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Kilrush is an oddity among Irish country towns: the street layout was carefully planned by the local landlords, the Vandeleurs (whose family mausoleum can be seen just outside the town off the road to Killimer).
The Vandeleur Walled Garden, once the the forgotten garden of Kilrush house, home to the Vandeleur landlords has been redesigned for the 21st century and is now an oasis of tender and tropical plants that thrive in the area's uniquely western latitude climate. The Walled Garden & visitor centre is open to vistors all year round.
The town is centred on a small square intended for markets, in the centre of which is a substantial building - the Market House.
The most spectacular street runs from the square towards the 120 berth state of the art marina facility. Boat trips depart from here to spend some time in the company of the Shannon bottlenose dolphins and also to see the early Christian ruins on Scattery Island, now uninhabited. The ruins consist of a well-preserved round tower, an ice-house and some churches. The original monastic settlement was an important one; the founder was St. Senan, still a popular local first name. However the Vikings found it an easy prey and sacked it several times (they had a base at Limerick) before King Brian Boru softened their cough.
Kilrush was once a Shannon port of some significance; a regular traffic of boats from Limerick, some 60 miles up-river, as well as coastal steamers, called to the little jetty with a variety of goods and occassional passengers.
Some 7 miles from Kilrush is the river-side village of Killimer, which attracts a steady stream of road traffic, as a ferry (2 in summer) flies back and forth to Tarbert on the Kerry shore, a voyage of about 20 minutes which obviates the need for a length detour by way of Limerick. Ferries run on the hour in winter, on the half-hour in summer.
Two electricity generating stations face each other across the Shannon here, a small one at Tarbert (Co.Kerry) and a much larger coal-burning station at Moneypoint, near Killimer. The Moneypoint station has a very long jetty and imports vast quantities of coal by sea. Its future may be uncertain, on account of its emissions.
For Irish traditional music enthusiasts, there is an unusual music festival, Eigse Mrs Crotty. The late Mrs Crotty had a public house and was an expert concertina player: the festival focuses on her and on concertina-playing in general - a more difficult instrument to master than it appears.
Other towns of County Clare
www.kilrush.ie - the town's website
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