County Clare Guide (An Clár)
“The Banner County” - in the province of Munster. County town: Ennis.
The Cliffs of Moher, the lunar Burren, and a hotbed of traditional music.
Clare is a county of stone and music. Along its Atlantic edge stand the towering Cliffs of Moher and the strange lunar limestone of the Burren, where Arctic and Mediterranean flowers grow side by side. Inland, it’s the spiritual home of Irish traditional music, with sessions in pubs from Doolin to Ennistymon.
Few Irish counties pack in as much geological drama as Clare. The Burren, a vast limestone karst plateau in the north of the county, is a botanist's dream where arctic-alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side among grey stone pavements strewn with Neolithic tombs. To the south the land softens into farmland before ending abruptly at the Cliffs of Moher, which tower more than 200 metres above the Atlantic. Between them lie fishing villages, seaside resorts and the long finger of the Loop Head peninsula, while the county's eastern boundary is traced by Lough Derg and the River Shannon.
Clare is often called the home of Irish traditional music, and with reason: villages such as Doolin, Miltown Malbay and Feakle host sessions and summer schools that draw musicians from around the world. History runs deep too, from Brian Boru's power base at Killaloe to Michael Cusack of the Burren, who founded the GAA in 1884. The arrival of Shannon Airport in the 1940s transformed the county's economy, pioneering duty-free shopping and drawing industry to the mid-west. Known as the Banner County, Clare remains passionately devoted to hurling, and its 1995 All-Ireland win after an 81-year wait is the stuff of local legend.
Cities, towns and villages in Clare
- Ennis - The county town, a medieval market town on the River Fergus known for its 13th-century Franciscan friary, narrow streets and lively traditional music scene.
- Kilrush - A heritage town and marina port in west Clare, the gateway to Scattery Island's monastic ruins and dolphin-watching on the Shannon Estuary.
- Kilkee - A Victorian seaside resort curved around a sheltered horseshoe bay, long a favourite bathing spot with dramatic cliff walks nearby.
- Doolin - A coastal village famed worldwide as a hub of traditional music, and the departure point for ferries to the Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher cruises.
- Lisdoonvarna - A former Victorian spa town best known for its September Matchmaking Festival, one of Europe's largest singles gatherings.
- Ennistymon - A characterful market town noted for its old painted shopfronts and the Cascades, where the River Inagh tumbles over rocky falls behind the main street.
- Killaloe - A historic Lough Derg town linked by a 17-arch bridge to Ballina in Tipperary, and celebrated as the home place of High King Brian Boru.
- Miltown Malbay - A west Clare town that hosts the Willie Clancy Summer School each July, Ireland's largest traditional music school.
- Bunratty - A small village dominated by 15th-century Bunratty Castle and its folk park, one of Ireland's most visited heritage attractions.
- Corofin - A village on the edge of the Burren that is home to the Clare Heritage Centre, a key stop for those tracing Clare ancestors.
Famous people from Clare
- Brian Boru - High King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings at Clontarf in 1014; his royal seat of Kincora was at Killaloe in east Clare.
- Michael Cusack - Founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, born in the Burren village of Carron where his cottage is now a visitor centre.
- Edna O'Brien - Internationally acclaimed novelist, author of The Country Girls, born and raised in Tuamgraney in east Clare.
- Willie Clancy - Master uilleann piper from Miltown Malbay whose legacy lives on in the summer school named in his honour.
- Martin Hayes - One of the world's most celebrated traditional fiddlers, from Feakle, and a founding member of The Gloaming.
- Sharon Shannon - Button accordion virtuoso from Ruan near Corofin, one of Ireland's best-known traditional musicians.
- Keith Wood - Legendary Ireland and Lions rugby hooker, born in Killaloe, and the first-ever World Rugby Player of the Year in 2001.
- Anthony Daly - Clarecastle hurler who captained Clare to their famous All-Ireland victories of 1995 and 1997.
- Davy Fitzgerald - Sixmilebridge goalkeeper on Clare's 1995 and 1997 All-Ireland winning teams, later a high-profile intercounty manager.
- Marty Morrissey - RTE's much-loved GAA commentator, raised in the seaside village of Quilty in west Clare.
Did you know?
- Shannon Airport opened the world's first duty-free shop in 1947, an idea that spread to airports across the globe.
- The Poulnabrone dolmen in the Burren was built around 3800 BC, making it centuries older than the pyramids of Egypt.
- Muhammad Ali's great-grandfather Abe Grady emigrated from Ennis in the 1860s, and the boxing legend visited the town to honour his roots in 2009.
- Daniel O'Connell's victory in the 1828 Clare by-election forced the British government to grant Catholic Emancipation the following year.
- The parochial house from the sitcom Father Ted stands near Kilnaboy, and much of the series was filmed around the Burren.
- The Cliffs of Moher reach 214 metres at their highest point and attract well over a million visitors a year.
- Clare is nicknamed the Banner County, a name linked to the banners carried at its great political rallies of the 19th century.
- Spanish Point takes its name from ships of the Spanish Armada wrecked off the Clare coast in 1588.
Places to visit in Clare
- Cliffs of Moher - Towering 700ft sea cliffs on the Wild Atlantic Way.
- Bunratty Castle - A restored tower house with a medieval banquet and folk park.
Surnames from Clare: O'Brien · Kennedy · Quinn · McDonnell · McMahon · Boland · Keane · Hogan · Griffin · Conway · McNamara · O'Halloran