Day 24 Ennistymon

Ennistymon Village

I thought today I would showcase the next village to Lahinch - Ennistymon - which is about 4 kms East of the town.

Ennistymon is one step up from Lahinch, because it has a supermarket!!! (But it doesn't have a beach!)

Supervalu Supermarket at Ennistymon

Lahinch has the equivalent of a corner store where you can buy the essentials, but most locals go to Ennistymon to do their shopping.  That's where I've been shopping since I've been here. It's a little bit like your smaller IGA shops in Perth and beyond, but it has most of the basics. If you want a really big shop you go to Dunnes in Ennis!

Here's a little history of the town..

Edited version of a sign near the Cascades

The attack by the Black and Tans was a reprisal against the IRA after the Rineen Ambush..

Wikipedia tells the story

The Rineen ambush was an ambush carried out by the Mid Clare Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 22 September 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. The attack took place at Drummin Hill in the townland of Drummin, near the hamlet of Rineen (or Rinneen), County Clare.

The IRA's Mid-Clare Brigade attacked a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) lorry, killing six officers. Shortly afterwards, the IRA encountered ten lorry-loads of British Army soldiers, who had been sent out on a separate patrol looking for a missing magistrate. However, the IRA held off this attack long enough to flee the scene in an orderly retreat and sustained only two wounded.^[1]

In reprisal for the ambush, the RIC Auxiliaries and British military raided three local villages, killed five civilians and burnt 16 houses and shops in the surrounding area.^[2][3]

More information about the Rineen ambush provided by the Clare Library

Here's pic of Brian Merriman, mentioned in the above sign

Poet Brian Merriman

The town has a few quirky shops, so I went and took some pics to give you a bit of an idea. As most towns in rural Ireland, it's built around the main street.

Ennistymon Main Street

Ennistymon Town Square

Byrne's Shop was a bit quirky!

Byrnes Shop

Ennistymon Bakery - had a nice lunch there

Eugene's Pub

Eugene's pub - winner of the James Joyce Pub Award

One more that took my fancy.....

If you remember Wattle's Washing  in an earlier post, where I was lamenting the lack of laundromats in Lahinch and beyond, someone recommended this laundromat on the way into Lahinch...

I stopped here to get some petrol, so I couldn't resist taking the picture!!!

Ennistymon Laundromat

At one stage I was discussing this laundromat with Marie and she told me that she was considering taking her doonas there to give them a wash, because the machines were nice and big. But someone warned her off them because she said people washed their horse and dog blankets in there. And sure enough when she went to have a look, there was hair everywhere in the machines! 😫

Another reason to say Thank you Jesus for Marie letting me do my washing at her house. 💓🙏

One of the main attractions of the town is The Cascades, which is a lovely little waterfall that literally sits behind the main street of the town. Parking is very hard in Ennistymon, but to get to the Cascades, I was able to park in the car park of The Falls Hotel which is a popular 4.5 star hotel set in beautiful surroundings.

Here are some pics of The Cascades..

The Cascades

The Cascades

The Cascades

Here's a little video of the Cascades...

So later in the day Marie offered to take me to St Augustine's Well in Kilshanny. You might remember I thought  I was visiting  this well when I was actually in Kilmaley... but it was the wrong one!

Kilshanny is not far north of Ennistymon and after a few attempts, we finally arrived at where it was situated. It was at the back of a farmhouse, and we literally had to walk through their land to get there. Again we had a few attempts but eventually we got it right!!!

The reason I wanted to go to this well in particular is that it is dedicated to St Augustine and there are a heap of Austins in our family tree, which is shortened form of Augustine!

Here's some pics of the well..

St Augustine's Well

St Augustine's Well - Marie

St Augustine's Well - Moira

You had to dip the saucepan into the water below

It was a long way down!

I thought I might not be able to get up again!!!

It's easy getting down!!!

St Augustine's Statue

St Augustine's Well Gate

It was a beautiful evening and Marie took me for a guided tour around the schools in Ennistymon on the way home. She went to the Mercy School and sadly the Convent of Mercy as fallen into disrepair. So sad to see!

They are currently building a massive big building  to combine the National School (Primary School), the Convent School and the Brothers School - still under construction

New school Ennistymon

So once again I've had a lovely day discovering all the local places around me. It was great having Marie as a guide tonight to tell me the local history about various places we passed. Thanks Marie :)