ByRoute 11.2 Co. Offaly (W) // Co. Clare
Lough Bridget and nearby Kilgory Lough are among the most popular coarse fishing lakes in East Clare. Anglers also come from far and wide to fish on the peaceful lakes of Clondanagh, Clondorney and Rosslara. (Photo – www.clarevillehouse.net)
Bodyke & O’Callaghansmills (Co. Clare / East)
Bodyke (Lúbán Díge, probably a translation of an Anglicisation of Both-Teig – “Teig’s hut”) is a peaceful village and parish.
Kilconnell is the name of a pretty oval hill located within the ancient boundaries of the Tuath O’Rongaile / Hy Rongaile, which featured prominently in the Wars of Turlough. According to the great C19th local historian Eugene Curry, the low circular entrenchment on the summit was long called Claidh n Gall (“ditch of the foreigner”), and was the burial place of an “English army” put to the sword nearby.
Bodyke received international cause célèbre press coverage during the Land War, when Col. John O’Callaghan‘s tenants strongly opposed rent increases over several years, from the 1881 Battle of Bodyke to the notoriously violent Bodyke Evictions of June 1887, pitting 8000 angry campaigners defending heavily barricaded houses against sherriff, bailiffs, RIC and armed soldiers.
The church of Our Lady of the Assumption (RC) was built in 1844 with funds from the Sampson family to replace an older thatched cabin (from which a Mr George Sampson‘s pew had been removed and burnt during Daniel O’Connell‘s 1828 election campaign because he was going to vote for the other candidate); it had a packed mud floor into the C20th, and was reroofed c.1944 by a local emigré to the USA.
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O’Callaghansmills / (O’)Callaghan’s Mills / Callaghan’s-Mills (Muileann / Muillte Uí Cheallacháin) (pop. 600) is a village named after the O’Callaghan family, displaced from the Mallow area of County Cork by the mid-C17th Cromwellian redistribution of land, who prospered in County Clare; one branch became major local landlords, intermarrying with the Westropp family of Lismeehan / Lismehane House.
Col. George O’Callaghan-Westropp (1864 – 1944), aide-de-camp to three kings, was president of the Irish Farmers Union and a member of the first Senate. His daughter Rosemary (d. 1982) was a painter whose works include a portrait of the famous racehorse Arkle ridden by champion jockey Pat Taaffe. His son Conor (d.1986) demolished Lismehane.
The eponymous mill was constructed in 1772, and remained in operation until shortly after WWII; the mill wheel (with rare oak cogs) is still visible, although restoration attempts appear to have been abandoned.
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Tulla (Co. Clare / East)
Tulla (An Tullach – “The hill”, from Tullach na Neaspag / Naspal – “Hill of the apostles / bishops”) (pop. 700), long a regional commercial hub, is nowadays probably best known for its strong musical tradition and angling facilities.
Tulla was the location of a monastery founded c.620 by Saint Mochuille / Mochulla, who reputedly lived to a great age. His foundation survived attack as late as 1314 by Murchad O’Brien and the Clan Thoirdhealbhaig, only to belatedly fall to the Reformation when seized by Crown authorities in 1611.
Tulla parish had a population of over 9,000 in 1845, reduced to 6,700 by 1851, after the Great Famine.
The Anglican church, built on the site in 1702, was abandoned in 1812, and now makes a picturesque ruin surrounded by graves.
The Courthouse (1838) is still in use, and also contains County Council offices.
The Market House, erected in 1843 to replace an earlier structure (described as “useless” in 1808), has recently been transformed into a public Library.
Tulla’s community spirit is reflected in the success of the local GAA club and the strong local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, organizers of an annual Fleadh Cheoil for the whole of County Clare, held every September.
The Tulla Pipe Band and the Tulla Ceili Band enjoy high reputations throughout Ireland.
Clondanagh Cottage Angling Centre, overlooking Clondanagh Lake, not only caters for fishing enthusiasts, but also runs a 40-acre donkey refuge and provides complete B&B and self-catering facilities for cyclists, walkers etc.
