a county in the south-west of Ireland, is bounded on the north and north-east by the county of Galway, by the Shannon, which separates it, on the east, from Tipperary, and, on the south, from Limerick and Kerry, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It is of a triangular form; its west and south sides meeting in a point at Cape Lean or Loop Head, on its south-west extremity, and the bounding line between it and Galway forming the base. It extends about 42 miles from north to south, and 66 from east to west; but, from the inequality of its breadth, contains little more than 1200 square miles, equal to 476,200 Irish, or 771,365 English acres, of which not quite a half is deemed productive land, and is chargeable with cess. Along all the coast from Galway Bay on the north, to the mouth of the Shannon on the south, a distance of 40 miles, there is no safe harbour for large vessels. On the banks of the Shannon and the Fergus, there are tracts of rich low ground, called corcos, of various breadths and irregular in form; and much of the higher lands, though rocky, yield excellent herbage for sheep; but a large proportion of the whole county consists of moors, mountains, and bogs, with more than a hundred lakes interspersed, and without the shelter of natural wood, and rarely of plantations, the extent of which is very limited. The climate, though moist, is not unfavourable to health and longevity; fevers, which sometimes prevail to a great extent here; being occasioned chiefly by the dampness of the houses, and inattention to domestic and personal cleanliness.

The only rivers of any note in this county, or connected with it, are the Shannon and Fergus. The former, after almost dividing Ireland from north to south, enters the Atlantic Ocean between this county and Kerry, where it is about five miles broad. Vessels of 400 tons burden come up this river to the quay of Limerick, from whence the navigation is continued by a canal to Dublin. The Fergus, which has its source within the county, after passing through a number of lakes, and receiving the waters of several smaller streams, pursues its course through the town of Ennis, and, forming a beautiful estuary of picturesque islands, unites with the Shannon at about ten miles distance. It is navigable for vessels of 200 tons burden for about eight miles, and after heavy rains rises so considerably and rapidly, that it frequently overflows large tracts of meadows on its banks. Turfghs, called in other places Loghans, are numerous. These are accumulations of water, either forced under ground from a higher level, or surface-water from higher grounds, that have no outlet, and must remain until evaporated in summer. Although the water remains on them for several months, yet, on its subsiding, fine grass springs up and supports large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep during the dry season. Mineral waters are found in many places, to several of which, owing perhaps to their sanative virtues, superstition has assigned the name of holy wells.

Clare County is said not to be deficient in mineral productions, but these have not hitherto been turned to much account. Coal has been found, but the working of it is not prosecuted, and ironstone, of which there are strong indications, has never been sought for. Limestone abounds, and detached rocks of it are sometimes surrounded by bogs, where it may be calcined at a small expense. There are quarries of slate nearly equal to the Welsh, worked to some extent at Killaloe and Broadford. Very fine black marble has been found near Ennis; lead ore in various places; also manganese, copper, beautiful fluor spar, and antimony.

The agriculture of this county would seem to have made little progress of late, some of the most recent writers on the statistics of Ireland still referring to Mr Arthur Young's Tour, written about 40 years ago, as if that work contained a faithful picture of the present state of the county. Clare, however, is not an exception to the advances that have been so generally made towards a more perfect system during that long period; though, in this important art, in which the far greater number of the people are employed, it is certainly far behind several counties on both sides of the Channel. All the different species of grain are cultivated here with considerable success. Rape and flax, the former chiefly for its seed, and the latter for home manufacture, are sown to a moderate extent. Potatoes occupy a part of every farm, and their culture is conducted with more care and judgment than that of any other crop, though at a greater expense of time and labour than would be thought necessary in most other places. In regard to the kinds of crops cultivated, the greatest defect is in what are called green crops; corn being, with potatoes, the chief and almost the only objects of attention to the arable farmer; and turnips and cultivated herbage being either grown on a very small scale, or, as is the case throughout the greater part of the county, altogether disregarded or unknown. The corn crops thus necessarily follow each other until the soil is exhausted; and where extra manure, such as sea-weed and sea-sand, both of which are used as manure with good effect, cannot be procured, it must be left in an unproductive state for several years afterwards. Potatoes are in most cases planted upon land that has been prepared by burning, and the same crop is sometimes taken for two years more without manure; in the fourth year, wheat follows, and then repeated crops of oats as long as they will replace the cost of seed and labour. The implements in common use are generally rudely constructed, and imperfect as well as expensive in their operation. In many parts, even where the soil is light and dry, the plough is drawn by four horses abreast, with traces of rope and collars of straw. But from the roughness of the surface, the poverty of the tenantry, and the minute division of farm lands, the spade is much more extensively employed than the plough, over all the arable land of this county.

