Editing County Clare (section)

==Etymology==
{{See also|Etymological list of counties of Ireland}}
There are two main hypotheses for the origins of the county name "Clare". One is that the name is derived from [[Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond|Thomas de Clare]]<ref>"Lorna Moloney. From Gaelic lordship to English shire – SoundCloud." 14 Sep. 2016, https://soundcloud.com/history-hub/lorna-moloney-gaelic-lordship-to-english-shire-macnamaras-of-clare {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212091210/https://soundcloud.com/history-hub/lorna-moloney-gaelic-lordship-to-english-shire-macnamaras-of-clare |date=12 February 2017 }}. Accessed 11 February 2017.</ref> an Anglo-Norman peer and soldier from the [[de Clare]] family, who was deeply embroiled in local politics and fighting in the 1270s and 1280 and had had acquired land in Kilkenny and Thomond that included the Castle of Clare. In 1590 County Clare was named after the castle, which is in a strategic location. An alternative hypothesis is that the county name ''Clare'' comes from the settlement of Clare (now [[Clarecastle]]), whose Irish name {{lang|ga|Clár}} (plank bridge) refers to a crossing over the [[River Fergus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Briggs |first=Keith |year=2009 |title=Clare, Clere, and Clères |journal=Journal of the English Place-name Society |issue=41 |page=14 |url=http://ww.keithbriggs.info/documents/clare_03.pdf#page=14 |access-date=4 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100620/http://ww.keithbriggs.info/documents/clare_03.pdf#page=14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACounty/Clare.html |title=Origin of the name "Clare" |publisher=Irishcultureandcustoms.com |access-date=19 April 2012 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120194110/http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACounty/Clare.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.from-ireland.net/county/article/Emigration-%26-Education-Statistics,-1931,-Co.-Clare/Clare |title=Thom's Directory, 1931 |publisher=From-ireland.net |access-date=19 April 2012 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402130240/http://www.from-ireland.net/county/article/Emigration-%26-Education-Statistics%2C-1931%2C-Co.-Clare/Clare |url-status=live }}</ref>