Oysters · County Clare
Linnane's Lobster Bar
A bar at the end of a stone pier on the north Burren coast, serving the Kelly oysters lifted from the bay outside the door.
Our position
Go for the setting as much as the plate. Nothing here has been styled, and that is why we keep going back.
Linnane's is at the end of a pier at New Quay, with the water on three sides and the Burren behind you. There is no view in Ireland we would rather eat shellfish in front of, and no room less interested in impressing you.
The oysters are Kelly Oysters, farmed half a mile out in Aughinish Bay by the Kelly family since 1962. Pacific rock, graded by size, lifted that morning. We order a dozen, no sauce, with the bottle of Muscadet they keep cold for the purpose. The oysters arrive on a tin tray.
It works best as the middle of a Burren day: Corcomroe Abbey or the Flaggy Shore in the morning, lunch here, then Lahinch or Doolin in the evening. In winter the fire is lit and half the room is local.
- The bay
- Aughinish Bay, on the north Burren coast
- The oyster
- Pacific rock, Kelly Oysters
- Season
- All year. Best on a still afternoon.
Book the table
What to book at Linnane's
Lunch at the pier, a dozen Kelly oysters
About 90 minutes · from €26 for a dozen
Walk in off season, book on summer weekends. Ask for a window table facing the pier.
Reserve directPrivate oyster tour and tasting by the Flaggy Shore
About 2 hours · from €120 for two
Out to the beds with the people who grow them, then a tasting on the shore. The single best hour we know for understanding what you are eating.
Check dates and book
Every oyster room in one place: the oyster booking page. Or plan the week around this table.
What we order
- A dozen Kelly oysters, no sauce
- Whole lobster when the board says it landed that morning
- Chowder and brown bread if the wind is up
- The house Muscadet, kept cold for exactly this
Finish here after
Gus O'Connor's
Doolin
Music from around nine. Forty minutes on from the pier.
Vaughan's
Kilfenora
Set dancing in the barn on the right night.
Where we would sleep
Practical
- Drive from Galway
- About an hour south along the bay
- Book ahead
- Summer weekends only. Otherwise walk in.
- Cash
- Cards fine, but signal at the pier can be slow
- Pair with
- The Flaggy Shore walk, ten minutes away
Last checked September 2026. Source: the venue.
Questions we get
- Are Linnane's oysters native Galway flats?
- No. They are Pacific rock oysters grown in Aughinish Bay by Kelly Oysters, which means they are good all year rather than only in the R months. For the native flat, drive to Moran's or Clarinbridge between September and April.
- Is Linnane's worth the drive from Galway?
- Yes, if you make it a Burren day rather than a lunch errand. An hour each way for oysters alone is a lot. An hour each way for the Flaggy Shore, Corcomroe and a tin tray of oysters at the end of a pier is one of the best days in the west.