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Hell Bridge is a tiny community named for a structure spanning the River Hell (Abhainn Ifrinn), which has been known to freeze over on occasion.
Hell Bridge is close to Quin on ByRoute 10.
Spancil Hill (Co. Clare / East)
Spancil Hill / Spancill Hill / Spancil-Hill / Spancelhill (Cnoc Fuar Choile – “hill of the cold wood”), officially “the Cross a Spancel Hill”, derives its name from the practice of “spancelling” - hobbling an animal by tying its left fore-leg to its right hind leg to prevent it from wandering too far.
The Spancilhill Horse Fair, held every June 23rd on the local Fair Green, has a long tradition of attracting buyers from all over Europe, and at one time was the largest fair in the country.
Durra House was the birthplace of Catherine Amelia O’Brien (1881 – 1963), aka Kathleen / “Kitty” O’Brien, internationally renowned stained glass and mosaic artist and ceramicist, director of An Túr Gloinne (“The Tower of Glass”) studio in Dublin.
Spancil Hill, a sentimental folk song beloved of amateur guitarists, bemoans the plight of Irish emigrants longing for home. It was composed by Michael Considine, a local who died young in California in 1873. All the characters and places in the song are real.
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Barefield is the location of St Joseph’s Well, constructed in the mid-C19th by a local man called “Holy Tom” Donoghue, who claimed to have returned to Clare from America for this purpose on the instructions of a visionary dream.
Barefield is on the northern outskirts of Ennis and
Drumcliffe is the location of an early monastic site, with the remains of an ancient church and a 40ft high Round Tower. For centuries it has been the main cemetery of Ennis, and many impressive memorials to local families of note can be found here.
Ballyalla
Ballyalla Lake, on the northern outskirts of Ennis, gives its name to a wildlife preservation area and public amenity with picnic facilities, car park etc. (Photo – www.clare.ie)
This fair-sized body of water, popularly used for dinghy sailing, is home to several interesting aquatic plant species, and together with the surrounding grassland is frequented by numerous wildfowl, particularly in winter.
Ballyalla Castle, now little more than a stump of masonry, was besieged in 1642. This may have been the origin of the otherwise historically inexplicable name of the famous set dance, The Siege of Ennis.
Templemaley is the site of an early medieval church ruin.
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Kilnamona (Co. Clare / West)
Kilnamona (Cill na Móna – “church of the bog / marshy field”) (pop. 750) is a district comprising 27 townlands in the historic barony of Inchiquin.
A monastic settlement was founded here c.600 AD by Saint Lachtain, best known for the church dedicated to his memory in Freshford (Co. Kilkenny). In 1603 a Franciscan too the C12th bronze shrine containing the saint’s hand for safekeeping to a place in West Cork now known as Kilnamartyra. It is now preserved in the NMI.
The old burial ground, believed to be the site of the ancient monastery, features the ruin of a medieval church. There are also two Holy Wells, Tobar Lachtin and Tobar-na-Taise.
Shallee Castle, now in ruins, was erected and owned by the O’Brien family, but forfeited to Queen Elizabeth I in 1592.
The parish church (RC) was constructed in 1842.
The church porch and the Community Centre are both named in honour of local boxer Mike McTigue (1892 – 1966), the 1923 World Light Heavyweight Champion.
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Inagh (Co. Clare / West)
Inagh (Eidhneach – “ivy”), a hilly district northeast of Mount Callan / Slievecallan (1,282ft), is described by the 1845 Parliamentary Gazette as: “a series of moors, bogs, and poor uplands; and its aspect is almost everywhere bleak and repulsive. ……… The chief stream is the Brockagh“.
The crossroads village on the bank of the River Inagh that gives the area its name is the site of an ancient church known as teampul dubh na hEidhnighe - ‘black church of the ivy’.
The Biddy Early Brewery & Restaurant is a family-run enterprise that claims to be Ireland’s first pub-brewery and produces draught lager (“Blonde Biddy”), stout (“Black Biddy”) and ale (“Red Biddy”) using extracts from local plants and seaweeds as flavouring and purifying agents.
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