There was a hotel perched above the harbour in Ardmore where a 10-year-old waif in woolen trunks once earned his lifesaving merit badges over the course of an endless hot summer ‘cough-mumble-mutter’ years ago but it bears scant resemblance to the current incarnation, The Cliff House Hotel, a modernistic structure not unlike a cruise liner where every single space within is designed to draw the gaze out towards the stunning sea views.

Ardmore became the first Waterford club to pick up AIB All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling silverware following a gruelling extra-time battle at Croke Park this afternoon.

The shooting of the hit series, Penny Dreadful, at Ardmore Studios, earned the company that operates the studios profits of €1.34m last year.

Seven of Ireland’s most popular bathing spots failed minimum clean water tests leaving swimmers with a 10% risk of picking up a bug, an official report has revealed.