Water sports, fishing, kayaking, snorkelling, bird watching, whale and dolphin watching, hill walking, three pubs, traditional Irish music, goat farm, museum, rock pooling, fastnet trips, ecology courses, The Storytelling Festival, Storytelling workshops, craft shop, eating out in a choice of restaurants. During the summer traditional music sessions are usually held at weekends but also, on occasion, during the week.
Cape Clear is a Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) island where you can converse with the islanders in Irish or you can sign up to an Irish language course
Plenty to do at this unique hostel!
• Free use of fishing rods
• Go fishing with Richie – free
• Free herbs & salads from our garden in season
• Free guided walks for groups
• Games – full-size table-tennis table & board games provided
• Gas barbecue for guest use – pre-booking required
• Hire a ride-on kayak - pre-booking is sometimes required
• Snorkelling & Swimming
ATTRACTIONS – cultural and historic
Cape Clear is rich in archaeology with some amazing stone walls, Ancients Standing Stones, Dun an Oir (The Castle of Gold), the historic Cape Lighthouse and the Napoleonic Signal Tower. Scheduled tours of the island are available each afternoon during the summer.
Cape Clear Museum houses interpretative exhibition panels covering island settlement patterns, folk and farm, genealogy, folklore, place names, education, famine, telegraphy, and maritime history. Events of note in the history of the island are also remembered with special anniversary commemorations, exhibitions and lectures. The Museum and Heritage Centre is open daily, June to September and thereafter by arrangement locally with Richie.
Cape Clear Hostel is based in a building dating from the 17th Century, with major changes and additions during the 20th century. In the 19th century it was a coast guard station and, later, it became the residence of the Rev Edward Spring while he struggled to establish a congregation on the island.
In 1959 the house became the first bird observatory in Ireland and, since then, Cape has been internationally renowned as a Bird-Watching centre, with rarities being spotted every year. Sinead is proud to have been the first person to spot a Lesser Grey Shrike, a true rarity, in the hostel gardens. We were also delighted that Hoopoes are regular visitors to Cape.
ACTIVITIES
Water Sports/Fishing/Boating: The south harbour is a great place for Swimming and the island is also a centre for Water sports including Snorkelling, Kayaking, and Fishing and, if you are into boats, the annual Cape Clear Regatta in August is designed just for you, with hundreds of yachts and other boats of varying shapes and sizes filling the harbours.
Fishing from the pier or rocks, within sight and sound of the hostel, for mackerel in season and for pollock anytime, is a great way to spend a few relaxing hours.
Fishing rods are freely available for guests to use and adults & children alike are welcome to go fishing with your host, An Richie (free of charge!), who is happy to show novice anglers how to fish and how to fillet the fish they catch. A photograph of the young angler with their first fish is a great memento.
Non-fishing guests are regularly treated to a fresh mackerel, in season, caught by your Handsome Host and, if you are lucky and arrive at the right time, you might see the amazing phenomenon of the 'run' of the mackerel, when large parts of the harbour appear to be boiling with feeding fish! This is when sand-eels arrive in the harbour, being frantically chased by shoals of mackerel from below, with flocks of gulls swooping from above and gannets diving from enormous heights. A sight you will not forget in a hurry!
Other activities: Guests are welcome to use the hostel throughout the day and if the weather is not the best then you might relax with a game of Chess or get the heart racing with a game of Table-tennis.
Nightlife and Eating out: The island has three pubs and two restaurants and many of the old Irish ways are still alive here with regular traditional music sessions at the weekends and sometimes during the week too. A recent revival of the ‘Wren Boys’ is a magical experience, and the Storytelling Festival, in September each year, is eagerly attended by guests from around the world.
Club Cléire
Club Cleire is a social club in the picturesque North Harbour. An Club was founded by the Community Cooperative in the 1970's and since then has been at the centre of the social life of this small Island community. An Club promotes traditional and other forms of music, Irish language, culture and art, and provides facilities to a variety of local groups which promote the common good.
Traditional music sessions take place every weekend in June, July, August and early September, and at various other times throughout the year. Visiting musicians, singers, dancers, poets and storytellers of all kinds are always more than welcome to join in. Many a wonderful night has been passed in Club Cléire when local musicians have been joined by rock, country & western, blues, jazz musicians, often mad drummers as well as singers in any language from Irish to Swahili!
Cotter's Bar
A little pub overlooking the North Harbour which has outdoor music on occasions during the summer and on Lifeboat day.
Ciaran Danny Mike's Pub & Restaurant
An evocative family based pub and restaurant on the road between the North and South Harbour.
Thai Food Restaurant - based in Cotter's Bar
Great Thai food prepared by Steve & Mary Wing but must be booked in advance.
Sean Rua's Restaurant
Based in the atmospheric An Club building perched right on the edge of North Harbour. It's all about the food, of course, and the culinary talent is easily recognised.
