Clonlara, officially Cloonlara (), is a village in
County Clare
County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...
, Ireland, and a Roman Catholic parish of the same name.
Village and amenities
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 to the east and the Clare hills to the west and north. Clonlara village is on the road between Killaloe and ]Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
, 8 km north-east of the centre of Limerick city. 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 an equestrian centre and a ]Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
club, Clonlara GAA.
Religion
The village is part of Clonlara (Doonas and Truagh) parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, and the Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
parish of Kiltenanlea. The parish has two churches: Mary, the Mother of God (Truagh) and St Senan's (Clonlara), both Roman Catholic. Kiltenanlea's Protestant church (Church of Ireland) is no longer a functioning parish church, but is used for weddings and seasonal carol services.
In 1956 in Clonlara, a group of people were reputedly prompted by a local Catholic curate to physically assault two Jehovah's Witnesses and to burn the literature which they had been trying to distribute. Several people were charged for involvement in the " Clonlara affair". While Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
John A. Costello reportedly "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'", he also "insisted that the law had to be upheld".
Notable people
* Colm Honan and Darach Honan, hurlers
* Marcus Horan, Irish rugby union player
* Jan O'Sullivan, Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) and former Minister for Education
See also
* List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe
Towns and villages in County Clare
Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe