

CLARE. 



tot 



u of DO importance in iUelf, but it n-taiiu the name of one of the moit 

 celebrated Benedictine abbey* in Europe. 



The abbey of 1'lwrrnux was founded in A.U. 1114 by St Bernard, 

 at the head of a few monk* from the abbey of Clteaux, the chief 

 establishment of the Cistercians. Hugue*, count of lluunpagne, wai 

 iu fint benefactor, who endowed it with the valley of Clairral (Clara 

 Vallis), originally called the valley d'Ahrinthe (of Wormwood), and 

 the woody region around it The foundation wan increased sub*e- 

 uiiriitly by Thibaut, count of Champagne ; and the king* of France, 

 the oounU of Flanders, and many of the nobility of France added 

 larger/ by their gift* to the revenue* of the abbey. After the commu- 

 nity had'lired at Clairraux for seventeen yean it waa found necessary 

 in consequence of the increasing number* of thoee who joined the 

 order to enlarge the buildinge ; and at the death of St. Bernard in 

 1153 there wen 700 rnonkn in the abbey. 



The utonlu were not idle. The rule under which they lived was 

 eminently "nl""lf t H to make them industrious and useful ; anil civi- 

 lisation owe* the Benedictines of Clairraux much. If in after times 

 the revenue* of Clairraux became enormously, or as some would ray 

 scandalously wealthy, this was owing not so much to rich gift* from 

 royal and noble benefactor*, as to the wise regulations of the sagacious 

 founder, who infused into his followers and bequeathed to his succes- 

 sors the spirit of useful labour. In fact the abbey of Clairvaux was 

 an inm"*"** industrial establishment. Timber was felled and saw- 

 mills set at work ; hydraulic works, drainage, and irrigation were 

 practically studied ; oil-mills, corn-mills, fulling-mill-', and tan-yards 

 were established ; wool was spun, cloth woven, metals were forged, 

 and farms tilled by the monks of Clairvaux. Each of these trades 

 and occupations was under the direction of a prefect styled ' master 

 of the forests,' ' master of the forges,' &c. Whatever products were 

 not required for the consumption of the abbey were sold at the fairs 

 of Chitillon-sur-Seine, Bar-sur-Aube, &c., and the proceeds added to 

 the resources of the community. Such energetic management could 

 not fail to make Clairvaux wealthy ; accordingly we find that in the 

 17th century it possessed nearly 60 villages and a vast number of 

 farms, above 1500 acres of meadow land, extensive vineyards, about 

 00,000 acres of forest*, 4 metal forges and foundries, ftc., and the 

 gross annual income from all sources was valued at 600,000 livres, 

 about 24,000*. Not less than 537 religious houses in Prance and 

 different parts of Europe were affiliated to Clairvaux. To give a 

 notion of the site of this van', monastery it will be enough to add that 

 an arbitration about a wager which is given iu the archives of the 

 Aube proves that in 16S3 the circuit of the abbey walls exceeded that 

 of the neighbouring town of Chaumont by 693 feet 



At the same time that all the above mentioned utilitarian processes 

 were carried on Clairraux was a nursery of learning. Pope Eugene III., 

 fifteen cardinals, and a large number of archbishops, bishops, and 

 statesmen were at different periods inmates of the abbey. The poor 

 were fed, and travellers, rich and poor, entertained. 



