Discover Ennis

The county town of Clare, on its river island

Ennis sits on an island in the River Fergus in the centre of Co. Clare, the county town and its largest settlement with around 27,900 people. The Irish name Inis means island, and the medieval street pattern still follows the loop of the river around the thirteenth-century Franciscan friary at its heart. O'Connell Square, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street, Parnell Street and the tangle of narrow laneways between them are where the town's life happens.

The reason to base yourself here is the music and the position. Ennis is a real, year-round traditional-music town, home to Cois na hAbhna, the regional headquarters of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, with pub sessions running the whole year rather than only for the summer visitors. It was Ireland's first Information Age Town in 1997 and a repeat Tidy Towns winner, a tidy, confident county town rather than a village. From here the rest of Clare is easy: the Burren limestone country is about fifteen minutes north, the Cliffs of Moher about forty-five, and Bunratty Castle and Shannon Airport a short drive south. Ennis is inland, so treat it as the base and the coast as the day out.