Allihies Village
Na hAilichi "The Cliffs" - originally Cluin see below
In the brightly painted village one can find a post office, a small supermarket
and four pubs: O'Neill's Pub and
Restaurant, The Light House
Bar, The Oak Bar and O'Sullivan's
Bar, all of them serving snacks during the summer months and one of them
also offering full restaurant service. There is good music to be enjoyed nearly
every night.
The combined playground and tennis/basketball court provides entertainment for big and small kids.
There are dances and discos held in the community centre at regular intervals. It is also the place that's used for performing plays and concerts which usually happen during the summer months.
For two weeks in August the Allihies and Lehanmore Festivals attract a lot
of people to the area to watch and participate in competitions like basketball
tournaments, bed push, kids fancy dress, car rallies, talent competitions
etc. The 15th of August is the day when hundreds of people gather on the 'Sliabh'
to compete in running races and horse and pony races.
The original townland of Allihies is still situated near the sea by the cliffs
- as you might expect - Na hAilichi may mean 'the cliffs' in Irish. The story
goes that when the village of Cluin became more active at the time of the
copper mining the Post Office was moved to the village of Cluin. Either someone
was to busy or too lazy but the name of the post office remained Allihies
Post Office and remains so today. Over the years the village has become known
as Allihies but is in fact more properly still Cluin. Proof may be seen directly
opposite the Post Office on the old National School which has a plaque stating
it is Cluin national school!