When religious houses were suppressed in France there were still 

 40 choir monks and 30 lay brothers in Clairvaux. The revenue of 

 the abbey then amounted to 66,000 livres, besides 700 sciiers of corn 

 (each equal to 4 -4 bushels), and 700 muids of wine (each equal to 

 70'8 gall<>n). Within the precincts of the abbey, which were then 

 about a mile and a quarter in circuit, were magnificent cloisters, 

 several churches, and a vast cellar, in which was a vat containing 800 

 muids of wine (about a year's income of that sort of produce). The 

 abbey buildings were greatly injured at the revolution ; they were 

 subsequently sold, and a glim-factory was established within the 

 walls. They were re-purclianed by the state in 1808 and converted 

 into a mendicity bouse, which the government of the restoration 

 transformed into a central house of detention for the departments of 

 Ain, Ardennes, Aube, Cote-d'Or, Jura, Marne, Haute-Marne, Ueurthc, 

 Xeuse, Moselle, Niivre, 8Ane-t-Loire, and Y.HI-I-. Tlie buildings 

 are remarkable chiefly for their solidity and extent The refectory 

 has been converted into a chapel ; it resembles the nave of a church, 

 has a vaulted roof 27 feet high, and wainscotted walls, on which 

 re severe! nidelyrxecub-d figures ascribed to the handiwork of 

 the monks ; this chapel con hold with ease 2000 prisoners. Across 

 the middle of the hall that served (and still serves) for a laundry, a 

 living stream three yards broad runs between inclined flagstones. 

 The prisoner* detained at Clairvaux ore made to work as carpenter", 

 tailors, shoe-maker*, rope lookers, tc., or they ore engaged iu the 

 ntasrafacture of cotton, woollen, hempen, and linen ti*inp. 



(Merlin, IJhfrrrmtion* /finongtut nr la Maiton ,U cVui.tniu i/atu 

 In Jlfmvirtt <U ZWroLr, Aoul 1739; Ucnnand, L r.i',li>*heq*t de 

 Clafcnuv ; .DKTWMMWV dt la Fra*r,.\ 

 UL] 



\rn.\M ScMurt.1 



UK. (n- 



CLARE, a maritime enmity in the province of MunsU-r, Ireland, U 

 bounded N. by Ualway Bay *nd the county of Ualway. i 

 the river an<l Mtuary of the .Shannon, which separate* it fn.m the 

 conntiM of Tippersry, Limerick, awl Kerry, and W. by the \ 

 Ocean. It lie* between 5r 8? and 53* T X. Ut, fc i.V *n ! 

 W. long. ; the greatest length north-east and south-weit is 874 Illile " ', 

 the greatest breadth north west and south east U 38 miles ; the area 

 U 70t),M5 now, of which in 1851 then were 101,655 acre* under 



crops, 377,002 acres in grass, 8562 in plantations, 5173 fallow and 

 uncropped arable land, and 212,972 acres estimated extent of bog, 

 waste land, and water. The population in 1851 was 212,428. 



Surface, flydngrapliy, CommtHttcalioia. The portion of the county 

 lying between the Shannon and the Oalway boundary is, to the extent 

 of about 150 square miles, occupied by the mountain group of Slieve 

 Baughta. This group stretches into tr-e adjoining county, and con- 

 tains three principal connected lakes : Lough Teroig, on the boundary 

 of Clare and Ualway ; Lough Graney, farther south iu the centre of 

 the group; and Lough O'Urady, between Lough Oraney and that 

 expansion of the Shannon called Lough berg ou the east, into which 

 the waters of the district discharge themselves by the Scariff River at 

 tho village and creek of Scariff. Southward from the Slieve Baughta 

 group extends the mountainous tract of Slieve Uaruagh. which runs 

 with little interruption from Scariff on the north to Bunratty on the 

 south, where the waters of Lough Breedy, Lough Boon, Lough 

 Cloonlea, and several other lakes lying along the western border of 

 the range discharge themselves by the Ougarnee River into the 

 Shannon. The chief drain of the eastern part of this district is the 

 Block water, which falls into the Shannon a little above Limerick. 

