Overview
Poulnasherry means ‘oyster hole’ – Poll na nOisrí – and it was already marked as ‘Oyster Hole’ on the Pelham grand jury map of 1787. The name still holds: the bay’s Grade-A waters grow oysters sold along the Wild Atlantic Way’s food trail. It is a sheltered, shallow inlet on the western edge of the Shannon Estuary in County Clare, broad mudflats and five small tidal islands, protected as both a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area for birds. For most visitors the draw is one of two things: waders at low tide, or oysters.
The Cammoge ferry disaster
The bay’s darkest day was 12 December 1849. A ferry crossed its narrowest point at Cammoge Point, linking the townlands to Kilrush, and that evening it was coming back from Kilrush, badly overloaded in the depths of the Famine, when it went down within thirty yards of the shore. Forty-one people drowned, twelve of them children. Two boatmen and a mother with her child were pulled from the water by a boat belonging to a local magistrate, Benjamin Cox. A memorial stone at Cammoge Point records the names of the lost, near the ruins of the ferryman’s cottage on the west side of the bay’s mouth. The ferry itself kept running until 1927, its last keeper a Conway.
Birdwatching and wildlife
The mudflats are a feeding ground for large numbers of birds, and this is the main reason birdwatchers come. Spring and autumn migrations bring waders to the exposed sediment – dunlin, bar-tailed and black-tailed godwit, curlew, golden plover and knot – while mallard, teal, Brent geese and whooper swans winter here, with the occasional rarity such as blue-winged teal or ferruginous duck. Come at mid-to-low tide, when the flats are exposed and the birds are out feeding; bring a scope for the far side of the bay, and keep your distance from roosting flocks on the islands.
The tidal islands
Five islands sit in the bay. Illaunaclaggin, the largest, is carpeted in marram grass and a regular Brent-geese roost; Illaunmore is a low gravel strand reshaped by every tide; Black Island is a raised strand about 50 metres off Illaunbeg. Only Illaunalea can be reached on foot, on a firm path that surfaces across the sand at low to mid tide. Check a tide table first and do not linger: the tide turns fast in the estuary, and the sand goes treacherous once it does.
Oysters and a place to eat
Shellfish farming is the bay’s living industry. Moyasta Oysters, on the western shore, grows oysters in these Grade-A waters and is one of twenty-one signature stops on the Taste the Atlantic food trail; they run guided tours through the whole process, from seed to shucking. For a sit-down version, Keane’s Oyster Bar nearby does local seafood. A farm tour followed by a plate of oysters is the neatest way to make a half-day of it.
The West Clare Railway
The West Clare Railway ran past the bay from 1887 until 1961, the narrow-gauge line lampooned in Percy French’s 1902 song ‘Are Ye Right There Michael?’ after French sued the company over a train so late it made him miss a concert. The old Moyasta Junction station survives nearby with a heritage museum, and the steam engine Slieve Callan was brought back in the 1990s, but the heritage operation is closed to the public until further notice. The station buildings and preserved trackbed are still there to walk past.
Practical information
- Access and parking: the bay is free to visit. There is parking in a lay-by at Cammoge Point and at the Moyasta Oysters farm.
- Getting there: it lies between Kilrush and Kilkee; public transport is thin, with the nearest Bus Éireann stops in those towns and a taxi needed for the last stretch.
- Walking: an unpaved path runs from Cammoge Point towards Blackweir Bridge along the estuary. It is uneven and muddy in places and not fully wheelchair accessible, so wear boots.
- Best time: spring and autumn for birds; low tide for the islands.
- Facilities: none at the bay itself; toilets and food are at the Moyasta farm or in Kilrush and Kilkee.
Check the tide before you go, and pack a windproof layer: the estuary runs noticeably breezier than the roads just inland.