The pastures of the corcasses or low grounds on Pastures, the rivers Shannon and Fergus, are equal to the fattening of the largest oxen. This rich tract extends from Paradise to Limerick, about 20 miles, and is computed to contain about 20,000 acres of a deep dark-coloured soil over a bluish or black clay, or moory substratum, producing, owing to the indolence of its occupiers, along with the most valuable herbage, a great quantity of rushes and other useless weeds. The rent of this land for grazing was seve- ral years ago as high as L.5 per acre, equal to about L.3; 2s. per English acre, and for meadow, in many instances, much more. These meadows are said to produce at the rate of more than four tons of hay the English acre. The cattle of this county are almost all long-horned, good milkers, and very hardy. The sheep have been greatly improved in shape by crosses with Leicester rams, but there is a general complaint that the quality of the native wool has been deteriorated. A vast number of mules are bred here; asses are very generally employed by the poorer classes; but little attention is paid to the breed of horses, which has degenerated.

The size of farms varies greatly. Those under tillage are from one or two acres to fifty, but of the latter size there are few. Grazing farms extend from 100 to 800 acres, several of which, and sometimes in distant situations, are held by one individual. Frequently several persons join in the occupation of an arable farm, and have about ten acres each. The general term of leases, from proprietors, is for three lives or 31 years; sometimes, but not often, three lives and 31 years; 21 years or one life, and 21 years and a life. The tenure of under tenants is variable, and often arbitrary.

Clare was formerly noted for its orchards, and for cider of a very fine quality made from the celebrated cackage apple, which is still found near the small town called Six Mile Bridge. "An acre of trees," says Mr Young, "yields from four to ten hogsheads per annum, average six, and what is very uncommon in the cider counties of England, yield a crop every year." It does not appear, from the latest accounts, that any considerable quantity of this cider is now produced here, though what there seems to maintain its former character, and is held in great estimation.

Manufactures are yet in their infancy. All the linen made in the county is used for home consumption, the greater part of it being coarse and low priced. Some judgment may be formed of the extent of this branch, when it is known that there are but three small bleachfields in the county. Coarse woollens called frize, and worsted stockings, coatings at one establishment, broad cloth at another, and blankets at a third, with some serges, comprise all the products of the woollen manufacture to be found here, none of them upon an extensive scale, and affording very little for exportation. A considerable number of coarse hats are made near Skar; they are dyed with alder bark and twigs, and logwood, but principally the first. A great deal of kelp is made on the extensive shores of this county, but in so careless a manner that the value is considerably less than that of the kelp of Scotland, and brings only about two-thirds of its price per ton.

The fishery on this coast has not been prosecuted to any extent, though it is said that no part of Ireland is so well situated for carrying on a lucrative fishery. In the herring season there may be about 200 boats employed, but there is a want of proper regulations, and of authority to enforce such as there are. These boats are, in general, such as have been used from the remotest period of history, wicker-work, covered with hides. It is not uncommon for a man to exclude the access of the water through a rent in the hide with his foot, when such an accident happens at sea; he frequently applies his wig and other parts of his dress to the same purpose; and in this dangerous situation remains, with the utmost indifference, exposed to the violent surf that generally beats on this shore. Oysters, and crabs and lobsters, are caught in considerable quantity. The salmon-fishery of the Shannon is very valuable; a few of these fish are found in all the rivers that communicate with the sea. Eels, which abound in every rivulet, form another material article of consumpt, but the mischief occasioned by their tears is probably greater than their value. Other kinds of fish are caught at particular seasons, but only in small quantities.