 The highest points of the Slieve Baughta and Slieve Barnagh range 

 are 1312 and 1746 feet respectively. West of these groups, and occu- 

 pying the central district of Clare, there is a comparatively level 

 country stretching north and south, the waters of which, collected 

 from Loughs Inchiquin, Tedane, I nchicronane, Dromore, Ballyally, snd 

 several others, unite about the centre of the county and form the 

 Fergus, a fine navigable river, which augmented by the Clareen at 

 Ennig, the county town, flows due south by Clare, and after forming 

 a large astuary with numerous islands and excellent anchorages, unites 

 with the Shannon about eight miles west of Bunratty. The junction 

 of these rivers forms a very noble expanse of water. The remainder 

 of the county, from the shore of Oalway Bay on the north to Cloude- 

 rulaugh on the south and thence westward to the ocean, is occuj ;! 

 by highlands, the waters from which flow chiefly into the Atlantic by 

 the Dunbeg and Euuistymon rivers. Of these heights the principal 

 is Gallon Mountain, 1282 feet, rising westward from Ennis over Mill- 

 town, a small town situated about midway on the western line of sea- 

 coast Clare has a much greater extent of coast-line than any other 

 county in Ireland. From Scariff on the Shannon to Curraurue on 

 Ualway Bay the whole length of coast-line is 230 English miles, of 

 which about 140 miles lie along the Shannon and SO miles on the 

 coast of the Atlantic. The Atlantic coast, from Block Head on the 

 north to Loop Head on the south, a direct line of nearly 60 English 

 miles, has only two harbours, and these not capable of sheltering 

 vessels of more than 50 to 100 tons. With the exception of the small 

 bays or fishing stations of Kilkee, Dunbeg, Milltown, and Liscanor, 

 the whole coast towards the Atlantic in iron-bound. The clifla in souio 

 places are remarkable for their great elevation and perpendicular sec- 

 tion towards the sea. At Moher, on the north of Liscanor Bay, the 

 clill'-line for a distance of five miles is nearly perpendicular, and has 

 an average elevotion of 400 feet : at one point it attains the height of 

 587 feet The strata ore horizontal and variously coloured, and in 

 many places they overhang. These cliffs ore exposed to the full force 

 of the Atlantic, the waves of which during a gale break against them 

 with extraordinary violence. Numerous islands and detached stacks 

 of rock worn into fantastic forms mark the devastating effects of these 

 storms, which have disconnected them from the mainland. 



The shore of the Shannon commencing from Loop Head has nume- 

 rous creeks which might be rendered useful either as asylum-harbours 

 or stations of trade, but at present there is no security for vessels of 

 heavy tonnage in hard weather nearer to Loop Head than the anchor- 

 ages of the Fergus. At t'arrigaholt, a small village immediately under 

 Loop, U a fishing pier ; and at Kilrush, formerly a very prosperous 

 place about halfway between Carrigaholt and the Fergus, in a pier with 

 a quay ; but the roadstead is exposed to southerly winds. 



Eastward from Kilrush the Shannon, which at its entrance is ten 

 Kuglixh miles in width, begins to contract ; but after sweeping in a 

 comparatively narrow and very deep channel 100 to 120 feet in mid- 

 channel round the peninsula of Clouderalaugh, between which an<! 

 the shore of Limerick U the Race of Tarbert, it expands again to a 

 width of several miles at its confluence with the Fergus, about ten 

 mile* farther inland. The entrance of the Fergus lies between Innis- 

 iiiurry Island on the west and Rinana Point on the east The cestuary 

 is here five miles wide. Towards the western side it is encumbered 

 by islands, of which there are eight considerable ones covering about 

 four square miles. These islands contract the ship-channel to a 

 breadth of about three-quarters of a mile. The channel is safe for 

 vessels drawing 1 6 feet of water, and on the mud-banks at either 

 side a ship may at all times ground with safety. From the Shannon 

 to ( "lure the river is called tho Lower Fergus, and from Clare to Ennis 

 (hr rp|T Fi-rgus. The Upper Fergus is a deep and quiet piece of 

 water more like a large canal than a river. It is separated from the 

 Lower Fergus by a ledge of rock on which the abutments of the bridge 

 of Clare are built This natural dam keepa the upper part of the 

 .nstently full and navigable to Ennis, the county town, thnv 

 miles distant Several drainage works have been recently ex. 

 by government with a view to facilitate the navigation of the river 

 and to improve the land on iU banks. 



