Ennistymon Falls

Ennistymon, County Clare, Ireland

About Ennistymon Falls


Hiking Distance: almost roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2024-07-13
Date last visited: 2024-07-13

Waterfall Latitude: 52.93954
Waterfall Longitude: -9.29431

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Ennistymon Falls (or Ennistymon Cascades) is pretty much an urban waterfall on the River Inagh in the heart Ennistymon (North Clare’s largest town).

Being surrounded by buildings and roads in the centre of town, it wasn’t surprising that there were some man-made modifications both in and downstream of the falls for the purposes of diversion and harnessing.

Ennistymon_042_07132024 - Ennistymon Falls or Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon Falls or Ennistymon Cascades

That said, it was basically a waterfaller’s excuse to make a brief detour to the town while exploring the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark.

By the way, the Cliffs of Moher could very well be the Republic of Ireland’s most popular natural attraction (typically getting over a million visitors per year).

So there’s definitely quite a bit of activity both in this town as well as the rest of North Clare around the Cliffs of Moher as well as The Burren Way.

In any case, the visiting the Ennistymon Cascades is pretty much an exercise in walking around the town centre of Ennistymon.

Ennistymon_010_07132024 - Noticing some grazing mules as we walked towards the Ennistymon Cascades via the entrance to the Falls Hotel
Noticing some grazing mules as we walked towards the Ennistymon Cascades via the entrance to the Falls Hotel

There are many different parking options (both free and paid), and I’d imagine where you park depends on the traffic situation as it can get quite busy here.

We then walked a loop that pretty much went by the car park fronting the entrance to the entrance to the Falls Hotel and Spa (see directions below).

After passing by a pen containing some grazing mules, we then went onto a riverside path that went upstream towards both the intermediate and final Ennistymon Cascades.

Once at the main waterfall, we were essentially looking at the waterfall’s profile from what seemed to be someone’s driveway.

Ennistymon_021_07132024 - Intermediate cascades seen on the way upstream to the main waterfall as we walked along the River Inagh
Intermediate cascades seen on the way upstream to the main waterfall as we walked along the River Inagh

The Ennistymon River did look somewhat polluted and dirty given all the developments around it.

Nevertheless, it was still a relaxing spot to enjoy an urban waterfall while it seemed like everyone else was fighting traffic in the town centre.

Upon having our fill of the Ennistymon Falls, we then went up some narrow streets to get back to the city centre.

Back in the streets of the town centre, we had the option of exploring the town more as we pleased or finishing the loop to regain our car (we had parked on the north side of town).

Ennistymon_070_07132024 - We managed to explore the town centre of Ennistymon a bit while seeking out the Ennistymon Cascades
We managed to explore the town centre of Ennistymon a bit while seeking out the Ennistymon Cascades

Overall, we had spent about 35 minutes away from the car, which encompassed the route described above.

Authorities

The Ennistymon Falls is in the town of Ennistymon in County Clare, Ireland. It is managed by the Clare County Council. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Visit Clare website.

Ennistymon_001_07132024 - Looking towards the St Andrew's Church after scoring parking at the northern end of the town centre of Ennistymon
Ennistymon_005_07132024 - Approaching the Square in the town centre of Ennistymon on the way to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_006_07132024 - Walking down the Square towards the Falls Hotel and Spa on the way to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_009_07132024 - Julie and Tahia approaching the gate at the entrance towards the Falls Hotel and Spa en route to the Ennistymon Falls
Ennistymon_013_07132024 - Approaching the Falls Hotel and Spa before walking down towards the Inagh River on the way to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_018_07132024 - Julie and Tahia following the Inagh River on the way upstream to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_019_07132024 - Looking back towards the Falls Hotel and Spa as we made our way to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_023_07132024 - Looking upstream along some stepped cascades on the Inagh River on the way upstream to the Ennistymon Falls
Ennistymon_025_07132024 - Contextual look back at the Falls Hotel and Spa as we got closer to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_026_07132024 - Julie and Tahia re-entering the tree cover as the trail went by some intermediate cascades on the way up to the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_028_07132024 - Looking across an intermediate cascade towards Our Lady and St Michael's Church on the way up to the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_031_07132024 - Looking up at the road bridge over the Inagh River as we got closer to the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_033_07132024 - After getting past the tree cover, the path went towards some alleyways and driveways on the backside of the Ennistymon Town Centre towards the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_035_07132024 - Looking over the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades backed by the road bridge spanning the Inagh River
Ennistymon_038_07132024 - Looking across the profile of the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades from the driveway near its brink
Ennistymon_043_07132024 - Portrait look across the profile of the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades as seen from near its brink
Ennistymon_050_07132024 - Another profile look across the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades but this time in long exposure
Ennistymon_053_07132024 - Contextual look across the brink of the Ennistymon Cascades as seen from someone's driveway
Ennistymon_057_07132024 - Direct look at the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades backed by the arched road bridge spanning the Inagh River
Ennistymon_061_07132024 - Long exposure angled look across the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades as seen from someone's driveway
Ennistymon_064_07132024 - Julie and Tahia checking out a sign by the tree cover as we were debating whether to go back the way we came or just go right into the Ennistymon Town Centre after having our fill of the Ennistymon Cascades
Ennistymon_068_07132024 - Looking back at a signed archway leading down to the driveway area by the main drop of the Ennistymon Cascades


The Ennistymon Falls or Ennistymon Cascades reside right in the town centre of Ennistymon.

