There are not too many provincial Irish towns about which you can honestly say that a weekend isn't nearly long enough – but Ennis fits the bill, says MICHAEL PARSONS
GIVEN THE TIMES that are in it, a good place to start a visit to Ennis, in Co Clare, is with a little pilgrimage to the imposing statue of Eamon de Valera in front of the town’s courthouse. The Long Fellow was a local TD for some 40 years before becoming president, and you can also see his former State car, a Dodge, displayed in a glass-walled showroom beside the library named in his honour.
What would he make of our current calamitous economic situation? You can almost hear the notoriously austere figure whisper from beyond the grave: “Give up yer aul sins.” But Ennis isn’t ready to stop partying just yet. Despite the recession, the town was heaving with visitors for the annual Book Club Festival earlier this year.
At the Ennis Gourmet Store cafe, its French co-owner, David Lasbleye, has created “a little corner of France”, and he hopes the council will eventually install a fountain and plant some trees on the little plaza currently hogged by monstrous SUVs. With typical Gallic insouciance he dispels talk of doom and gloom, and says he disliked “the fake society of the boom” when “Irish people were more demanding than people in Paris or London”.
While Ennis boulevardiers sip glasses of Burgundy, his partner, Anne Leyden, explains that "there's war over The Irish Times's crossword". Customers collectively aim to complete the puzzle every day before the 6pm arrival of the managing director of the appropriately named Clare Champion,"who can finish it in five minutes". John Galvin, whose family has run the local newspaper for more than 100 years, says "the combination of narrow streets, unique boutiques and shops and the proximity of beauty spots like the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher make Ennis the perfect place to visit".
Visitors seem to agree. A typical reaction was that of Catherine MacEnri from Stillorgan, in Co Dublin. This book-club member and festival attendee, who was having “a fantastic weekend”, thought Ennis was a “great shopping town” and enjoyed meeting the “really friendly people”.
At the nearby Chocolat confectionery shop, owner Gráinne McCormick, who moved down from Dublin eight years ago, describes Ennis as “pocket-sized” where everything is “close at hand”. It is, indeed, easily walkable. All streets, and the many intriguing alleys, eventually and by circuitous routes lead to O’Connell Street, the main thoroughfare and the quintessential Irish main street. It’s crying out for pedestrianisation, but traffic congestion has eased somewhat after the opening of a bypass of the town.
A column topped by a statue of the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell, rises from the centre of town and is a major landmark. More contemporary figurative art can be seen by following the Riverside Sculpture Walk, on the banks of the Fergus. Public sculpture is a big feature of the town.
The very good mix of shops – notably books, antiques, music, clothes and shoes – is complemented by markets: a farmers' market on Friday mornings and a general market on Saturdays. But there's much more to Ennis than commerce. The excellent county museum – one of the best in Ireland – hosts a beautifully presented permanent exhibition, Riches of Clare, showcasing 6,000 years of history. And the town is a centre for traditional music: you can find scheduled and impromptu sessions in many of the welcoming pubs.
It’s hard to escape, but the hinterland of mystical Co Clare, with its castles and cliffs, caves and céilithe, is calling. Take any road out and you will still find the world immortalised by Edna O’Brien, the original country girl and Clare’s best-known writer. Mother Ireland might have swapped her shawl for a pashmina, ditched her lace-up brogue bootees for a pair of Manolos and traded her petticoats for a naughty number from Agent Provocateur, but underneath the yummy-mummy veneer, Mammy Machree hasn’t gone away, you know.
Going on any journey in Clare is difficult, because at every turn there’s a distraction to delay you. A heartbreaking famine-era stone cottage; the Gothic gable end of a ruined tower house; an ivy-clad castle; gnarled trees silhouetted against a changing sky; glimpses of the wild Atlantic. A girl with green eyes. A lad with a hurley herding the cows to milking. Villages with sloe-black rivers and pubs reeling with heady music where Sally O’Brien and the way she might look at you aren’t just the figment of an advertising fantasy.
Drive through the Burren – a natural wonderland and now a national park – with its renowned mix of Mediterranean, Arctic and Alpine wild flowers and plants. In the heart of it all stop at Carron, the birthplace, in 1847, of Michael Cusack, who founded the GAA, and visit a new heritage centre in his honour.
At Burren Perfumery you can visit the soap-making and still room where soaps, creams, oils and herbal teas are prepared using traditional methods. The shop sells a range of products, including the classic Irish fragrance Man of Aran,which was invented by a priest and contains "extract of seaweed and a top note of citrus".
More than 800,000 people visit the Cliffs of Moher every year, and its Visitor Experience, cleverly concealed within a hillside, is the third-most-popular fee-charging visitor attraction in the State. There has been some grumbling about the €8 car-parking charge, but duty manager Liz Howard points out that “the cost is per vehicle, regardless of the number of occupants”, covers a whole day and helps to provide landscaped walks, toilets, maintenance and the provision of rangers to protect the area. There are new raised viewing platforms and – for safety reasons – railed cliff-edge pathways.
