Mountshannon (, historically anglicised as ''Ballybolan'') is a village in east

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 ...

. It is part of the Catholic parish

Mountshannon-Whitegate Mountshannon-Whitegate, formerly Clonrush, is a parish in County Clare and part of the Inis Cealtra grouping of parishes within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. Current (2022) co-parish priest is Joe McMahon. The parish is an amalgamatio ...

. The village is on the western shore of Lough Derg, north of Killaloe. Mountshannon won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1981.

History

The village was designed and built from scratch by Alexander Woods, a Limerick merchant, who intended it as a purely Protestant settlement from which the surrounding Catholic population would be so impressed by the thrift and industry of the settlers that they would quickly convert to the Reformed Church; even as late as the 1830s there was not a single Catholic resident in the village. In fact the reverse happened - it was the Catholics who colonised the village, and the Protestant church in a wooded churchyard bears mute testimony to Woods and his scheme. Mountshannon was home to the last manually operated

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

. The exchange was finally converted to automatic service at noon on May 28, 1987.

Amenities

Mountshannon village has two pubs, Cois na hAbhna and Keane's Bar, a restaurant, a petrol station/shop and a pizzeria. Mountshannon is close to

Inis Cealtra Inis Cealtra, also known in English as Inishcaltra or Holy Island, is an island off the western shore of Lough Derg in Ireland. Now uninhabited, it was once a monastic settlement. It has an Irish round tower, and the ruins of several small chur ...

, or Holy Island, an uninhabited island that was once home to a monastic settlement. The island has a round tower, and the ruins of several small churches, as well as part of four high crosses and a holy well. The cemetery on this island is still in use, the coffins being transported from the Clare side in small boats. Boat trips can be taken from the harbour to the island. Mountshannon is also on the route of the

East Clare Way The East Clare Way is a long-distance trail in County Clare, Ireland. It is a long circular route that begins and ends in Killaloe. It is typically completed in eight days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trail ...

walking trail. There is a maze in the centre of town in a small park with views of Lough Derg. The maze features information about the development of the Irish spiritual tradition. Alongside is a picnic area made out of wood carved by local artists, encircled by willow hedging. In the entrance is a stone with a hole facing toward Holy Island. The maze is modelled on the pavement labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France. Mountshannon has been a recurring winner in the Tidy Towns competition having won the national prize in 1981, silver in 2004 and numerous bronzes over the years. It also took bronze in its population category in 2010.

Harbour

Mountshannon Harbour is a sheltered, south-facing harbour, used in the summer months with cruisers, who pull up for the night and visit the village. A separate bathing area is used by local families. A slipway is available for launching small craft.

White-tailed Sea Eagles

A breeding pair of

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diur ...

s nested on a nearby island in Lough Derg in 2012. This marked a success for the Irish reintroduction programme which started in County Kerry in the summer of 2007. In early May 2013, the first eaglets were born in Ireland since the re-introduction programme began; one in the Killarney National Park and two here. In 2014 and 2015 further chicks were hatched.

Civil parish

The village of Mountshannon lies in the civil parish of

Inishcaltra Inishcaltra ( ga, Inis Cealtra) is a civil parish in the barony of Leitrim in County Clare, Ireland. The main settlement in the parish is the village of Mountshannon. It is noted for the eponymous island of Inis Cealtra, which is an ancient C ...

. In 1898, the parishes of Inishcaltra and

Clonrush Clonrush or Clonmulsk ( ga, Cluain Rois) is a civil parish in the barony of Leitrim, now in County Clare, Ireland. The largest settlement in the parish is Whitegate. Location Clonrush is to the southwest of Portumna. It is and covers of w ...

were transferred from County Galway to County Clare.

Catholic parish

Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland parish of Mountshannon and Tuamgraney encompasses the villages of Mountshannon and

Tuamgraney Tuamgraney (; archaically spelled ''Tomgraney, Tomgrenei''; ) is a village in eastern County Clare in the west of Ireland and a civil parish by the same name. Situated a kilometre from the River Graney which flows into Lough Derg, it is an anci ...

. This parish contains the 10th century

St. Cronan's Church, Tuamgraney St. Cronan's Church is a 10th-century Church of Ireland church in Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland. It is the oldest church in continuous use in Ireland. The Tuamgraney parish operates as a unit with the Mountshannon parish in the Killaloe Unio ...

, the oldest church in continuous use in Ireland and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Festivals

Mountshannon hosts a number of events such as the Mountshannon Trad Festival, the Lough Derg Rally, and the annual Mountshannon Festival of Arts which usually takes place around the end of May into the beginning of June.

Annalistic references

See

Annals of Inisfallen Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

* ''AI922.2 Tomrair son of Elgi, a Jarl of the foreigners, on Luimnech (the Lower Shannon), and he proceeded and plundered Inis Celtra and Muicinis, and burned Cluain Moccu Nóis; and he went on Loch Rí and plundered all its islands, and he ravaged

Mide Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of ...

.''

References

External links

Official website

The Tidy Towns of Ireland "Celebrating 50 years"
(archived) {{Authority control Towns and villages in County Clare Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe Populated places on the River Shannon Beaches of County Clare