Ennis

Ennis (Irish: Inis, meaning "island") is the county town of County Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, just north of where it flows into the Shannon Estuary, it lies north west of Limerick and south of Galway. The town is also 19 km (12 mi) from Shannon and Shannon Airport. Its name is a shortening of the original Inis Cluain Ramh Fhada ("island of the long rowing meadow"). It is now a gateway to the West of Clare via the N85 Western relief road for people travelling from the Limerick and East Clare regions. The 2011 census indicates that Ennis had a population of 25,360 making it the largest town in Munster and the sixth largest town in Ireland. It is the 11th largest urban centre in the country. In 2005 Ennis won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition. The town has maintained this high status over the years coming 2nd in 2008 and 2009, an improvement over the previous years.