Private Ennis Essential History Tour with Dr Jane O'Brien
Description
Private tour of Ennis with an experienced and award-winning local guide. Dr Jane O’Brien (PhD in history) has been running tours of Ennis since 2005 but it is Jane's storytelling skills that bring the vibrant past of the town alive for all who join her tours. You will explore the streets and laneways of Ennis while learning about the intriguing stories that shaped its history. Winner of the "2024 Best Walking Tour Experience" and guide for the Rick Steves Tours in Ennis, this tour explores the history, methodology, legends, ghosts, poverty, murders and more of this medieval town. Jane uses rich historical sources to recreate the drama and daily life of Ennis and its place in Irish history and her acclaimed tours provide a highly entertaining and thought-provoking experience. She also runs the Dark History Tour which provides an in-depth exploration of the darker side of the towns history, and the Gourmet History Tour - a combination of history and food with some local food tastings.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We begin beside the Clare Museum - formally the site of the old Convent building for the Sisters of Mercy. Participants are introduced to the medieval market town of Ennis which originated in the 13th century.
We stop at the Daniel O'Connell Monument in the centre of Ennis - site for many events including the momentus milestone of Catholic Emancipation.
We stop into one of Ennis's atmospheric bow-ways - small laneways connecting the main streets to what were once the poorer tenament areas of the town.
By the Old Ennis Abbey (circa 1280s) we explore the role of the Franciscan Friars in the development of Ennis town. From here we also have a pretty view of the river Fergus which flows through the town, and the memorials to the famous Irish 1916 uprising against British rule.
The oldest street in Ennis leading to what was once the palace of the O'Brien Kings, founders of the town. Here we also visit the Friary (originally built 1850s) to experience the beautiful stained glass windows and peacefully atmosphere.
Stopping by the old convent building we explore some of the archived experiences of children from the orphanage and industrial school that once stood on this site.
We stop at the McParland House (circa 1620) on Parnell Street - the only know surviving timber framed house in Ireland and the oldest house of the town to be in continuous use without any major alterations to its structure. The original quaint shopfront and half-door evoke an earlier time in the market town.
We stop beside the building housing the Chapel Lane market, once a church built in 1735 during the penal times. Lane-ways like this saw much overcrowding during the time of the Great Famine in Ireland and we explore the devestation this event had on a town like Ennis.
As the main market town for Co Clare, Ennis was a main centre for markets for hundreds of years. As well as buying and trading of livestock and produce these markets were also social occasions, with people meeting up, matchmaking...and sometimes engaging in the infamous faction fighting! We explore all this and the meaning of the market day sculpture that stands on the site today.
This area was once the old "Gallows Green" of the town - we explore the crimes and punishments documented in the the corporation manuscript of Ennis (1660) - many of which seem shocking to our modern eyes!
This fine building is the main Catholic Church of the region built between 1830 and 1870. Today it stands opposite the Old Ground Hotel, once site of the old town jail, and also today incorporating a haunted towerhouse dating to the 1500's! The tour usually ends here so that people have the option visiting the Cathedral or of returning to the starting point at their leisure via the main pedestrianised shopping street, O'Connell Street.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(39)
Dr. O'Brien provided an informative and entertaining tour of Ennis. She balanced her knowledge of archival research, enthusiasm, and humor for a perfect tour for us the morning we arrived at Shannon Airport from the States. It was a nice welcome to Country Clare and to Ireland in general. I have been to Ireland several times but wasn't aware of the significance and the importance to Ennis to the region.
Jane is very knowledgeable and charming. We learned a lot about Ennis and the history of Ireland as relates to that region.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our stroll through the charming town of Ennis with Dr. Jane O'Brien. Her deep knowledge and history with the town brought wonderful hidden dimension to our visit and enriched our experience of this enchanting part of Ireland immensely.
Our tour with Dr. O’Brien was amazing! She gave us the substance and context for our visit to Ennis and all of Ireland that we were looking for. Having the tour on our first day in Ennis was perfect since she gave us the big picture, personal relevance, and specific place storytelling that made it accessible and interesting for our teens with limited knowledge of Irish history. This tour made our whole trip next level!
We spent our first afternoon in Ireland visiting Ennis, and Jane made it a very memorable experience. You can literally feel her genuine love for her home town, and her historical knowledge of both Ennis and Ireland is off the charts. She shares wonderful insights of this market community that you cannot get by reading a book. Visit Ennis and spend some time with Jane. You'll be glad you did! I am a big fan of great customer service, so when I arrived at the meeting site and discovered that I booked the tour for the wrong date (I was a full month off), I was disappointed. I left a message for Jane, and she called me back within an hour. She was very understanding and offered to conduct the tour despite my error. She even waited for us to finish our meal and adapted the tour route so we could finish near the bus station to get ourselves back to Shannon. That's great customer service!!
Ennis is a very charming town. The tour opened up a lot history that was interesting and made us more appreciative of this area. Jane was very informative and it was a worthwhile tour.
We had a great tour with Dr Jane. Jane went above and beyond allowing us to reschedule our tour because we had transportation issues. She knows the history of the town fact and dates but also, she is part of it, being an O'Brien! Jane entertained all out questions so we were able to get a full picture of what it was like to live in Ennis through the centuries, all the good as well as the bad times. We had a private tour, just 4 of us. I recommend a tour with Dr. Jane!
Had a fantastic time with Dr.Jane learning all about Ennis and how important it is in Ireland’s history. My husband’s family name is Ennis, so was great to see where it all originated. We were very thankful for Dr.Jane’s fantastic knowledge and love for the area.
Jane explores the nooks, crannies and history of this lovely town in County Clare during her tour. We explored the architecture, the town's development and Irish political history during the tour. Well worth the time.
Jane has a deep knowledge and love of the town of Ennis. Streets, boways, buildings and people came to life as she shared their history and stories. Jane’s sense of humor and her engaging spirit were captivating and our time together flew by too quickly! We didn’t book soon enough to do the public tour at the beginning of our stay in Ennis, but Jane kindly added us to a private tour as soon as she could. Our remaining days is town were enriched by what we learned during our time with Jane and by the lingering memory of her warmth. Book early!
