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Scarriff

Scarriff, the East Clare capital, is accessible from Lough Derg through the Graney River. The river is navigable for pleasure boats and cruisers up to the basin or harbour since it was dredged in the 1840s.

Scarriff remains an important market town which offers excellent facilities for the visitor interested in either active pursuits or leisurely sightseeing.

The town is a noted angling centre, with wide appeal for both coarse and game anglers in the surrounding East Clare Lakelands comprised of over 40 lakes and rivers.

Other activity options in the area include boating, golf at the nearby 18-hole championship East Clare Golf Club and equestrian sports.

Each year, the Scarriff Harbour Festival provides great entertainment and spectacle. The open-air, street-based event celebrates the many attractions and amenities of Lough Derg, the local waterways and the East Clare countryside accessible from Scarriff. It also showcases local community-based arts, crafts, and music ranging from traditional to jazz, as well as cross-border cultural exchanges with Northern Ireland.

There are a number of restaurants and pubs in the town itself, and the area is noted also as a centre for good traditional Irish music and amateur drama.

The town offers a fine base for touring the interesting Clare countryside in the hinterland of Lough Derg. In Scarriff itself, Cahir Island dominates the bay along with the ruins of Ballykelly Castle on the neighbouring island.

For those with an interest in biodiversity, Scarriff is home to the Irish Seed Savers Association, which is a charity that collects, conserves, researches and grows varieties of fruit, grains and vegetable. The Association holds a number of public events, courses and open days throughout the year.