXC

Alot could be done with Kilkee, yes. An awful lot. No vision whatsoever, but that's the entirety of West Clare. Politics play a massive part in this though. Look at Lahinch, damaged during storm, repaired immediately. Kilkee damaged during the same storm, not repaired for 2 years. Improvements are being made though.

Firstly, there is an arcade. "O'Neills Funfair" is open this year again and it's good to see. I remember earning a nice bit of chocolate there when I was young. Halpins hotel has reopened under the name "Kilkee Town House Hotel", so while not really a full blown hotel it adds to the accomodation available. The Irish house has transformed into a two level café, a new takeaway has opened where Naughtons takeaway used to be, there's a new bar opened (rare to see nowadays, normally they just close), and some minor aesthetic improvements have also come about.

Lots more needs to be done, but at least there's somewhat of a start. Design wise, one would be forgiven for thinking they've walked into the same town they walked into a decade or nearly 2 decades ago. Nothing massive has changed.

Sal Butamol

JCX BXC wrote: »

Alot could be done with Kilkee, yes. An awful lot. No vision whatsoever, but that's the entirety of West Clare. Politics play a massive part in this though. Look at Lahinch, damaged during storm, repaired immediately. Kilkee damaged during the same storm, not repaired for 2 years. Improvements are being made though.

Firstly, there is an arcade. "O'Neills Funfair" is open this year again and it's good to see. I remember earning a nice bit of chocolate there when I was young. Halpins hotel has reopened under the name "Kilkee Town House Hotel", so while not really a full blown hotel it adds to the accomodation available. The Irish house has transformed into a two level café, a new takeaway has opened where Naughtons takeaway used to be, there's a new bar opened (rare to see nowadays, normally they just close), and some minor aesthetic improvements have also come about.

Lots more needs to be done, but at least there's somewhat of a start. Design wise, one would be forgiven for thinking they've walked into the same town they walked into a decade or nearly 2 decades ago. Nothing massive has changed.

Where is O'Neills funfair? They three I saw this week were closed

chuckles30

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Where is O'Neills funfair? They three I saw this week were closed

It's on the Carrigaholt road - just down from the roundabout

JCX BXC

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Where is O'Neills funfair? They three I saw this week were closed

The three?

Sal Butamol

JCX BXC wrote: »

The three?

There used to be three arcades, Lynches, Wally's and the one on the Carrigaholt Road

All of them were closed last week.

chuckles30

Lynches has been closed for a couple of summers now - lots of building work was done, but no sign of any movement there with the last 12 months or so.  Wallys is gone for years - that became the Waterfront back in the Celtic Tiger era.

drunkmonkey

Drove through it a while ago, just looked like a complete dump, we go to Lehinch often, wouldn't see any reason to go to Kilkee instead.
The sea front should be buzzing the whole place needs a makeover.

Cookiemunster

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Drove through it a while ago, just looked like a complete dump, we go to Lehinch often, wouldn't see any reason to go to Kilkee instead.
The sea front should be buzzing the whole place needs a makeover.

It's Wednesday and it's raining. Kilkee fills up at the weekend. The days of families going down for the whole summer are long gone. And to be honest I don't see Lahinch being any better than Kilkee.

Sal Butamol

Watersports alone should mean the place is buzzing.

Instead it's dead

Cookiemunster

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Watersports alone should mean the place is buzzing.

Instead it's dead

Yeah, just like Lahinch right now :rolleyes: http://www.lahinchsurfshop.com/lahinch-web-cam-271257cm1.html

drunkmonkey

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Yeah, just like Lahinch right now :rolleyes: http://www.lahinchsurfshop.com/lahinch-web-cam-271257cm1.html

There's over 20 people in the water there all probably tourists and it's only a tiny section of the beach. It's an ok day for surfing https://magicseaweed.com/Lahinch-Beach-Surf-Report/52/

Cookiemunster

drunkmonkey wrote: »

There's over 20 people in the water there all probably tourists and it's only a tiny section of the beach. It's an ok day for surfing https://magicseaweed.com/Lahinch-Beach-Surf-Report/52/

20 people in the water is not buzzing as it's claimed Kilkee should be.

I doubt any seaside town would be busy on a Wednesday when it's pissing rain. Most people take their 2 weeks holiday abroad these days rather than heading to the seaside, which is why most are only really busy at the weekend.

godfrey

There is definitely some momentum happening in Kilkee, and tons more needs to be done too. Something for families in the evenings would help, whatever that is... And also more accommodation and eating out at reasonable prices.

g

JCX BXC

godfrey wrote: »

There is definitely some momentum happening in Kilkee, and tons more needs to be done too. Something for families in the evenings would help, whatever that is... And also more accommodation and eating out at reasonable prices.

g

Kilkee Bay Hotel reopening next year.

fryup

the last time i was in kilkee about 4 years back there was a tropical style burger bar at the end of the main st, forget the name...is it still open does anyone know?

JCX BXC

fryup wrote: »

the last time i was in kilkee about 4 years back there was a tropical style burger bar at the end of the main st, forget the name...is it still open does anyone know?

