Eight attractions here, and they fall into two loose clusters. The Burren end of the county holds most of them: Aillwee Cave above Ballyvaughan, where a 45-minute guided tour drops about 90 metres past an underground river and a frozen waterfall, and two free stops in Lisdoonvarna, the Burren Smokehouse with its tasting at the end of a short film, and the Spa Wells Heritage Centre in the original building of Ireland’s only surviving Victorian spa town. Liscannor’s John P. Holland Centre sits on the same run down the coast.
Ennis has two of the rest, both free and both walkable in the town centre: Clare Museum on Arthur’s Row, which covers 6,000 years in one permanent exhibition and is comfortably done in an hour, and the gallery in Glór, the county arts centre, which rotates through five to seven shows a year with a café alongside.
The two outliers need a drive. Ardnacrusha sits on the northern bank of the Shannon at the far southeastern corner, and its free 90-minute tours run on summer weekdays only and sell out, so book well ahead. The Music Makers of West Clare is on Flag Road in Miltown Malbay, about forty minutes indoors. Most of this list is indoor and free, which makes it the wet-weather half of a Clare itinerary.
A guided walk 90 metres under the Burren past an underground river, a year-round frozen waterfall and the bones of an Ice Age bear.
The 1929 Shannon Scheme station once powered the whole Free State, and the free tour takes in the double lock and the original turbine hall.
A family kiln that has cold-smoked organic salmon since 1989, free to visit, with a tasting after the film and the Roadside Tavern next door.
Free, fully accessible and an hour well spent, with Poulnabrone finds, O'Connell letters and the pen Chamberlain signed with in 1938.
Two short films, a room of concertinas and uilleann pipes and the legacy of Willie Clancy, a good primer before you go looking for a session.
7 of 8 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Ballyvaughan, clare
Aillwee Cave runs a 45-minute guided tour that dips about 90 metres below the Burren limestone, past an underground river, a year-round frozen waterfall and the bones of an Ice Age brown bear found here in 1976. Above ground there's a birds of prey centre, the Burren Gold cheese farm shop and a woodland walk over Galway Bay.
Northern bank of the River Shannon, clare
Ardnacrusha's hydroelectric station opened in 1929 as the Shannon Scheme, and for a time one plant powered the entire Free State; it still supplies about 2% of Ireland's electricity. Free 90-minute guided tours run on summer weekdays, taking in the head-race canal, the deep double lock and a turbine hall where the original 1929 machines still run. Book well ahead – they sell out.
Lisdoonvarna, clare
The Burren Smokehouse is a free stop just outside Lisdoonvarna where a family-run kiln has cold-smoked organic salmon since 1989. The draw is the tasting at the end of a short film; paid tours go deeper, and the Roadside Tavern next door pours the Burren Brewery's own beer.
Ennis, clare
Clare Museum on Arthur's Row in Ennis tells 6,000 years of County Clare through one permanent exhibition, The Riches of Clare. It is free, fully accessible and comfortably done in an hour. Among the objects are finds from Poulnabrone portal tomb, letters from Daniel O'Connell and the pen Neville Chamberlain used in 1938.
Flag Rd, clare
A small, free centre on Flag Road in Miltown Malbay, built around two short films and a room of instruments, from concertinas to uilleann pipes, and the legacy of local piper Willie Clancy. About forty minutes indoors, and a good rainy-day primer before you go looking for a real session in the town's pubs.
Ennis, clare
Liscannor, clare
Lisdoonvarna, clare
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