If the walls could talk, what tales would they tell? The story of Clár Ellagh

Speaker:         Yvonne McGann

Venue:            Culturlann Sweeney, Kilkee Library, Kilkee, Co Clare

The land at Seapoint was acquired by Edward Cruise in the late 1840’s / early 1850’s and he built 2 semi-detached lodges on the site. In the early 1860’s he sold one of the lodges and rented out the 2nd one which was held in trust for his daughter.

In 1920 Kitt Desmond acquired one of the lodges and a few years later she purchased the 2nd lodge and ran a very successful hotel business until 1943 when she put the hotel up for sale.

The Desmond Hotel was purchased by a group of Methodists, who hailed from Cloughjordan and its environs.

Clár Ellagh was the brainchild of Rev. Samuel Crawford, who wanted to offer reasonably priced holidays in a Christian environment with a view to young people expanding their social circle and making new friends. It was under the auspices of The Christian Endeavour Movement.

With the addition of a 2nd floor in the 1960’s – it could cater for 100 guests at any one time.

In 2007 it was purchased by the late Martin Cullinan and in 2014 it changed hands once again and was later converted into three private houses.