Abstract. The α + 14 C elastic scattering and the nuclear structure of its compound systems, 18 O = α + 14 C, are analyzed on the basis of the semi-microscopic model. The α + 14 C interaction potential is constructed from the double folding (DF) model with the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction of the density-dependent Michigan 3-range Yukawa. The DF potential is applied to the α + 14 C elastic scattering in the energy range of E α /A α = 5.5 ∼ 8.8 MeV, and the observed differential cross sections are reasonably reproduced. The energy spectra of 18 O are calculated by employing the orthogonality condition model (OCM) plus the absorbing boundary condition (ABC). The OCM + ABC calculation predicts the formation of the 0 + resonance around E = 3MeV with respect to the α threshold, which seems to correspond to the 0 + 4 resonance identified in the recent experiment. We also apply the OCM + ABC calculation to the mirror system, such as 18 Ne = α + 14 O, and the Coulomb shift of 18 O − 18 Ne is evaluated. We have found that the Coulomb shift is clearly reduced in the excited 0 + state due to the development of the α cluster structure. This result strongly supports that the Coulomb shift is a candidate of new probe to identify the clustering phenomena.