Ennis
'island' — a river-meadow between branches of the Fergus
The county town of Clare, built around a Franciscan friary founded by the O'Briens in the 1240s. In 1828 Daniel O'Connell won the Clare by-election here as a Catholic who could not legally take his seat — which forced Catholic Emancipation the following year.
Ennis is inis, an island — one formed between two channels of the River Fergus. Its history belongs to the O'Briens, kings of Thomond, who left Limerick and built a royal residence at Clonroad on the Fergus in 1210. In 1240 King Donnchadh O'Brien built a church for the newly arrived Franciscans, and by 1375 the friary had 600 students and 350 friars; though officially closed in 1540, it carried on quietly until 1690, the last school of Catholic theology to survive the Reformation.
When Clare became a county in 1586, Ennis was chosen as its capital. It was granted fairs and markets in 1610, never had walls because it was a monastic rather than a defensive town, and grew on trade shipped out through Clarecastle — cloth, flour, beer and whiskey. The Famine cut its population by more than a fifth. A statue of Éamon de Valera, who sat for Clare, stands outside the courthouse.
Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on Ennis ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Drumcliffe · round tower · 3 km
- Mooghaun · royal site · 10 km
- Ballyhannon Castle · castle · 7 km
- Dromoland Castle · castle · 9 km
- Dromore Castle · castle · 9 km
- O'Dea Castle · castle · 9 km
- Ballymarkahan Castle · castle · 11 km
- Ballycar Castle · castle · 12 km
Straight-line distances from the town centre, from each site's documented coordinates.
- Killinaboy church · A ruined church with a sheela-na-gig above the door and a double-armed cross on its gable, the 'Cross of Lorraine', hinting at pilgrims and relics from the Continent.
- Dysert O'Dea · May 1318: the O'Briens destroy the Norman de Clares. Thomond stays Gaelic for 300 years. A round tower and high cross mark the ground.
All of these are pinned on the Hidden Ireland map.
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