Overview
The pen Neville Chamberlain used to sign the 1938 Anglo-Irish Agreement is here, on Arthur’s Row in the middle of Ennis, in a free museum most people walk past. That is the case for Clare Museum in a sentence: a small, well-chosen collection, free to enter, and the right thing to do before you head out into the county or when the rain sets in. Give it an hour.
One practical note before you arrive: you enter through the Tourist Information Office in the same building, and the museum keeps to bank-holiday closures (shut Saturday to Monday on bank holiday weekends), so a bank holiday Monday is the day you’ll find the door locked.
The Riches of Clare
The single permanent exhibition, The Riches of Clare, runs across two galleries and 6,000 years, grouped under five themes: Earth, Power, Faith, Water and Energy. It is built on real objects rather than panels. The standouts:
- Excavated finds from the Poulnabrone portal tomb in the Burren, dating from 3800–3200 BC.
- A Sheela-na-gig taken from Ballyportry Castle.
- Letters by Daniel O’Connell, who began his political career in Clare, and material connected to Éamon de Valera, who did the same.
- A painting by the Clare-born artist Sir Frederick William Burton.
- Parnell’s barrow and spade, used to cut the first sod of the West Clare Railway.
Both O’Connell and de Valera launched their careers in the county, which is partly why so much of the national story turns up in a building this size. Over 400 objects from the collection are also catalogued online, with more added over time.
The building
The museum opened in October 2000 in a former Sisters of Mercy convent. The core building started life as a primary school in 1854, with a chapel and classrooms added in 1869. It is a neat example of what Ennis has done with several of its older buildings: kept the shell, changed the use.
Practical information
Admission is free. The galleries are fully accessible, with step-free entry, accessible toilets and room for mobility aids; assistance and guide dogs are welcome throughout. There is no café inside, but O’Connell Street and the surrounding lanes have coffee shops, bakeries and pubs within a five-minute walk. Between June and September the building also houses the Ennis Tourist Office. Groups of more than five should ring ahead to book.
There is paid car parking within about 100 m, and free coach parking and cleaning facilities nearby for group arrivals. The museum is an easy walk from the town centre and Ennis railway station.
Getting there and exploring further
Clare Museum is a good first stop rather than a day in itself. Ten minutes’ walk north brings you to Clare Abbey and its medieval monastic ruins. From Ennis you can push west to Doolin and the cliffs, or north into the Burren Way and its limestone pavements. If you want to pair the museum with the Cliffs of Moher in one day, do the museum first thing and drive on.