The Atlantic Hotel is a former hotel in

Spanish Point, County Clare Spanish Point () is a village in the parish of Milltown Malbay in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland. It has many holiday homes, and in winter a significantly smaller population. It is also one of the better known surf breaks in County C ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was built around 1810 by Thomas Moroney, a member of the family of local landlords. For quite a while it boasted the title "Biggest Hotel on the British Isles".

History

In ca, 1845, Thomas Moroney extended the hotel to sixty rooms with luxurious hot and cold baths and spacious halls. The quietness and luxury made it a popular refuge for Irish and English gentry. After a nine-hole golf course was established at Spanish Point, they soon started a collaboration. Guests of the hotel could play for free, others had to pay a green fee of 2 shillings 6 pence.

Auxiliary workhouse

In 1838, the British Government issued the

Irish Poor Laws The Irish Poor Laws were a series of Acts of Parliament intended to address social instability due to widespread and persistent poverty in Ireland. While some legislation had been introduced by the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland prior to the ...

to take care of the poor people and, in emergencies, to take control over destitute people. After the outbreak of the potato blight (''

Phytophthora infestans ''Phytophthora infestans'' is an oomycete or water mold, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the serious potato and tomato disease known as late blight or potato blight. Early blight, caused by ''Alternaria solani'', is also often called "pot ...

'') and the failure of the potato crops, the system almost cracked under the pressure. Spanish Point fell under the Poor Law Union of

Ennistymon Ennistymon or Ennistimon () is a country market town in County Clare, near the west coast of Ireland. The River Inagh, with its small rapids known as the Cascades, runs through the town, behind the main street. A bridge across the river leads to ...

. The Poor Law Union had set up a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

between Ennistymon and

Lahinch Lahinch or Lehinch ( ''or'' ) is a small town on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon, roughly by road southwest of Galway and north ...

. When the real trouble broke out due to the famine, the workhouse was soon overwhelmed. The Poor Law Union leased several other big buildings to serve as auxiliary workhouses. The Atlantic Hotel was one of them, and from September 1848 it housed 500 women and children. In 1893, the hotel was owned by Mrs. E.L. Moroney.

Leon XIII

The hotel also played a part in the story of the 1907 rescue of the French three-masted ship '' Leon XIII''. During a very severe storm the vessel ran on a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

near Quilty. Despite the extreme danger of storm and heavy sea, the fishermen from Quilty manned their

currach A currach ( ) is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "curragh". The construction and design of the currach are unique ...

s and came to the rescue. Over three days they managed to save most of the crew members, except the captain. With a broken leg he could not be moved. He was rescued later, after the storm, by a naval vessel. The French Government was very impressed. At an event in the Atlantic Hotel, the Government presented the gallant fishermen with bronze medals.

Closing down

In 1930, the hotel was permanently closed. It had largely depended on the English

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

but they did not dare to travel to Spanish Point after the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The building was still mentioned in the 1942 ITA Survey, but not as a hotel. After the closure of the hotel, the site eventually became derelict. Nowadays, just a few pieces are left.

Armada Hotel

In the 1970s a new hotel, the 85-room Armada Hotel, was built on the site.

References

{{Coord, 52, 50, 41.28, N, 9, 26, 13.39, W, scale:25000_type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Hotels in County Clare Defunct hotels