A windswept Augustinian ruin on the banks of the River Fergus — Clare Abbey was the first, largest and most important Augustinian house in County Clare. Free, unguided and quietly atmospheric, it rewards those who like their history raw and unhurried.
The long single-aisle church dates from the late 12th century, divided into nave and chancel by a handsome 15th-century square belfry tower. The tower has no internal staircase — a quirk noted by 19th-century antiquarians — and its battlements are deliberately low.
Three exquisite inserted windows survive from the 15th century. Two sit in the chancel, while a third in the south gable of the east range features an elaborate tracery pattern of six trefoils and a quatrefoil, framed in a richly moulded projecting hood.
Look closely above the hood mould of the pointed three-light east window — there's a small carved human face that most visitors miss. It's the detail people talk about afterwards.
Two ranges of domestic buildings survive to the south and east of the church, enclosing a grassy cloister garth. The south range — thought to be the original kitchen — still shows a central fireplace. Unusually, no west range was ever built. A large Victorian tomb for Thomas Crowe (1871) marks the east range.
A roughly 5 km loop links the abbey to the Quin Road in Ennis along the riverbank — a far nicer approach than the road. From Ennis town centre on foot it's around 45–50 minutes. Keep an eye out for wildlife along the floodplain.
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