The population of Clare county is stated, conjecturally, at about 120,000; the number of houses being 18,050. Ennis, the county-town, and the only town of any size, may contain 9,000 inhabitants. The houses of the great body of the people are built of stone, without cement,—in the mountains and bogs, often of sods; and heath, fern, and sometimes potatoe haulm, are used instead of straw for thatch. On the damp and dirty floor, their beds of straw or hay are often shared with their pig and dog. So fond are they of the smoke, which they say keeps them warm, that, in cottages erected by proprietors with chimneys, they have been known to prevent its escape by placing a flat stone or turf on the top of the funnel. Yet out of these huts issue the sinewy arms and the daring spirits that contribute so much to the glory of our fleets and armies. Peat or turf, which abounds in every part of the country, is the only fuel; a labourer will cut as much of it in two days, as will serve his family for a year, and his wife and children save it. Potatoes, with or without milk, fish occasionally, and a few vegetables, compose their diet. The quantity of potatoes consumed by a family of six in a week, appears very great, being usually about 22 stones, or at the rate of 8½ lb. daily, for each; but the pig and the other domestic animals also partake of the meal, and strangers never meet with a refusal. The men are clothed in frize, and the women in flannel dyed a bad red, both articles the manufacture of the family; though when the latter go to chapel or market, they frequently dress in dainty and other cotton fabrics, which they procure in barter for the surplus of their domestic manufactures. The men frequently in summer, and the women almost always, go without shoes and stockings, and the latter are so tenacious of this custom, that it is with difficulty they can be persuaded to wear them when taken into gentlemen's houses. The wages of common labour are from 8d. to 10d. Wages-a-day. Fairs and markets are almost the only places where drunkenness prevails, but it commonly ends in a few broken heads, and sometimes a little swearing before a magistrate. Matters, however, are generally accommodated by the friends of the parties. Schools abound in this county, and in summer they schools are numerously attended, yet with a few exceptions, they are far from being under good management.

Clare county was anciently called Thomond or Tuadmuin, that is, North-Munster. The origin of its present name is disputed. In the year 1565, this district was made a county, and added to the province of Connaught, but was restored to Munster in 1602. It forms part of the united diocese of Killaloe and Killenora, is divided into nine baronies and seventy-nine parishes, having only, according to Dutton's survey, eighteen resident clergymen, and contains, besides Ennis already mentioned, the towns or rather villages of Killaloe, Kilrush, Innistymon, Six-Mile-Bridge, Corrobin, Killenora, Skarriff, and Miltown. The people are represented in the Parliament of the united kingdom by two members for the county, and one for the borough of Ennis. The proportion between the Protestants and Catholics has not been ascertained; but it is well understood that the latter are by far the most numerous. Except in the more remote situations of the county, the English language is pretty generally understood, though the Irish is spoken almost exclusively by the country people. It is not, however, used in the schools, nor by the children of the higher classes, and the English tongue must therefore soon become universal.

Remains of ancient buildings, both religious and military, abound in this county. No less than 118 castles are enumerated, besides many raths or circular entrenchments of earth or stone, called Danish forts, and cromlechs supposed to be sepulchral monuments, one of which, at Balgannon, has a single stone about 40 feet long, and 10 feet broad. Scattery, a beautiful island in the mouth of the Shannon, is rich in these works of an early age. There is a tower on it 120 feet high, an useful land-mark to mariners, the ruins of a castle and several churches, and a monastery said to have been founded by St Patrick in the fifth century. This island is still remarkable for the resort of pilgrims on certain festivals. At a place called Taumpole, na Spaniog, "the burial-place of the Spaniards," a part of the Spanish Armada was wrecked. There was an oak table on board one of the ships, of curious workmanship, which is yet in high preservation in the hall of Droholm house, the seat of Sir Edward O'Brien.—See Young's Tour in Ireland, Vol. I.—Beaufort's Memoir, 1792.—Dutton's Statistical Survey of Clare, 1803.—Newenham's View of Ireland, 1809.—Wakefield's Statistical and Political Account of Ireland, 1812.—And, Mason's Statistical Survey, of which two volumes only are yet published.