There’s an extra charge (€4.95 per adult, €2.95 per child) to visit the Atlantic Edge exhibition, which houses a well-designed interactive audio- visual display area and the Ledge, which is vertigo-inducingly authentic and highly recommended.
Back in town, sink into a chair before an open fire in that venerable Ennis institution the Old Ground Hotel. A 19th- century big shot who inherited the original house on the site was once welcomed home from London by a loyal retainer with the words: “Welcome to the old ground, sir.” And the name stuck. So has the tradition of welcoming hospitality.
Like the town itself, the hotel is a great place in which to unwind or to recharge the batteries. A trip to Ennis is like going home.
Where to stay
Old Ground Hotel. O’Connell Street, 065-6828127, flynnhotels.com. One of the best-known provincial hotels in Ireland, with a long history, homely atmosphere and unbeatable town-centre location.
The Woodstock Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort. Shanaway Road, 065-6846600, woodstockennis.com. A four-star, 67-room hotel with an 18-hole championship golf course, conference facilities and spa.
Rowan Tree Hostel. Harmony Row, 065-6868687, rowantreehostel.ie. A revamped budget option (formerly the Abbey Tourist Hostel) offering beds from €16 per night. A licensed cafe bar, coffee shop, fully equipped self-catering kitchen, recreational lounges and free Wi-Fi and internet access. A variety of rooms, including double, twin and multibedded dormitories, sleeping up to 14 people. Breakfast included.
Where to eat/drink
Ennis Gourmet Store. 1 Barrack Street, 065-6843314. Run by French chef David Lasbleye and his Irish partner, Anne Leyden, this delightful French cafe serves light lunches, sinful cakes, excellent coffee and wine by the glass. The shop stocks continental food and wine.
Mocha Coffee Co. Arthur’s Row, 065-6891326. A popular cafe near the museum, with outdoor seating, good coffee, sandwiches, pastries and cakes. Town Hall restaurant. Attached to Old Ground Hotel (see above), this is the place to be seen in Ennis while watching the world go by outside on O’Connell Street. The food is excellent.
Rogues Bar Restaurant. Merchants Square, 065-6849935. A stylish new restaurant, offering a great-value Sunday lunch.
John O’Dea’s pub. 66 Upper O’Connell Street, 065-6824539. The Doheny Nesbitt’s of Ennis.
Where to go
Clare Museum. Arthur’s Row, 065-6823382, clarelibrary.ie. One of the best county museums in Ireland.
Riverwalk Sculpture Walk. Follow this route on the banks of the Fergus. Around town are many other pieces of sculpture and interesting monuments.
Cusack Park GAA stadium. Clare is one of the strongholds of the national game. See claregaa.ie.
Ennis Walking Tours. 087-6483714, enniswalking tours.com. For guided walking tours of the town.
Burren Perfumery. Carron village, 065-7089102, burrenperfumery.com. About 30km from Ennis, set in a stunning wild landscape. Visit the soap-making and still, the “native” herb garden, organic tea rooms and an audio-visual presentation with sensational photographs of the Burren’s wild flowers.
Where to shop
Scéal Eile Books. 16 Lower Market Street, 065-6848648, scealeilebooks.ie. For second-hand and antiquarian books and works by local authors.
Tony Honan Antiques. Abbey Street, 065-6828137. Rooms full of treasure, from antique engagement rings to rare pieces of Killarney marquetry furniture.
Anthony Daly Sports Shop. 36 O’Connell Street, 065-682-3722. Owned by the former Clare All-Ireland- winning hurler and current manager of the Dublin senior team. Stocks hurleys by renowned makers, including John Torpey of Six-Mile-Bridge and Duggan’s of Kilkishen.
Custy’s Music Shop. Cook’s Lane, off O’Connell Street, 065-6821727, custysmusic.com. Bodhráin a speciality here.
James Brohan, Siopa Crua Earraí. 23 Parnell Street, 065-6820333. Sells hardware and haberdashery. There’s a saying in Ennis: “If you need something, go to Jimmy’s”.
Chocolat. Barrack Close, 065-6868599, chocolat.ie. Savour Irish and European chocolates, and Linalla ice cream.
Nozomi. 71 O’Connell Street, 065-6828655, nozomi ireland.com. Passers-by remarked on the “dazzling” window display of jewelled sandals, while a Dublin woman was overheard remarking that “there is no other shoe shop like this in Ireland”.
County Boutique. 57 O’Connell Street, 065-6821947. Irish and European designer clothes. Art Craft Company. Merchant’s Square, 065-6821559. For artists’ supplies and picture framing.
Michael Parsons was a guest of discoverireland.ie