COUNTY: Clare

PROVINCE: Munster

Clare: chlair = a bridge of planks (Irish)

Nickname: The Banner County

Motto: ‘true to our heritage’

The custom of carrying banners goes back a long way in County Clare – at least as far as the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Over the ensuing centuries, banners became a unifying factor.

Co Clare hosts the oldest known evidence of human activity in Ireland. The Burren plateau of north-west Clare, covers over 150 square miles, and is the finest example of a limestone karst landscape in Ireland. It is famous internationally, not just for its beautiful limestone surface, but also for the remarkable flora and its rich archaeological heritage. The term "Burren" is derived from the Gaelic for "stony place." Bodies of water define many of Co Clare’s boundaries. The river Shannon and the Shannon Estuary, Lough Derg and Galway Bay.

The famous Cliffs of Moher overlook the Atlantic.

Daniel O’Connell (“The Liberator”) was elected as an M.P. here in 1828 and was later successful in obtaining Catholic emancipation. Eamon De Valera was also M.P. for East Clare, later becoming Irish Taoiseach and President.

PRAYER POINTS:

Pray that God would be at work in a mighty way in Co. Clare. Pray that the churches here would be revived and active in sharing the Good News of the Gospel.

Clare’s rich Christian legacy dates back to C6th A.D. Some 92% of the population described as Christian in the last census with 88% being Roman Catholic. There is a small, dispersed, Protestant minority (4%) most COI. Pray for the revival and growth of the church throughout Clare. May the Name “Jehovah Nissi – God is My Banner” be lifted high over the “County of Banners”!

Pray for an overcoming of the spirit of tribalism which is a principality over Clare (and most counties in Ireland). Pray that the true labourers would unite, arise, and rebuild the broken-down walls which desperately need rebuilt in Clare and throughout the nation of Ireland, starting with His true Church.

Some social issues affecting County Clare to pray into: Rural depopulation; a shortage of social housing in the county and homelessness is an issue; many vacant and derelict buildings in Clare. Regeneration and linked economic development (with adjoining Limerick and Shannon Estuary) are vital. The local economy is heavily dependent on the seasonal tourist industry.

Photo Ulrike Donohue - Unsplash