Nope it's closed, I forget what it was called but it was beside the greyhound. It moved to a location out the carrigaholt road called "Garvey's", with a shop beside ot. Think the takeaway is gone completely now. The original building is now a cuban style section of the greyhound.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^

thats a pity liked that place

Mailcoachinn

I haven’t managed to make it to Kilkee this year unfortunately due to work commitments and various other things going on, and was only there very briefly for a couple of hours last year. What’s it been like in general this summer? I find it hard to believe that things have gone so downhill so fast, as some of the posts in this thread seem to indicate...

johnnyjb

Never stayed in Kilkee myself.

Would it be any craic on a Paddy weekend?

Iodine1

Visited earlier this year and while it was busy enough (weekend) there was a load of smelly dirt of God knows what origin at the end of the beach. Beside the alleys and even walking by on the road up high was awful. Staff in shops / restaurants were very friendly and helpful.

Mailcoachinn

johnnyjb wrote: »

Never stayed in Kilkee myself.

Would it be any craic on a Paddy weekend?

The last time I was there on paddy’s day was 2016. It was like something out of Father Ted. Great craic though

Cookiemunster

Iodine1 wrote: »

Visited earlier this year and while it was busy enough (weekend) there was a load of smelly dirt of God knows what origin at the end of the beach. Beside the alleys and even walking by on the road up high was awful. Staff in shops / restaurants were very friendly and helpful.

Rotting seaweed. It always gets washed down to that end of the beach. Apparently it can't be removed from blue flag beaches.

4ensic15

Kilkee now has two main types of visitor, day trippers and self-caterers. Neither spends as much money in the town as hotel guests and some spend very little. Hotels are not viable in those circumstances. The proliferation of car ownership means people travel from small towns to bigger towns to make purchases. There are 3 mini markets and four coffee shops in Kilkee. They seem to be the only places there is any kind of spending. The twin curses of unpredictable weather and a short season deter any kind of investment. The other factor about Kilkee is the rudeness of some of the proprietors of the various establishments. Some of their staff are not much better. Do young bar staff not know it is their job to try and engage customers in conversation and not chat with their colleague instead when things are quiet at the bar?

Mailcoachinn

4ensic15 wrote: »

Kilkee now has two main types of visitor, day trippers and self-caterers. Neither spends as much money in the town as hotel guests and some spend very little. Hotels are not viable in those circumstances. The proliferation of car ownership means people travel from small towns to bigger towns to make purchases. There are 3 mini markets and four coffee shops in Kilkee. They seem to be the only places there is any kind of spending. The twin curses of unpredictable weather and a short season deter any kind of investment. The other factor about Kilkee is the rudeness of some of the proprietors of the various establishments. Some of their staff are not much better. Do young bar staff not know it is their job to try and engage customers in conversation and not chat with their colleague instead when things are quiet at the bar?

The staff in Myles Creek I have always found to be very friendly. Same goes for O’Mara’s & the Central. Can’t really say the same about most of the other pubs. And the incumbent manager of the Greyhound is quite frankly the most rudest, vile, stuck up individual that I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with

Johnboy1951

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Rotting seaweed. It always gets washed down to that end of the beach. Apparently it can't be removed from blue flag beaches.

You jest! ???

Any idea why not?

Cookiemunster

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

You jest! ???

Any idea why not?

No jesting. It says it in this article. http://clarechampion.ie/crying-foul-over-kilkee-seaweed/

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^

Criterion 15 of the Blue Flag regulations state that algae vegetation or natural debris should be left on the beach,”

but why?? if its causing a smell its going to put people off going to said beach surely??

seaweed regrows all the time doesn't it?? so whats the big deal of removing it?

*maybe some environmentalist out there can explain it

Johnboy1951

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^



but why?? if its causing a smell its going to put people off going to said beach surely??

seaweed regrows all the time doesn't it?? so whats the big deal of removing it?

That is what I am trying to figure out.
The seaweed on the beach is like lawn clippings ....... discarded from the growing weed in the sea.

Other beaches in various locations around the world are cleansed and even treated every night/morning with machinery.
What is so precious with our seaweed that it must be left on the beach to rot and stink up the area?

BTW it makes great fertiliser if you care to use it.

JCX BXC

Mailcoachinn wrote: »

I haven’t managed to make it to Kilkee this year unfortunately due to work commitments and various other things going on, and was only there very briefly for a couple of hours last year. What’s it been like in general this summer? I find it hard to believe that things have gone so downhill so fast, as some of the posts in this thread seem to indicate...

It reached rock bottom a few years ago, this year is the most momentum Kilkee has seen since the early Celtic tiger.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

JCX BXC

jacksie66 wrote: »

Dunno if it's still there but I was in Kilkee a few months ago. Was amazed by the cut of the place. Big derelict building by the beach with massive writing saying The Earth Is Flat. Nice thing for tourists to see.

Eh, the Waterfront doesn't look particularly derelict (lots I'd change before that one anyways), and that small graffiti was dealt with quickly. There was massive local outrage, but personally I found it quite comical. (Especially given the outrage at such a minor offense).

nthclare

JCX BXC wrote: »

Eh, the Waterfront doesn't look particularly derelict (lots I'd change before that one anyways), and that small graffiti was dealt with quickly. There was massive local outrage, but personally I found it quite comical. (Especially given the outrage at such a minor offense).

Seriously are you serious.

The waterfront could be the most spectacular Victorian waterfront in the west of Ireland.

I think its a shame to have such a significant location looking in a bad situation.

Each to their own, but your post is typical of the post of someone with a lack of taste and more muck savagery.....

I respect your opinion, but its the opposite to mine....