Best & Worst County Clare towns/villages

christmas2012

mikemac1 wrote: »

Worst Shannon
Best Milltown Malbay

Strangest and most unique bit of road in Ireland, Corkscrew Hill

No i wouldnt say shannon is the worst,its got a good community spirit to it,yes it can be boring at times,very few entertainment places in the town,apart from the one town centre skycourt,and its not that great..

But on the upside there is a low low crime rate,and you could walk around the place at 2am in the morning and feel as safe as a house..

ger664

summerskin wrote: »

the post office must be staying open though, surely?

Yeah Post office is to remain open.

saabsaab

Kilfenora has a few places to have lunch. Vaughans is well known but also the centre tea shop and Linnanes - not sure if these are open all year.

Shove the Pigs Foot

Lads, though very beautiful spots, places like Fanore and Doolin are not towns. They are not even really villages. For that matter I've never considered Lissycasey a proper town or village, always seemed like a stretch of road with some houses along it.

Also don't understand why people getting so defensive and bristly about Shannon. Let's face it, it's the complete antithesis of a typical Irish town or village. It's basically a big housing estate next to an airport. Excepting the airport, or for work, people don't go out of their way to go there. It may be a grand place to grow up, but surely you'll understand that it's hardly going to make many people's top 10 lists.

redzerologhlen

Shove the Pigs Foot wrote: »

Lads, though very beautiful spots, places like Fanore and Doolin are not towns. They are not even really villages. For that matter I've never considered Lissycasey a proper town or village, always seemed like a stretch of road with some houses along it.

Also don't understand why people getting so defensive and bristly about Shannon. Let's face it, it's the complete antithesis of a typical Irish town or village. It's basically a big housing estate next to an airport. Excepting the airport, or for work, people don't go out of their way to go there. It may be a grand place to grow up, but surely you'll understand that it's hardly going to make many people's top 10 lists.

What is a village so if you dont mind me asking? In my opinion if there is a chuch, shop and at least one pub its a village. Both doolin and fanore fit that criteria. Even though I live only about 15 minutes away doolin is my least favourite village in Clare followed closely by Miltown largely because of the hatred I had for them through football when I was a bit younger.

melonstar

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/village

Fanore and Doolin:
have a group of houses? Tick!
associated buildings? Tick!
larger than a hamlet? Tick!
smaller than a town? Tick!
Situated in a rural area? Tick tick tick!

They are both villages!

tatoo

Isn't a hamlet a village/settlement without a church ?
or in otherwords it's residents have to go to the neighbouring village in the parish to attend church services.

buck65

What's a shire then -
Is Quin a shire?
Lot's of hobbitts around there.

pappyodaniel

buck65 wrote: »

What's a shire then -
Is Quin a shire?
Lot's of hobbitts around there.

And GOLD!




lots and lots of GOLD!!!

onofftheroad

Myself the missus and family took a weeks holiday down in Clare last week and had a great time. I haven't been there in many years so we travelled all over the county to see all the various attractions and beaches etc and it compares very well with many other counties.

We were particularly impressed with:

• houses generally painted and kept well
• some good beaches/seaside towns - thought that generally Kilkee was the best as its beach is more sheltered from the wind and town has nice restaurants etc. to sit outside of
• falconry exhibition at Ailwee caves is really worth seeing (go on a good weather day)
• good shopping in Ennis
• towns generally maintain the old store fonts and don't have huge amount of closed down shops like many other counties
• friendliness of the natives!

Keep up the good work down there!

el dude

Shannon is easily the most depressing "town". So many people there, yet it has absolutely nothing.

Mr. G

You can argue all you like about Shannon, but it has an airport for a reason.

It could do with a bit of tidying up.

I'm not from Shannon btw.

