Cooraclare

Cooraclare Cuar an Chláir
—  Town  —
Cooraclare Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°42′14″N 9°25′06″W / 52.703889°N 9.418333°W / 52.703889; -9.418333Coordinates: 52°42′14″N 9°25′06″W / 52.703889°N 9.418333°W / 52.703889; -9.418333
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Clare
Population (2006)
- Urban	112
- Rural	548
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
- Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference	R014627

Cooraclare (Irish: Cuar an Chláir, meaning "Recess of the Plain"), a village near Kilrush, in County Clare, Ireland, was formally part of the parish of Kilmacduane. Nearby is the village of Cree which is in the parish of Cooraclare.

Amenities

There is a primary school, Montessori school, three public houses O' Doherty's, O'Keeffe's and Tubridy's is also a guest house, a post office (Garry's) two shops Daly's and Tom Macs country shop and a flower shop. Old Parochial House (c1872), a former Parish Priets's house provides self catering in restored stables. The community centre in the village was inaugurated in 1993 and also there is a sports complex added to it the following year. The previous community centre was the Marion Hall situated at the back of Tom McNamaras country shop. It also has a GAA Sports Field situated just outside the village in the townland of Carhue.

People

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	±%
1831	140	—
1841	178	+27.1%
1851	167	−6.2%
1861	201	+20.4%
1871	171	−14.9%
1881	163	−4.7%
1891	152	−6.7%
1901	125	−17.8%
1911	111	−11.2%
1926	80	−27.9%
1936	86	+7.5%
1946	98	+14.0%
1951	104	+6.1%
1956	112	+7.7%
1961	94	−16.1%
1966	91	−3.2%
[1]

There is about 140 people living in the village. Famous people include Fianna Fáil Senator and former Minister For Social Welfare & Defence Brendan Daly and Tom Morrissey who played football for Clare in the 1992 Munster Senior Football Championship Final. (Beating Kerry)

Colonel James Hickey who was a commander of the Us Army's 4th Infantry Division 1st brigade in Iraq that found Saddam Hussein in 2003. His father James Sr came from Cooraclare and moved to Chicago when he was 18.^[2]

In March 2010 Ryan Tubridy, Daytime radio host and presenter of The Late Late Show, presented his popular RTÉ Radio One programme from Tubridys Bar & Restaurant in Cooraclare where he said his great grandfather came from. Among the guests who appeared on the show were RTÉ commentator Marty Morrisey. Commenting on his visit to Cooraclare, Tubridy said: "We had the nicest welcome. It was such a joy to meet all the Tubridys from the town and the surrounding counties."

Sport and culture

Cooraclare won the Clare Senior Football Championship in 1915, 1917, 1918, 1925, 1944, 1956, 1964, 1965, 1986 and 1997, and also hosts the Rose Of Clare Festival every year in August.

A famous song associated with Cooraclare is entitled 'The Chapel Gate Of Cooraclare.'

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References

1. ^ and www.histpop.org
2. ^ http://www.independent.ie/national-news/it-took-the-son-of-a-clare-man-to-get-him-192776.html