The History of County Clare.

Clare has many stone monuments and raths dating from prehistoric and early historic times. There are remains of many Celtic and medieval monasteries, and also castles and tower houses. Clare was a zone of conflict between Munster and Connaught in Celtic times. Brian Boru lived near Killaloe he was king of a small state called Dal Cais, eventually he became High-King of Ireland. He was killed when defeating the Danes at the Battle of Clontarf near Dublin on Good Friday 1014 his body was taken to County Armagh for burial. After this, the power of the O'Brien's, Brian Boru's descendants, was confined to the north Munster kingdom of Thomond, which included Clare. The O'Briens remained in control of Clare until the 1600's. After the Cromwellian wars, as part of Connaught, it was a refuge for Irish who had lost land elsewhere in the country. The county suffered severely in the famine of the 1840's.

National leaders first elected to parliamentary office in Clare include the Catholic liberator, Daniel O'Connell, in 1828, and Eamon de Valera, prime minister and president, in 1917. A summer school is held to commemorate the Clare poet Brian Merriman.
See also Irish History.

Read about the history of County Clare from Samuel Lewis' Topographical Directory of Ireland published in 1837.