ONE look at the distant figures cowered under umbrellas as we drove through the gates was enough to ease any regrets that golf wasn't going to be part of our experience at Doonbeg Golf Club.
No, we were there for the music. The event was billed as Storm by the Sea. That's Storm as in Rebecca, best known as the chanteuse from the Blood Brothers musical and for her interpretations of Barbra Streisand's songs.
But first, a quick diversion. As you head towards The Lodge at Doonbeg, which is the name given to the suites of varying sizes with spectacular ocean views, you will see what they call the Links Cottages. We were billeted in one of these for the night and as we slotted the credit card-style key into the door it suddenly struck me that the last time I found myself deep in the middle of Clare, with live music in the offing, the circumstances were somewhat different.
It was almost exactly 25 years ago, the venue was Lisdoonvarna and the headline acts were Rory Gallagher and Christy Moore.
We arrived on site after hitching a lift on the back of straw-filled trailer driven by a couple of Hare Krishnas. We had no tent, only sleeping bags: the idea was that we would more than likely bump into people we knew and squeeze into theirs. So much for our optimism. I can still remember the burning sensation of my first taste of vodka, from a bottle thrust in my direction at three in the morning by a hand that emerged from inside the tent, following my bitter complaints about how cold it was on the outside.
Memories of a lost youth can be overrated, though. That was the only conclusion possible after about five seconds inside our Doonbeg "cottage".
It had four huge ensuite bedrooms, furnished to the same standard as the suites a five-iron up the road at The Lodge, which is to say to a higher standard than any hotel I have ever seen.
"How do you spell 'thoroughly'?" my daughter Aisling asked, after a few minutes, while holding a pad and pencil.
The note she wrote in her very best handwriting, after about five minutes into her stay, read: "We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we look forward to coming back in the very near future." She has her father's youthful optimism, bless her.
Needless to say, any prospects of our 13-year-old twin girls joining us at the concert were instantly dismissed: Rebecca Storm, trouper though she may be, was unable to compete with the vast bedrooms and the wall-mounted plasma screens (just the five).
Last Saturday night was the second Doonbeg concert of the summer, following the sold-out visit of Sharon Shannon in July. As a live music experience Doonbeg offers something rather unique, set against the backdrop of the sun setting on Doughmore Bay (well, it would have, had it been visible on yet another grey August evening).
Before the show, there was a picnic. Everyone was handed a basket replete with lovingly assembled offerings and chilled champagne. The plan had been for this to happen on the lawn outside The Lodge but with the skies threatening we trooped into the marquee, where the seats were bales of hay and the atmosphere was about as convivial as it gets.
First up were Ireland's Young Tenors: Clare's own Dean Power and Peter O'Donohoe, along with Ross Scanlon, from Bray. Perhaps the champagne may have helped to get them the standing ovation which followed, but they were worthy of it. Nessun Dorma, O Sole Mio, Danny Boy – they stuck close by the classics and threw some mischief into the mix.
Rebecca Storm, backed by her accomplished band, had them dancing in high heels on their bales of straw. In common with Sharon Shannon, her predecessor on the Doonbeg stage, she brings an energy to her performance which complements this intimate setting perfectly.
The plan is for other performers to follow in the years to come and the concerts deserve to become a feature of the Mid-West summer. Next time, the sun might even set over the Atlantic.