County Clare Historical Heritage & Diaspora
County Clare sits bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Galway Bay to the north, and the mighty River Shannon to the south. Revered worldwide as the premier home of Irish traditional music and the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, Clare’s stony limestone Burren landscape witnessed intense human suffering and subsequent exodus during the nineteenth century.
Evictions in parishes such as Kilrush and Ennistymon were among the most severely documented by British and international journalists during the Great Hunger. Illustrated London News dispatches brought global attention to the desperate Clare evictees, catalyzing relief efforts and diaspora remittances from Boston and New York.
Clare emigrants were instrumental in establishing strong civic and cultural enclaves in Chicago and New York. Legendary musicians carried Clare’s distinctive concertina and fiddle styles into the dance halls and recording studios of New York and Boston during the golden age of Irish-American recordings in the 1920s.
Prominent Clare lineages include O’Brien (descendants of High King Brian Boru), McNamara, McMahon, Considine, Moloney, and Clancy.