Carazy

Whatever about Shannon, the worst town in Clare has to be Clarecastle. Dirty, rundown,unkept. It's just ugly and needs a good scrub

Roche is the best thing about the place that it brings employment

Lady Chatterton

Carazy wrote: »

Whatever about Shannon, the worst town in Clare has to be Clarecastle. Dirty, rundown,unkept. It's just ugly and needs a good scrub

Roche is the best thing about the place that it brings employment

There is a good community spirit in Clarecastle though. They deserve huge credit for their excellent daycare facility which was made possible by local fundraising (for the most part).

Clarecastle Daycare facility caters for 50 clients per day and covers a radius of 10 miles. People from 16 surrounding parishes avail of services at the centre.

Carazy

MrsD007 wrote: »

There is a good community spirit in Clarecastle though. They deserve huge credit for their excellent daycare facility which was made possible by local fundraising (for the most part).

That is true too I was being a bit negative and their Regatta is good too by the quay.

I just I taught since the town has been bypassed since 2007 it would have been 'cleaner' than it was due to the reduction in passing traffic. Unfortunatley I think it has looked dirtier since then.

Clareman

Clarecastle is also a village

Many places only dream to have a community spirit as good as Clarecastle, if you hit a magpie you hit them all

CorkBabe33

I used to go to Quin a lot when I was younger and would always take a trip over to the Abbey. It's years since I was there - this thread has me thinking I should pay a little nostalgic visit !!! Am I right that you can no longer go up to the very top of the Abbey?

livinginkorea

Is Corofin really doing bad these days? Which other places have closed down, apart from Spar? I used to work in Bofey's years ago. Not many tourists there like before I guess?

Clareboy

Crusheen seems to be very neglected and untidy, no sign of any Tidy Towns activity - hardly any hanging baskets or flower pots. A pity!

Lady Chatterton

I was driving through Tuamgraney recently and their Tidy Towns Committee are in overdrive, the place looks great and they have beautiful hanging baskets and flower pots everywhere.

Boots234

West Clare in general is great!

vkid

cakeisgood wrote: »

I think Shannon is the worst. There is very little to do. Considering there is such a large population there is very little amenitites. It has very few pubs. Small villages have more pubs then Shannon!! Its also a very depressing looking place, just housing estates and industries. Some very nice people living there but the place itself is horrible. Learning to drive so don't have to keep living there

Best town is Ennis. A lot to see and do and everything is easy to get to. Love Lahinch too, one of Clares most beautiful spots

Thing about Shannon is, it really has everything it needs except pubs - but bunratty is only out the road and there's a few there that people use. You;re not far from either Ennis or Limerick in a taxi so plenty options. Apart from that it wants for little tbh. Plenty places to eat, shop, plenty schools, churches, parks and walk ways.

Its not the oprettiest place int he world, but I'd take it over most places any day. Fantastic community spirit in Shannon

Radio5

I'd imagine a lot of communities find it difficult now to keep their villages etc looking well. Less people working, in many cases, less people owing to emigration, smaller shops closed,less money put towards painting/flowers/cleanups etc.

You can only judge so much by how a place looks, while it gives some indication of how the community operates, tis not be all and end all. If I were to judge places only by how they look, I'd say Tulla and Scariff always looked like villages that were stuck in the 1950's. I could be totally wrong.

You have to live in a place for a while, get involved in things outside of just going to the pub and listening to the parents at the school gate and then make your mind up.

willow tree

Radio5 wrote: »

I'd say Tulla and Scariff always looked like villages that were stuck in the 1950's. I could be totally wrong.

You have to live in a place for a while, get involved in things outside of just going to the pub and listening to the parents at the school gate and then make your mind up.

I don't know scariff too well but there seems to be a great community there, especially at the community garden with lots of progressive people. But tulla I find to be a bustling & progressive village. The supervalue is always busy. A second hair salon & barber's has opened. Along with lots of businesses (butcher's,2 hardware, healthfood store, garage etc) that seem to be thriving even now. (thats my protective rant of tulla )..

seachto7

The stretch from Killaloe up to Mountshannon is lovely. Would be nice to live up that way. Though you are a drive from shops etc. Anyone I meet from up that way are nice people as well.