County Clare

“ They are Englishmen, and that is sufficient; but if a gang of Clare men be dismissed and one of Limerick men taken on, there are signs of trouble in the air. Justice must be done to county Clare. Are the children of the soil to want bread while strangers eat it? For a Limerick man to the poor untravelled folk of Clare Castle, of Kilrush, and of Kilbaha is a stranger. Yet the small peasant cultivators on an islet near Islandavanna flatly refused to work at the "slob." Smoking a pipe and looking at a cow and calf grazing was a more congenial occupation, so they preferred staying at home. ”

“ County Clare and County Galway are the districts of the greatest unrest in Ireland; and the largest number of boycotts, cattle drives, and evictions have occurred there of late years because certain large landowners, chief of whom is the Earl of Clanricarde, stubbornly refuse to sell their estates under the Land Act of 1903 or restore the tenants they have evicted or divide up their pastures into farms. ”

“ Dividing county Clare from counties Tipperary and Limerick, the Shannon reaches the city of Limerick as a broad and noble river, and debouches upon an estuary 60 m. in length with a. direction nearly E. and W. This divides county Clare on the right from counties Limerick and Kerry on the left. A wide branch estuary, that of the Fergus, joins from N., and the rivers Mulkear, Maigne and Deel enter from S. From Lough Allen to Limerick, where the Shannon becomes tidal, its fall is 144 ft. ”

“ Therefore, I think it probable that the territory of Ossory included the greater part of County Waterford, as111 far west as Cappoquin and the Blackwater from Cappoquin to the sea.
As in the case of the eastern parts of Munster so in the case of the part beyond the Shannon, now County Clare, there is more than one story to account for the annexation. When several stories are given to explain a fact, though they contradict each other in the manner of the explanation, they form a strong corroboration of each other as to the fact itself. ”

“ Generally speaking, the eastern parts of the county are mountainous, with tracts of rich pasture-land interspersed; the west abounds with bog; and the north is rocky and best adapted for grazing sheep. In the southern part, along the banks of the Fergus and Shannon, are the bands of rich low grounds called corcasses, of various breadth, indenting the land in a great variety of shapes. ”

“ Clare (124) , a county in Munster, Ireland; also an island at the mouth of Clew Bay, county Mayo.
Clare, John, the peasant poet of Northamptonshire, born near Peterborough; wrote “Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery,” which attracted attention, and even admiration, and at length with others brought him a small annuity, which he wasted in speculation; fell into despondency, and died in a lunatic asylum (1793-1864) .
Clare, St., a virgin and abbess, born at Assisi; the founder of the Order of Poor Clares (1193-1253) . Festival, Aug. 12. ”

“ By desire of the noble earl, negotiations were entered into with the authorities at the county establishment to receive Clare, against payment of a small weekly sum, at a somewhat better footing than the ordinary paupers; but while these were pending, there came letters from London offering to do a little more for the unhappy poet. Mr. John Taylor and other old friends and patrons, having now become fully acquainted with the condition of Clare, proposed to place him in a private lunatic asylum, near the metropolis, discharging all the expenses of his maintenance there. ”

“ THE CASTLE AND LAKE OF INCHIQUIN, COUNTY OF CLARE.
Connemara itself, now so celebrated for its lakes and mountains, was not less unknown a few years since than the greater portion of the county of Clare. Without roads, or houses of entertainment for travellers, its magnificent coast and other scenery were necessarily unvisited by the pleasure tourists, and but little appreciated even by their inhabitants themselves. ”

“ The citizens of the petty republics of Greece and Italy never abhorred each other more fervently. Now on large works with sub-contractors, gangers, artizans, and labourers, by piece and by day, it is no easy matter to keep matters going smoothly. It is needless to say that skilled artizans, such as engine-men and the like, are not picked up in county Clare ”

“ Owing to the mountainous nature of the county nearly one-seventh of the total area is quite barren.
There are no extensive manufactures, although flannels and friezes are made for home use, and hosiery of various kinds, chiefly coarse and strong, is made around Ennistimon and other places. There are several fishing stations on the coast, and cod, haddock, ling, sole, turbot, ray, mackerel and other fish abound, but the rugged nature of the coast and the tempestuous sea greatly hinder the operations of the fishermen. ”

