Counties of Ireland Clare, Ireland

Clare is to be found on the western coast of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Munster.

It covers an area of over 1,200 square miles and has a population of around 95,000.

The Clare coastline is rocky and dangerous and inland Clare is an undulating plain with mountains to the east, west and north-west the chief range being the Slieve Bernagh mountains which rise to 1,700 feet above sea level.

The principal rivers are the Shannon and the Fergus with the county containing more than 100 lakes within it's boundaries.

The county is said to have received it's name from Thomas de Clare, an Anglo-Norman settler to whom this area was granted in 1276.