n.
County (pop., 1996: 94,006), western Ireland.
Bordered by the River Shannon and the Atlantic Ocean, it is located in the province of Munster, and its county seat is Ennis. It has peat-and bog-covered hills, plateaus, lowlands, and limestone areas. Chief crops are oats and potatoes; livestock raising and fishing also are important. Evidence of prehistoric settlement includes many megaliths and some 2,000 fortified enclosures. There are numerous early Christian sites. The region remained under the lordship of the O'Briens until the 16th century despite Anglo-Norman colonization in the 12th century. It was made a shire in the reign of Elizabeth I . In 1828 Daniel O'Connell won the election in Clare that led to the emancipation of Catholics in Ireland.