“ For a week or longer, their daily business, in the service of King George the Third, was to get drunk, to parade the streets singing and shouting, and to fight with the watchmen of the town. John Clare, thinking the matter over in his daily musings, wondered at the curious road laid down for people who wished to become heroes.
The Helpston group of warriors having been joined by other clusters from various parts of the county of Northampton, the whole regiment of raw recruits was marched along, one fine morning, to Oundle. ”

“ O'Connell rises and pronounces a magnificent harangue, which sways the passions of the peasantry as forests wave when swept by the wing of the tempest. A violent contest ensues, and at its close the high-sheriff declares that "Daniel O'Connell, Esq., is duly elected a member of the Commons House of Parliament for the county of Clare." ”

“ Clare was fortunate in some of his advertisers. Rossini and Madame Vestris brought him into further prominence by means of a musical setting and of recitations at Covent Garden. Genius in hobnailed boots and a smock-frock shouldered aside the more usual figures of literary London. While all this was taking place in Fleet Street, as well as in the aristocratic sections of the capital, rumours of Clare’s amazing success reached the county residences in the neighbourhood{xxvi} of Helpstone. ”

“ Clare in Suffolk was one of the ninety-five manors in that county bestowed by the Conqueror upon Richard Fitzgilbert, who (as well as his successor Gilbert) resided at Tunbridge, and bore the surname of De Tonebruge. His grandson Richard, the first Earl of Hertford, fixed his principal seat at Clare, and thenceforth the family took the surname of De Clare; and in the Latin documents of the time the several members of it were styled Ricardus (or Gilbertus) , Dominus Clarensis, Comes Hertfordiensis. ”

“ In 1768 O'Brien contested his father's seat, co. Clare, at the cost of 2,000l. (Charlemont Papers, i. 119) ; he was elected, and represented the county until 1776, when he was returned for Ennis. Hugh Dillon Massy, however, one of the members for Clare, being unseated, O'Brien was returned in his stead, and chose to sit for the county. He now busied himself with endeavours to remove the restrictions on trade between England and Ireland, and made frequent speeches on the subject in parliament in opposition to the government ”

“ The estates descended in the female line to Simon Rice, a citizen of London, whose daughter and heiress married Simon Clare of Kidderminster, the father of Sir Francis Clare. Sir Ralph Clare was buried in the chancel of Kidderminster, where there is the following inscription: ‘Here lieth the body of the hon. Sir Ralph Clare, eldest son unto Sir Francis Clare in this county, servant unto Prince Henry, knight of the Bath at the coronation of King Charles I, whom he attended through all his glorious fortunes. ”

“ Yet if not admitted into the workhouse, larger numbers would have perished, as is shown by the great mortality which took place in the county of Clare, where the unions were too much impoverished to provide sufficient workhouse accommodation for the extent of destitution that prevailed, 373the condition of Clare being at this time much worse than any other part of Ireland. The people had there suffered more, and the revival of the potato crop had brought them less relief. ”

“ Of the total population about 97% are rural, and about the same percentage are Roman Catholics. The chief towns are Ballina (pop. 4505) , Westport (3892) and Castlebar (3585) , the county town. Ballaghaderreen, Claremorris (Clare) , Crossmolina and Swineford are lesser market towns; and Newport and Westport are small seaports on Clew Bay. The county includes nine baronies. Assizes are held at Castlebar, and quarter sessions at Ballina, Ballinrobe, Belmullet, Castlebar, Claremorris, Swineford and Westport. ”

“ Kilkee is the most fashionable watering-place on the western coast of Ireland; and Kilrush on the Shannon estuary is also favoured.
Industries.—The soil and surface of the county are in general better adapted for grazing than for tillage, and the acreage devoted to the former consequently exceeds three times that of the latter. Agriculture is in a backward state, and not a fifth of the total area is under cultivation, while the acreage shows a decrease even in the principal crops of oats and potatoes. Cattle, sheep, poultry and pigs, however, all receive considerable attention. ”

