50.-, 



CLAEE. 



CLARE. 



508 



Eight miles east from Rinana Point is the mouth of the Ougarnee 

 River, up which the tide flows to Six-Mile Bridge ; but the vicinity of 

 Limerick renders its navigable capabilities of little importance. One 

 suburb of Limerick lies in the county of Clare. In this county are 

 also the chief lines of canal by which the Shannon navigation ia 

 continued from Limerick to Killaloe. Within the last twelve years 

 great improvements have been effected in the roads of the county under 

 the direction and with the aid of the commmissioners of public works. 



Geology, Mineralogy, <tv. The geological constitution of the surface 

 id simple. The Slieve Baughta Mountains consist of a nucleus of clay- 

 slate, supporting flanks of sandstone, intruded through a break in the 

 surrounding limestone plain, hi the same manner as the Slieve Bloom 

 Range on the opposite bank of the Shannon. The limestone which 

 insulates this mountainous district spreads westward over the more 

 level basin of the Fergus, and rises into very nigged elevations towards 

 the Oalway boundary on the north-west. Beyond the basin of the 

 Fergus commences an extensive clay slate and trap formation, which 

 stretches westward from the limestone-field to the waters of the 

 Atlantic, to which it presents the precipitous escarpments of the 

 coast-line. The whole of this coast abounds in phenomena of the 

 greatest interest. 



Beds of ironstone and strata of coal occur upon Mount Callan ; a 

 seam of coal three feet thick appears hi the face of the rock a little 

 above high-water mark over Liscanor Bay, near Ennistymond ; and 

 again near Mutton Island, both inland and on the shore of Malbay ; 

 another seam appears in the bed of a river near Carrigaholt, as also at 

 Fieragh Bay, LemadufF, and LonghiU Ferry. Iron-ore is found at 

 several places, and in considerable quantities on the Malbay coast ; on 

 the bauks of tlie Ardsallas, a feeder of the Fergus flowing from the 

 east ; on the shore of Liscanor Bay adjacent to the cool tract, between 

 Corrofin and Ennis in the centre of the county ; and in several other 

 places. Lead-minus are worked at Kilbricken. Rich lead-ore abounds 

 in the limestone district, particularly in the mountainous parts of the 

 barony of Burren in the north of the county. Copper pyrites is plen- 

 tiful in the same barony. Manganese is found at EnnistymoHd, Car- 

 rigaholt, Cross, and other places on the sea-coast. Chalybeate waters 

 abound in the district westward from the sources of the Fergus. Very 

 tiiii' black marble has been raised at C'raggliath, near Ennui ; it takes a 

 high polish, and is free from spots. On the shore of Lough Qraney 

 is found a hard crystalline sand much used for scythe-boards, which 

 are greatly superior to those brought from England. The coast from 

 Kilrush to Carrigaholt abounds with excellent slate and flag quarries. 

 There are also quarries of flag of a good quality at Ennistymond. 

 The Broadford slates from the Slieve Bernagh district are considered 

 nearly equal to the best Welsh ; an inferior kind is obtained from the 

 slate quarries at Killaloe. 



Soil, Climate, <tc. The characters of the different soils correspond 

 to the characteristic geological division. In the schistose and trachyte 

 districts the soil is cold and moory ; in the calcareous region warm 

 and friable, though light; on the borders of the different tracts, 

 especially of the slaty and calcareous, deep and loamy. In some 

 districts there are detached spots of very remarkable richness. These 

 are usually situated along the banks of the large rivers, and are 

 liable to periodical inundations. They are called corcaghs or corcasses, 

 a word nearly synonymous with the English provincial term bottoms. 

 The corcass lands lie chiefly along the Shannon and Fergus from 

 Limerick westward, in some places extending inland to a considerable 

 distance. Another species of rich grazing land of frequent occurrence 

 here as well as in Gulway, is the turlogh, or periodical lake, an 

 accumulation of waterither forced upward by subterranean channels, 

 or formed by surface waters which have no outlet. These floods lie 

 in the turlogh during the winter, and leave it prepared for the most 

 abundant vegetation in the spring. The whole of this calcareous 

 tract abounds with subterraneous communications through which the 

 water passes from lake to lake, as at the sources of the Fergus, or 

 rises to the surface and forms temporary pools and turloghs. The 

 barony of Burren, which comprises the north-western portion of the 

 limestone field of Clare, is a very remarkable district. Here the 

 bare limestone rock rises to the surface in all directions, so as to give 

 the whole district the appearance of being covered with a white 

 cement. The country is everywhere very rugged and hilly, and the 

 worst supplied with water of any in Ireland. The only supply of 

 water in the interior is by turloghs. One of these at Kilcorney, a 

 place remote from any river, is fed by a periodical stream issuing 

 each winter from a cave in the vicinity. Notwithstanding its sterile 

 appearance, this country is far from being unproductive. In the 

 crevices of the limestone rock sprouts a very sweet and nutritious 

 grass, particularly well suited for fattening sheep. Yarrow, white 

 clover, trefoil, ciji<[iu.>!i>il, virga aurea, juniper, and yew, grow sponta- 

 neously and in abundance, although in patches. The supply of fuel 

 nty, there being little or no bog ; yet from the numerous 

 remains of castles in all parts of the barony it is evident that it 

 must have been thickly inhabited during its possession by the old 

 Irish. The present inhabitants of the coast procure their supply of 

 turf in boaU from the opposite shores of Oalway. In all other parts 

 of the county there is abundance of fuel, particularly towards the 

 wrath-west, where a tract of bog, containing 14,950 Irish, or about 

 24,000 English acres, extends from the Shannon at Kilrush to the 



shores of the Atlantic at Moore Bay and Dunbeg. There is no lime- 

 stone in this part of the county, but au inexhaustible supply of sea- 

 sand can be had at Dunbeg. Although the county is very bare of 

 trees, the bogs abound in timber. The mode of finding bog timber 

 as practised here is rather remarkable. It is observed that the dew 

 does not lie on the part of the bog immediately above a tree, as it 

 does elsewhere. The position of a piece of timber is thus easily 

 ascertained before the dews rise in the morning. 



