Ennis For A Day

Arriving from the station walk towards the Pro-Cathedral past the historic Old Ground Hotel. By the Cathedral, turn right down O'Connell Street (named after the father of Catholic emancipation - elected to Westminster here). See his statue in the centre of the town and then continue down picturesque Abbey Street. Just before the Abbey, turn right a few yards down Francis Street for Custy's Traditional Music Shop. If it's open, visit Ennis Abbey (friary) - the birthplace of the town. Opposite the friary stands a bridge over the River Fergus - lean over it for a while and watch the fish, eels - even baby otters! You won't wait long to meet a friendly local or seven.

Take the River Sculpture Trail - gorgeous, tactile, moving and humorous creations in stunning and unexpecting settings.

And if you're here on the right evenings, don't miss the Glor centre - the world's greatest purpose built Irish music venue - stunning.

Quick Tips:

Try the lunchtime special at Numero Uno pizza - great value.

For children, the Tim Smythe Park on the Galway Road has swings, roundabouts - the works.

The new Chinese takeaway next to Tipsy McStaggers - marvellous peppery spring rolls and charming service.

The cinema on Parnell Street is a lot bigger than it looks - like Dunnes Stores on O'Connell Street.

Best Way To Get Around:

Buses and trains will take you to and from the station, but after that you're best walking - the traffic, especially on a Friday afternoon, can be very slow. Cycling is good, and you can hire a bike from Tierneys in Abbey Street and get into the countryside in minutes. Just be careful - Irish drivers aren't accustomed to looking out for bikes and, with narrow streets, tend to cling to the left gutter, leaving you no room to zip up on the inside.

The second time I came to Ennis, looking for a house to rent, I stayed at the Abbey Hostel. In the heart of Ennis, on the river and across the bridge from the Abbey/friary, the hostel is friendly, cosmopolitan and flowing with peanut butter and honey. The bunks may look a little battered, but they gave me a week's worth of good nights' sleep. It is also a few yards from the excellent library, with free Internet access for half an hour daily.

Normally beyond our budget, we took advantage of a special mid-week offer of two nights' bed and breakfast with one night's dinner. The room was light and pleasant and the food delicious, with melting soda bread, perfect vegetables and a sensible children's menu. The house (the name comes from an old retainer greeting a returning family member - "Welcome to the Old Ground") has a long and exciting history, and gives a vivid impression of Ennis' special atmosphere.

This B&B, run by Fintan Kelly, a former Ennis teacher, will give a comfortable, efficient, friendly but not overpowering welcome to Ennis. Situated opposite the hospital, it is easy to find and a short walk from the town centre. A pleasant lounge/dining room for guests includes coffee and tea-making stuff, games and books, surrounded by an exhibition of works by a young local artist.

Ennis friary (or Abbey, as it's generally known) was the catalyst for the town's beginning, and so it isn't a bad place to start. There is an entrance fee, but it's very modest, and the staff will let you borrow the guide brochure while you walk around.

The buildings are mainly in ruins, but the surviving stone artifacts give clues to the history of the town. The early, imposing tombs belong to the O'Briens (founders of the friary and descendents of the great Brian Boru) and to the other principal medieval family of the area, the MacMahons. Then come the fascinating carvings, starkly devotional of Saint Francis and the "Ecce Homo" - Christ before Pontius Pilate. After the Reformation, the building was used as a court and Protestant church, and the later memorials are to the English settler families who then dominated the town.

But the site is more than the church itself; traces of the original ranges - dormitory, kitchen, workshops still remain and part of the cloister has been reconstructed to give the imaginative an idea of what the friary must once have been, when it dominated the life of the town.

One thing, or rather fifteen or more things, that the visitor to Ennis notices, is the number of sculptures dotted around the town. Some of these are great monumental works, like the soldier on the Kilrush Road - A Private Remembers - a tribute to those who have suffered in famine and war or the memorial, opposite the Abbey, to those who died in 1916, following the Easter Rising. Most, however, are small, modest pieces, part of the Ennis Sculpture Initiative of the late 1990s.

To see the sculptures at their best, and to be sure of not missing any, begin at Mill Road, next door to the tennis club, and follow the mapped route. This takes you around the mill area, taking in "Memory and Meaning" the joyous celebration of Clare's 1995 hurling victory and the mysterious ambiguities of "A Fishy Tale" and "Four Minds". Then follow the river through the centre of town past St Brendan's "Dream Boat", the disembodied "Sleepy Head and Helping Hands", and the fiddler showing that "Contentment is Wealth" until you reach the weary "Weathered Woman" outside the newspaper offices. You may not have any more idea than me what they all mean, but you'll have walked around most of Ennis, discovered some of its treasures, and upgraded your internal culture rating, all without paying a cent.