“ Truly,
"Love's not Time's fool: though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out e'en to the edge of doom."
AT NORTHAMPTON Clare remained for a short time at Northborough, and was then removed under medical advice to the County Lunatic Asylum at Northampton, of which establishment he continued an inmate until his death in 1864. During the whole of that time the charge made by the authorities of the Asylum for his maintenance was paid either by Earl Fitzwilliam or by his son, the Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam. ”

“ The patronage in the Bishop of Exon, who endowed them; the incumbent Mitchell, and the parish of Kenwen rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax 1696, 196l. 14s. 6d.
Near Edles, or Ideless, i. e. narrow breadth (formerly the voke lands of a considerable manor, taxed in Domesday Book as aforesaid, privileged then with the jurisdiction of a Court Leet) is yet to be seen the ruins and downfalls of St. Clare’s consecrated and walled well; chapelwise built, by the Nuns of the nunnery-house of Poor Clares in Trurow, called An-hell, i. e. the hall ”

“ Having discovered that the noble lord was in the habit of occasionally visiting some outlying farms, the shrewd clerk waylaid his lordship, and, together with his young friend, burst upon him like an apparition. Breaking out into glowing praise of John Clare, which made the latter blush like a maiden, the parish-clerk finished by pulling from his pocket a bit of antique pottery, unearthed somewhere in the grounds between Helpston Heath and Castor. ”

“ Parker Clare knew more songs than any boy in the village, and his stock of ghost stories and fairy tales was quite inexhaustible. When grown into manhood, and yet not feeling sufficiently strong for the harder labours of the field, he took service as a shepherd, and was employed by his masters to tend their flocks in the neighbourhood, chiefly in the plains north of the village, known as Helpston Heath. In this way, he became acquainted with the herdsman of the adjoining township of Castor, a man named John Stimson, whose cattle was grazing right over the walls of ancient Durobrivae. ”

“ Opportunity came before long. Among his regular duties at the 'Blue Bell' was that of fetching once a week flour from Maxey, a village some three miles north of Helpston, near the Welland river. The road to Maxey was a very lonely one, part of it a narrow footpath along the mere, and the superstition of the neighbourhood connected strange tales of horror and weird fancy with the locality. In the long days of summer, John Clare, who had to start on his errand to the mill late in the afternoon, managed to get home before dark, thus avoiding unpleasant meetings ”

“ This discharge came in the autumn of 1818, and put Clare to the severest distress. The expenses connected with his poetical speculation had swallowed up all his hoardings, and left him absolutely without a penny in the world. After several ineffectual efforts to find work as a lime-burner either at Pickworth or Casterton, he bethought himself to seek again employment as a farm-labourer, and for this purpose went back to Helpston. His parents, now quite reduced to the mercies of the workhouse, and subsisting entirely upon parish relief, received him with joy ”

“ It may be added that Earl Spencer continued his annuity of L10 to Mrs. Clare until her death on Feb. 5th, 1871. In this connection it should also be noted that the Rev. Charles Mossop, of Etton, and Mr. and Mrs. Bellars, of Helpstone, took a lively interest in the welfare of Mrs. Clare and her family, and in May, 1864, Mr. Bellars purchased the poet's cottage at Helpstone and has set it apart for charitable uses. Lastly, Mr. Joseph Whitaker, of London, in whom is vested the copyright in Clare's poems, paid Mrs. Clare a handsome annuity for the last six or seven years of her life. ”

“ In the meanwhile, however, the few persons who still took an interest in the 'Northamptonshire Peasant' heard vague rumours that he was living at home in a state of extreme destitution, productive at times of mental derangement, and on the initiative of the most energetic of these old friends another appeal was made to the public for pecuniary aid. Allan Cunningham was the first to call upon the admirers of Clare to help him in his distress, and the editors of various more or less fashionable annuals, published in the autumn of 1837, followed the example. ”