The climate is healthy. The county is in general much exposed, 

 particularly to violent gales from the Atlantic. Frost and snow 

 seldom continue long. In the sheltered portions of the eastern 

 district, the climate is moist and very mild. The fishing industry 

 of the county is now almost extinct. 



Hiitory, Antiquities, <tc. Clare constituted a portion of the ancient 

 territory of Thomond or North Munster. An English force, under 

 Robert Fitz-Stephen, was admitted by Donell, the petty sovereign, 

 in A.D. 1171. The English retained the fortresses of Buuratty and 

 Clare, and a considerable territory, until the death of Richard de 

 Clare, in 1317; from which period until the submission of Murragh 

 O'Brien in 1543, this part .of Thomond was entirely in the hands of 

 the native families. In 1565 the county was made shire-ground by 

 Sir Henry Sidney, and included in the province of Counauyht. From 

 Connaught it was again transferred to Munster, on the petition of the 

 second earl of Thomond, in 1601. Large allotments were made in 

 Clare for the satisfaction of adventurers and soldiers by the English 

 Parliament in 1653 ; but it was not until after the forfeitures con- 

 sequent on the revolution of 1688 that a permanent proprietary 

 was established. The rebellion of 1798 scarcely extended to this 

 county. 



During the present century Clare was for a time remarkable for 

 agrarian disturbances, now happily at an end. The Clare election of 

 1828, in which a Roman Catholic was returned to the Imperial 

 Parliament previous to the removal of the civil disabilities affecting 

 that part of the population, forms an important epoch in Irish 

 history. 



There are round towers at Scattery Island, off Kilrush (120 feet 

 high, a known landmark in the navigation of the Shannon), at 

 Drumcliff in the barony of Islands, at Dyaert and Kilnaboy in the 

 barony of Inchiquin, and at Innis Cailtre, an island in the creek of 

 Scariff, on Lough Derg : the abbey of Ennis, which the famous 

 Turlogh O'Brien enriched in 1806 with bells, crosses, rich embroidery, 

 and painted gloss windows ('Annals of Innisfalleu and Caithereim 

 Toirdelbach '), is still standing. The abbey of Quin, in the barony 

 of Bunratty, about five miles east of Ennis, is a noble pile of black 

 marble, for the building of which, in the 13th century, Cornea More 

 Macuauiara, the founder, is said to have been created a prince by the 

 pope. The ruins on the islands of Innis Scattery and Innis Cailtree 

 are also of great interest to the antiquary. Cromlechs are numerous, 

 and the tomb of Conan on Mount Callen, with its Ogham inscription, 

 is still the subject of inquiry and dispute. 



Division*, Towns, <tc. Clare is divided into the baronies of Burren 

 on the north, Corcomroe on the north-west, Ibrickan on the west, 

 Moyarta on the south-west, Clouderalaugh on the south, Inchiquin in 

 the north centre, Islands in the south centre, Bunratty, Upper and 

 Lower, on the south-east and east, and Tulla, Upper and Lower. 



ESN is, the county town, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union ; B '.LLY- 



VAGHAX, COBBOFIN, ENHISTYMON, KlLLADYSERT, KlLBUSH, SCARIFF, 



TULLA, which are likewise the seats of Poor-Law Unions, and KILLA- 

 LOE, which gives title to a bishopric, will be found described under 

 their respective titles. The following minor places we notice here, 

 with the populations in 1851 : 



Bruadford, population 342, about 8 miles W. from Killaloe, is 

 pleasantly situated near Lough Doou. In the neighbourhood arc 

 several fine mansions. There is here a station of the county constabu- 

 lary force. Petty sessions are held, and there are fairs on June 21st, 

 and November 21st. There is a dispensary of the Ennistymou 

 Union. (Jan'iyaluilt, population 320, a fishing village at the head 

 of Carrigaholt Bay, about 9 miles W. by S. from Kilrush, possesses a 

 Roman Catholic chapel. There is here a dispensary of the Kilrush 

 Union. The fishery carried on is of some importance, and largo 

 quantities of turf are sent to Limerick. The pier and harbour are 

 not adapted to afford anchorage or security to large vessels. Clare, 

 population 892, besides the inmates of an auxiliary workhouse 939, 

 in all 1831; is situated on the river Fergus, about 2 miles S. by E. 

 from Ennis. The old castle has been converted into a barrack. A 

 stone bridge crosses the river here. This town which was once the 

 county town is now of very little importance. Fairs are held in May, 

 August, and November. Ktifeiiora, population 387, besides 510 in 

 the auxiliary workhouse, is situated about 14 miles N.W. from Ennis. 

 The parish church is a respectable building, with a massive square 

 tower. Kilfenora wxs the seat of a bishop as early as 1265. It is 

 now united with the sees of Killaloe, Clonfert, and Kilmacduagb. 

 [KILLALOE.] In the ' Ulster Annals ' it is stated that the abbey and 

 town were burned by Murtogh O'Brien in 1055. A fragment of the 

 old abbey still remains; near it are several ancient crosses. The 

 laud around the village is fertile and well cultivated. KUkee, popula- 

 tion 1869, a small watering place situated on a small creek of Malbay, 

 about 8 miles W.N.W. from Kilrush, is much resorted to by sea- 



