The History of Lahinch - Home of Cloudforest One

The literal Irish translation for Lahinch is ‘Half-Island’. This names comes the unique geographic location of Lahinch, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the River Moy to the South & the Inagh River to the north of the town. However, the official Irish name is Leacht Ui Chonchubhair, which translates to O'Connor's Cairn. This dates all the way back to the 15th Century, when one of the O'Connor Lords of Corcomroe who was slain by his nephews in 1471. This O'Connor was buried in a graveyard that is situated mid-way between Liscannor and Lahinch. Before their demise, in the 15th century, the O’Connor clan built the Dough Castle in 1306. This castle served as their main stronghold and was situated strategically at the mouth of the Inagh River, where it could control both land and water traffic. After the O’Connor occupied the castle, it was taken over by the O'Brien Family sometime during the 15th century. 

However, Lahinch’s history goes back further to prehistoric times, we know this because of the numerous ringforts found around the area. The most prominent of these ringforts is on the northern side of the hill above the village along the road to Ennistymon. 

Up until the 18th century, Lahinch was a small hamlet with only a few fisherman's huts. By the end of the 19th century, after significant infrastructure development in the area (West Clare Railway in 1887), it became the seaside resort we know today. This development was slowed down in 1883, when the town was struck by a severe storm which destroyed numerous buildings around the village & knocked down the sea wall. 

This growth was then aided even further by the opening of the Lahinch Golf Club. The club was established in 1892, when a number of officers from the British Army went to the west coast of Clare in search of sand dunes that would be suitable for the development of a golf course. They discovered Lahinch and during a second visit in early April, laid out a links golf course.

The railway station unfortunately closed in 1961. However, by that stage, Lahinch had already cemented itself as a favourite seaside resort for thousands of Irish families. This reputation, along with the more recent explosion of popularity for surfing in the area, has meant Lahinch has beacame something of a metropolis on the Wild Atlantic Way.

This makes it the ideal location for our flagship forest, CloudForest One, on which we have already planted 21,000 trees, including Oak, Birch, Rowan, Alder, Willow. If you’d like to take a look at CloudForest One and have a bit of Lahinch in your office, simply follow the link below, which will take you to a 24/7 live stream. This broadcasts live from Cloudforest on the starlink network.

This is a live broadcast from Cloudforest One Lahinch County Clare on Irelands Wild Atlantic Way