CLARE, a maritime co. in the province of Munster, Ireland, bounded n. by Galway and Galway bay; c. and s. by the Shannon, and its expansion lough Derg, separating it from Tipperary, Limerick, and Kerry; w. by the Atlantic. It lies between let. 52° 32' and 53° 7' n., and long. 8' 25' and 9° 58' west. It is seventh in size of the Irish counties; length, 67 m. ; greatest breadth, 38; average, 21; area, 1294 sq.m.—more than a half being arable, and a hundredth in wood. The surface is mostly hilly, with some moun tains, bog, marsh, and rugged pasture. There is an undulating plain in the center, from n. to south, On the e., lie the Incliiquin, Slieve Baughta, and Slieve Barnagh mountains, the highest being 1758 ft., with rich pastures between. The mountains on the w. rise in Mt. Callan to 1282 feet. In the s., along the rivers, are rich loamy pastures called corcasses. The coast-line is 140 m. along the sea, and 80 along the Shannon estuary. The sea-line is high and rocky, in parts precipitous, with many isles and fantastic detached rocks. For 5 m. at Moller, the coast rises 400 ft. nearly perpendicular, and at another point 587 feet. The chief rivers are the Shannon (q.v.), and the Fergus, running s. 27 m. through the middle plain, and by an estuary 5 m. broad. The county has about 100 small lakes. Carboniferous limestone is a pre vailing formation in the county. The s.w. third of the county forms part of the Munster coal-field, with beds of ironstone, and thin seams of coal and culm. C. has mines of lead, copper pyrites, and manganese; slate and flag quarries; a black marble quarry near Ennis; and many chalybeate springs. The soils are warm and friable on lime
stone, deep rich loans on the Shannon, and cold and wet, with bogs and much timber on the coal tracts. Part of the limestone district is flooded in winter, but affords rich pasture in the summer, when the water dries up. In some places, spring-water is very scarce, and water can only be procured from the neighboring corcasses. The climate is moist and mild, but with frequent violent gales from the Atlantic. In 1875, 147,754 acres were under crops, the chief crops being oats, potatoes, wheat, barley, and turnips. The chief trade is in grain and provisions. Fine sheep and cattle are reared on the pastures. Fish are caught on the rivers in the native wicker-boats. The chief manu factures are coarse linens, hosiery, flannels, and friezes. C. is divided into 11 baronies, 80 parishes, and seven poor-law unions, with parts of three others. The chief towns are Ennis (the county town), Kilrush, Ennistymon, and Killaloe. Pop. in '41, 286.394; in '51, 212,428; in '71, 147,864, of whom 144,440 were Roman Catholics, 3,027 Protestant Episcopalians, 220 Presbyterians, and the rest of other denominations. In 1875, C. had 31,234 pupils on the rolls of the national schools. It returns three mem bers to parliament, two for the county, and one for Ennis. C. has many cromlechs, raths, remains of abbeys, and old castles or towers, and several round towers, one at Kilrush being 120 ft. high. C., till the time of Elizabeth, was called Thomond. An adventurer called Clare gave it its present name.