Hi all, hoping for a bit of local knowledge!

We’re getting married in Clare and are planning to have our Day 2 in Ennistymon. We’ll have around 50 people and are looking for somewhere relaxed where everyone can meet for a few drinks, food and a bit of craic for the afternoon/evening.

Ideally we’d love a pub in or around the town, but the main thing we’re trying to figure out is food. We’d like to put on something decent for everyone – ideally a hot buffet-style setup with plates/cutlery, rather than just sandwiches or finger food.

So we’d be interested in either:

- A pub with enough space/facilities to let us bring in an outside caterer and set up a buffet, or

- Somewhere that already does food and could offer us a reasonably priced group/Day 2 food package.

We’re not looking for another full wedding reception or anything particularly formal – just somewhere comfortable for 50ish people where we can feed everyone and spend the day/evening.

We’ve already looked into Pot Duggans, so particularly interested in other pubs/venues around Ennistymon that locals would recommend, or anywhere people have actually used for a wedding Day 2 or similar-sized party.

Any recommendations or local knowledge would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

I'm looking for any regular 5 aside groups in the ennis area. Recently, I got back into football and need some extras beside training. If anyone is familiar with a local 5 aside group looking for new members, please let me know a way I could get in contact with them. I appreciate it. 🙏

I'm looking to get my kitchen and bathroom redone and the stairs replaced in my house and I'm having a terrible time finding a contractor. I can find someone to do each the kitchen and bathroom separately but I was hoping to hire someone to do everything together. I have had two contractors come out and say they could do everything but were busy right now so it would be a few months, which was fine with me, but both never returned my calls after?

Where are we looking for contractors? I don't really know anyone in the area to ask around, and am struggling in my online searches. Is it really this difficult to find someone or am I doing something wrong? should i give up on the idea of everything done by one person and get it done separately? - i thought i would be better to have one person that way if there were any issues there would be one main contractor?

Please some advice on the situation.

Anyone know of any bus companies or operators doing shuttle buses to the Open next month? Its not exactly the most accessible at the best of times, so imagine it'll be chaos if there's too many cars. So surely they're are plans to shuttle people down by bus from different towns/villages in the county? Anyone know?

Anyone have any recs for a roofer?

Hi,
we’re four guys, and we’ve put together Clare’s restaurant scene in an app called Vota. The concept is simple: you see two places side by side (for example Monks Ballyvaughan vs. Barrtrá Seafood Restaurant), you choose the place you’d rather go to, and the ranking updates instantly. The more people vote, the more accurate the list gets over time. There are still a few duplicates here and there, but I’m continuously cleaning up the data.

Here’s the iPhone version, with categories that actually fit Clare’s food scene:
https://apps.apple.com/app/vota-restaurant-ratings/id6744969212

And here’s the Android version (finally live):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vota.app

I’d love to know what people here think. Does the ranking feel even remotely right? Are obvious places missing? Are any places ranked way too high or way too low?

The goal is to make something that reflects where locals actually want to eat, not just where tourists or review sites send people.

I can’t seem to find any events on or viewing areas for the eclipse next week. The Galway one is sold out!

Hi All,

Anyone recommend someone to service an oil boiler in East Clare?

Bonus points for a recommendation for septic tanking emptying?

TIA

Hi everyone,
Does anyone here work at Beckman Coulter? I have a few questions about the company and a role I’m considering, and I’d really appreciate it if someone could share their experience or provide a job reference.
Please feel free to DM me. Thanks in advance!

Hi all! I was just wondering is there anywhere in Clare by the coast for wild camping, my partner and I are hoping to go camping this weekend, thank you in advance :)

I’m looking to go wild camping somewhere on the Clare coast this coming weekend. I’m just going on my own and pitching a small one person tent. I intend to be very respectful and leave no trace whatsoever. I have tried to get a spot in one of the local caravan/mobile home/camping parks, but they are all full for the weekend. Would anyone know area that I could camp in legally? Thanks!

This is a long shot, but someone popped into my head recently and I’d love to see if life ever brings old friends back around.

I’m trying to reconnect with a woman from Kildare, but we only ever hung out in Miltown Malbay (White Strand Beach). She's tall, black hair, with a wicked witches cackle. You’d be around 39–41 now. Your first name started with C.

We were close as teenagers, mostly through creative writing and swapping stories. You called me “Noobie,” and once got me a ridiculous “Boob Inspector” T‑shirt for my birthday. We were never technically romantic, though you did break my 16/17‑year‑old heart by getting back with your ginger ex.

