The secret of Querrin is that it is secret. Or at least it used to be. This quiet community-minded place along the blessed south-facing coast of County Clare, on the north shore of the Shannon Estuary between Poulnasherry Bay and Carrigaholt to the west, enjoyed its own wellness in relative seclusion. That is, until they got together under the benign guidance of boat-builder Steve Morris from Kilrush, and built naval architect Myles Stapleton's handsome take on the traditional Shannon Estuary cargo/passenger sailing cutter Sally O'Keeffe, named for the landlady of the inn at Querrin who was popular among the estuary sailors of times past.

The Shannon's Outer Estuary has a magic coast along its northern shore

SEOL SIONNA BUSY

From that emerged the organisation Seol Sionna, which has since built the St Ayles skiff Ealu - happily demonstrating that the colours of the Banner County match those of Ukraine - while organising several nautical expeditions to events near and far, with the Brest Festival 2024 in Brittany very much on the agenda.

For the holiday weekend just past, all of Clare was en fete, and Sally O'Keeffe and Ealu made their way west from Kilrush for a busy visit to disturb the peace of Querrin Quay, and on into the melee of the festival at Carrigaholt. It was the Clare Riviera at its most convivial. The more generously-minded might suggest that the magic coast is all the way from Kilrush westward to Kilbaha, while the more pernickety insist it's just Poulnasherry to Carrigaholt, with maybe Rinevella Bay just around the corner added for luck. Either way, it's a special place which needs to be careful lest it become too popular for its own good.

Sally O'Keeffe homeward bound. She has become so symbolic of the Shannon Estuary that an up-coming French film about the River Shannon will feature Sally sailing into the estuary's Atlantic sunset as its closing sequence