To get to town, I’d recommend just routing to the town on any GPS navigation app (such as GoogleMaps or Waze) since the town is significant enough for the software to get you here via mostly the main roads.

Drive_to_Cliffs_of_Moher_065_MingSung_07132024 - Approaching the Tarbert Ferry, which helped us from having to go all the way east to Shannon before swining all the way back west to Ennis and eventually Ennistymon
Approaching the Tarbert Ferry, which helped us from having to go all the way east to Shannon before swining all the way back west to Ennis and eventually Ennistymon

In our case, we drove from Kenmare to Ennistymon via primarily a combination of the the N22 and the N69 (the latter of which went around Tralee and towards Tarbert) before going on the N67 right to the Tarbert Ferry.

We then had a pre-booked ticket (bought online) the Tarbert-Killimer Ferry (departing every hour on the half-hour taking about 20 minutes) so we could get across the Shannon Estuary.

After getting to Killimer, we would then follow N67 Road west towards and through the town centre of Kilrush before taking R483 towards Cooraclare.

That said, GoogleMaps does tend to prefer shortest distance and/or toll avoidance over the most sensible roads so that’s something to keep in mind.

Drive_to_Cliffs_of_Moher_109_MingSung_07132024 - When driving from Killimer to Ennistymon, you'll want to stay on the N and R roads instead of the rural L roads that apps like GoogleMaps will insist that you take, but L roads tend to be single-lane and much slower going (let alone more accident prone)
When driving from Killimer to Ennistymon, you’ll want to stay on the N and R roads instead of the rural L roads that apps like GoogleMaps will insist that you take, but L roads tend to be single-lane and much slower going (let alone more accident prone)

So GoogleMaps actually insisted that we take the shortest distance route via the L2054 and L2050 Roads, but we found out the hard way that they were very narrow (and often single-lane) roads.

Indeed, we’re living proof that blindly following GPS apps won’t save you much time (if any) compared to the longer but easier route along a combination of N and R roads.

In fact, I’d only consider taking L roads as a last resort if necessary, but being able to differentiate between these roads requires a little bit of pre-planning.

While you could argue that reading and responding to these junctions as you encounter then, I know it gets difficult to make accurate decisions on-the-fly like that (and in fact, we got it wrong).

Ennistymon_003_07132024 - Parking in the town centre of Ennistymon can be quite tricky given how busy it is here (or at least when we were pursuing the Ennistymon Cascades in mid-July 2024)
Parking in the town centre of Ennistymon can be quite tricky given how busy it is here (or at least when we were pursuing the Ennistymon Cascades in mid-July 2024)

Anyways, from Kilrush, we’d continue on the R483 until it merges with the N67 again, and then follow the N67 all the way into Ennistymon.

Once in Ennistymon, you pretty much have to find street parking or public parking in one of the designated spots in the town centre (definitely avoid the spots designated “No Parking”).

We managed to find an open spot towards the north side of town near the St Andrew’s Church (Teach Ceoil).

However, there’s also a closer lot (at the Glencree Car Park), which is on the access road leading to the Falls Hotel and Spa.

Ennistymon_008_07132024 - The Glencree Car Park on the access road leading to the Falls Hotel and Spa on the way to the Ennistymon Falls
The Glencree Car Park on the access road leading to the Falls Hotel and Spa on the way to the Ennistymon Falls

Note that this drive took us around 4 hours (with the waiting and transport via ferry), which gives you an idea of the time scales involved.

For context, Ennistymon is about 8km (about 15 minutes drive) east of Liscannor, about 13km (15 minutes drive) southeast of Doolin, 26km (30 minutes drive) northwest of Ennis, 47km (under an hour drive) northwest of Shannon, 65km (an hour drive) northwest of Limerick, about 99km (90 minutes drive) southwest of Galway, and 270km (over 3 hours drive) southwest of Dublin.

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Long video showing cascades downstream of the main one starting with a view of the hotel and then ending at some middle cascades


Right to left sweep from near the end of a private driveway with a closeup look at the uppermost tier of the cascades

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Tagged with: munster, ennistymon, moher, burren, clare, urban waterfall, ireland, connacht



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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