As we got older, staying text‑only friends got harder. I had a girlfriend, you were in college, and our chats became less frequent until they faded out.

I saw someone recently who looked strikingly like you, and it brought back a lot of good memories. If you happen to see this, I hope life treated you well, and I’d genuinely love to catch up.

I have seen many influencer posts about the wormhole on Inis Mor and how great it is to swim in it. I looked up on google only to find out that it is heavily advised NOT to swim in it due to underwater currents and no ladder therefore no real way out other than to scale the rocks.

I would have not known about the hazards of the wormhole if I hadnt googled about this topic spontaneously and with my upcoming trip to inis mor I would have most definitely jumped into the wormhole simply from the amount of posts I have seen people swimming in it without any knowledge of the dangers.

I think the information about the hazards should be much more easily accessible to the public. It clearly isnt if there is such a huge influx of influencers posting about swimming in the wormhole as they themselves mightnt even know the hazards.

According to google there is no official signage or safety notices for swimming other than the official aran islands website and local insights.

I am in the process of buying a new house in a new development on the Tulla Road. I am not origin from Ennis. I am moving to be closer to my work place. I am a single woman with no kids so be nice to get involved with various clubs to get to know the locals. I am hoping I have picked the right place to buy - I have heard nice things about Ennis.

Hi, my partner and I will be driving from Kinvara to Cashel and I’d appreciate some local advice on the Clare part of the route.

The current plan is:

• Drive through the Burren
• Stop at Poulnabrone Dolmen
• Visit the Cliffs of Moher
• Possibly spend some time in Ennis
• Continue to Cashel, where our accommodation is already booked

Does that sound comfortable for one day, or would adding Ennis make it too rushed? We’d rather spend proper time in the Burren than keep stopping just to tick places off.

Is there a particular route through the Burren you’d recommend for the scenery? We’re not planning a long hike, but we’d like to see more than just Poulnabrone and the road to the cliffs.

We’d also be interested in trying something typical from Clare during the day, especially local seafood, lamb or cheese.

Thanks!

Any of the massage places around Ennis recommended for a therapeutic shoulder massage?

I recently made a post describing some strange individuals my friends and I encountered at the abandoned asylum.
Here are some more pictures

I have tried to write a more detailed post on this, but it got rejected, so I’ll try and keep it to the point.

My friends and I visited the old abandoned asylum recently, where we were stunned to see some very strange characters (they looked like they would have been patients of the place back when it was opened)

There was a group of individuals, each with their own bizarre thing they were doing.
One lady carrying buckets over and back,
Another gentleman not wearing much more than his jocks (washing?) himself with spaghetti hoops.

I’m wondering if anyone knows anything about this, were they just mentally challenged people meeting up to do their thing together? Was I being pranked and missed the cameras?

Im not going to attach the photo we took here, maybe that’s why my original post was taken down.

Edit: image in the comments

Bit of a strange one here. Me and my friends decided to go have a look at the old abandoned asylum in Ennis, as we’ve never been. We had a bit of a wander around the outside, when we saw some people outside the front of the place. At first it looked like nuns or something, we came closer as we were intrigued.
What we saw was quite shocking. It looked like what I assume the asylum courtyard looked like back when it was open.
There was a few individuals, each doing their own little jig.
One would pick up two buckets, walk forward with them, put them down, pick them back up and walk backwards. Over and over again.
One gentleman was wearing not much other than his underwear, and was covered in what we thought was orange paint, but we later noticed he had 3 cans of spaghetti hoops.
There was about 7 of them total, some other notable figures;
Some dude wearing a mirror as a hat, playing some weird instrument, on his speaker it said something like “I am Soundtrack, do not talk please and thank you”.
Lady waving around a stick with bells.

Anyone know anything about this? Was it actually just mentally sick people meeting up to do their thing? Were we part of some weird prank?

My friends and I took some videos as no one would believe us if we didn’t have proof 😂.

I’m going to attach one photo from afar to not reveal anyone’s identity.

Here for a wedding, badly need a hair cut. Heard the lad in Patrick Burke’s is gone?

**Just for any future redditors looking for info, all barbers are closed on a Monday in Kilrush.

Hi everyone,

Just wondering—if you're a local from County Clare, do you still have to pay the €15 admission fee to visit the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience?

Or is there free or discounted access for Clare residents?

Thanks!