County Clare covers an area of 1,262 square miles of a rich and unique landscape in the west of Ireland. Home to the 'Burren', an ancient limestone plain of over 100 square miles of archaeological and historical importance. This extraordinary landscape blends a unique combination of fauna and flora. Growing together are alpine flowers alongside mediterranean blooms. Deep within the Burren are the fascinating Ailwee Caves. The Lough Gur Stone Age Centre provides a rare look at the lifestyle of neolithic man some 5,000 years ago.

Lough Derg to the east of the county offers excellent water sport and boating facilities. The Clare coast has several superb sailing centres, holiday resorts and an Atlantic Aquarium at Seaworld in Lahinch.

The 15th century folk park museum at Bunratty is one of Ireland's premier tourist attractions along with the dramatic Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of the county. Clare also has some of the finest links and championship golf courses in the world.


Towns in County Clare

Ennis is the county capital of Clare. Other townships include Kilkee, Kilrush, Killaloe and Shannon Town. Ennis won the Telecom Information Age Town competition and now has 82% of its residents with internet connection. 4 thousand computers have been installed in urban Ennis and every student in the town has their own email address. This medieval town is also a first for community e-commerce in Ireland. The population of County Clare is just over 93,900. Please see our town guides for further information.

Business Information

Agriculture has a strong base in County Clare with an emphasis on dairying and beef. There is a small amount of market gardening and organic growing across the county. Tourism is a major employer and income earner for Clare. The landmark sites of the Burren, Doolin, Bunratty and the Cliffs of Moher are all on the itinerary of visitors to Ireland. Food related industries, electronics, health care products and engineering is the other principle sectors on the county. Ireland's premier industrial park is at Shannon Airport in County Clare. The Shannon Free Zone has 120 enterprises and in total employs over 7,500 people. 90% of businesses here are export orientated, utilising the proximity to Shannon Airport itself. Overseas companies to have a base in County Clare include General Electric, the plastics manufacturer - Raychem, Roche Ireland Ltd and Sunstrand aviation.

Shannon Development	Tel: (353) 061 36155
Clare County Enterprise Board	Tel: (353) 065 6841922
Clare County Council	Tel: (353) 065 6821616
Clare Leader II - Rural Development LTD	Tel: (353) 062 361144

Shannon International Airport in County Clare is Ireland's Transatlantic Airport and has the convenience of US immigration inspection facilities in-house, prior to departure. County Clare has good road connections to the rest of Ireland through Limerick, Galway and Tipperary. Bus Eireann operates a service across the county. Irish Rail (Iarnrod Eireann) runs trains to Ennis via Limerick. All ferry ports from the UK are on the eastern seaboard of Ireland.

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