A bustling market town and the commercial capital of County Clare, Ennis has a pleasantly inconsequential air. Its handful of central lanes lace together a nineteenth-century cathedral, a stout monument to Daniel O'Connell and a medieval friary. You could probably walk from one side of Ennis to the other in half an hour, and you can certainly see all it has to offer in a single afternoon - but it's worth staying longer for the plentiful traditional music. Ennis also makes an excellent base from which to explore the church ruins and tower houses dotted about the surrounding countryside, although you'll need your own transport as public transport is minimal.

Ennis Town

The finest monument in town, Ennis Friary , lies right in the historic centre (guide/information service daily late May to late Sept 9.30am-6.30pm; tel 065/682 9100; Heritage Card). It was established by the O'Briens, Kings of Thomond, in 1242, but most of the existing building dates from the fourteenth century. At that time, it had three hundred and fifty friars and over six hundred pupils and was considered the finest educational institution in Ireland for the clergy and upper classes. In parts it remains striking: graceful lancet windows fill the east end of the chancel, while adjacent convent buildings include cloister ruins and a stoutly barrel-vaulted chapter house. There is good sculpture, too: look out for the small square carving on the jamb of the arch between the nave and transept, which shows a half-length figure of Christ with his hands bound; the relief of Saint Francis with cross-staff and stigmata at the east end of the nave; and the carved corbels beneath the south tower showing the Virgin and Child and an archbishop. The real sculptural highlight, however, is the fifteenth-century MacMahon Tomb (now incorporated in the Creagh Tomb), embellished with fine alabaster carvings of the Passion.

Despite the beauty of the friary, Ennis today seems more proud of its later history, as capital of the unyielding "banner county" and a bastion of Nationalism. A monument to Daniel O' Connell solidly dominates the old, narrow streets that meet in O' Connell Square. In 1828, County Clare returned O' Connell to Westminster by such a huge majority that he had to be allowed to take his seat, despite the fact that he was a Catholic, which should have barred him at the time; he went on to force through parliament the Catholic Emancipation Act. It was in Ennis, too, that Parnell made his famous speech advocating the boycott in the land agitations of the late nineteenth century. De Valera was TD for the county from 1917 to 1959 (and Taoiseach for much of that time) and is remembered in a memorial outside the courthouse.

As for other things to search out, the new Clare Museum alongside the tourist office on Arthur's Row (June-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm; Oct-May Mon-Fri 9.30am-1pm & 2-5.30pm; tel 065/682 3382; £3/?3.81) is well worth a visit, housing a large number of antiquities on loan from the National Museum in Dublin. A permanent exhibition entitled the Riches of Clare illustrates the story of this remarkably diverse county, encompassing weaponry from the Bronze Age through to the IRA, Clare's links with the Spanish Armada and the development of the submarine, and a number of interesting letters and telegrams from Daniel O'Connell (seeking support in the forthcoming election) and De Valera (the telegram that he sent his wife on being elected to parliament). Also among the exhibits are: a thirteenth-century bell from Corcomroe Abbey , and recently excavated material from the Poulnabrone Dolmen including an arrow-pierced human hipbone, arrow heads and beads. Ennis's cathedral , a nineteenth-century building with a sharp spire, stands icy and grey at the far end of O'Connell Street, somewhat at odds with the friendly atmosphere of the town. A more enjoyable way to kill time in Ennis, however, is to wander the ancient lanes that run from O'Connell Street to the old market place (where a Saturday vegetable and livestock market is held), and from Parnell Street down to the post office field, a riverside meadow right in the town centre. You could also follow the river a short way up from Woodquay to the newly renovated mill chase. Look out too for the interesting modern sculpture around town. All in all though, once you have seen the friary and museum, the most pressing reason to stick around is to sample Ennis's pubs, renowned for traditional music, or to get out into the Clare countryside.

It's worth considering taking a tour of the Burren from Ennis - particularly if you are short of time and without transport. The tour also takes in Coole Park and Kilmacduagh , and operates from June to August departing the Temple Gate Hotel at 10.15am on Tuesday and Thursday, and returning at around 5pm.

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