Clonlara, officially Cloonlara (), is a village in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and a Roman Catholic parish of the same name.

Village and parish

Clonlara is in the east of County Clare in the civil parish of Kiltonanlea or Doonass, barony of Tulla Lower. It lies between the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Sha ...

to the east and the Clare hills to the west and north. Clonlara village is on the road between Killaloe and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. In 1841 there were 219 people in 31 houses. The village lies beside the head-race canal that deliver water to power the Ardnacrusha power plant a few kilometres to the southwest. Clonlara has a GAA club and an equestrian centre. The village is part of Clonlara (Doonas and Truagh) parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe The Diocese of Killaloe ( ; ga, Deoise Chill Dalua) is a Roman Catholic diocese in mid-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral of ...

, and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

parish of

Kiltenanlea Kiltenanlea or Kiltonanlea ( ga, Cill tSeanáin Léith) is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. Name The name in Irish is ''Cill-t’Seanain Liath'', meaning "of Saint Senán, the hoary". Saint Senán is considered to be the brother of Sai ...

. The parish has two churches
Mary, the Mother of God (Truagh)
and St Senan's (Clonlara), both Roman Catholic.

's Protestant Church (Church of Ireland) is no longer a functioning parish Church, but is used for weddings and seasonal carol services.

Natives

Irish rugby union player Marcus Horan and Irish hurlers Colm and Darach Honan are from the village as is Jan O'Sullivan (née Gale), Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Limerick City.

Clonlara affair

In 1956 in Clonlara, a group beat up two Jehovah's Witnesses and burnt the literature which the two had been trying to distribute.

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

John A. Costello John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 – 5 January 1976) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959, and Attorney General of ...

"responded to a protest from Bishop Joseph Rodgers of Killaloe by writing that he appreciated 'the just indignation aroused among the clergy and the people by the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.'"Clonlara affair of 1956
archives.tcm.ie; accessed 11 June 2014.

References

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe Towns and villages in County Clare Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe

Village and parish

Natives

Clonlara affair

See also

References