Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Not much to do in Ennis – not sure it was the best place to stop. In retrospect, I should have chosen Limerick or Shannon, but made sense at the planning stage. After a very good breakfast we drove to see the Caherconnell Stone Fort. Then went to see Poulnabrone Portal Tomb. Very cool. Tried really hard to find the Poulawack Cairn but had no luck, (probably drove right past it two or three times). Eventually a road spit us out at Cassidy's so we stopped for lunch – having these huge plates of potatoes! Wow, we were carbed up and good to go. We then went to visit the Dysert O’Dea castle which was pretty interesting. I know it sounds like we didn’t do much but I spent a lot of time driving aimlessly, getting lost, turning around, etc. GPS wasn’t great for getting from one tourist spot to another, really only for city to city. And while I had an AA road atlas in the car, I didn’t have the best passenger navigator. Anyhow. Light dinner at Eddie Rockets after stopping in the city centre for a little more shopping/browsing. Basically, killing time before having to go back to the B&B for the night.
Comments
Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your time in Ennis, but from what I can tell from your blog you didn't really spend that much time there.
First off, let me tell you, Shannon is just a sprawl of housing estates reminicent of Communist Russia, not somewhere I would even consider as an overnight destination. Limerick is a bustling city, but it's still small. If you want to shop, sure, go to Limerick, it's well-stocked as cities go. But I fear you'd be missing the point.
As Irish towns go, Ennis is one of the best. It's the largest town in Munster (provence), and steeped in traditional culture and heritage. It's full of pubs to cater for all tastes, particularily traditional Irish music. It's the gateway to beautiful scenic locations such as the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Lahinch and the Burren, Bunratty and Ballyvaughan, all within 30-40mins drive.
It has a wealth of restaurants, most notable among them in my opinion being the Town Hall.
If you do want to do some shopping, Ennis is gaining a strong reputation for its boutique clothes stores.
Accomodation is of a high standard, from the award-winning and fantastically excellent value-for-money Rowan Tree Hostel to the plush 4* Old Ground Hotel.
If you do decide to return to visit Clare, you could do worse than call in to Ennis on the 11th to 15th November when you will enjoy the Ennis Trad Festival. This is one of the best traditional-music celebrations in Ireland, and certainly well worth a visit.