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TULLA

CO. CLARE · IE

Tulla
Tulach, Co. Clare

The Ireland's Hidden Heartlands
STOP 08 / 08

Tulach · Co. Clare

An east Clare hill village built around a seventh-century monastery, and the home of the Tulla Céilí Band - the longest-running céilí band in Ireland.

Tulla is known to people who care about Irish trad as the home of the Tulla Céilí Band - formed in 1946 and the longest-running céilí band in Ireland. The band kept the east Clare style of fiddle playing alive: slower and more ornamented than west Clare, and proud of the difference. P.J. Hayes led it for four decades from 1952. His son Martin Hayes, now one of the best-known fiddle players in the world, grew up with that sound in the parish next door at Feakle.

The village itself is a hill. Tulach means exactly that, and the place climbs it - a steep main street, the Catholic church of Saints Peter and Paul opened in 1829 partway up, and at the top the old graveyard on the ruins of St Mochulla's seventh-century monastery, with the holy well and a worn cross slab beside it. From up there you can see the small lakes scattered around the town and the drumlin country running off toward Lough Derg.

Most of the year it is a working village, not a destination. The music is what brings people, and most of the music is in the connections - who is related to whom, who played in which back room, what year they recorded. Christy Moore played some of his earliest gigs in the back of Minogue's. The Comhaltas centre, Cnoc na Gaoithe, in the old convent on the hill, is where the céilís and concerts happen now, and the Féile Chnoc na Gaoithe at the end of June is the weekend the whole thing comes out into the street.

Population

697 (2022)

Founded

Monastery founded by St Mochulla c. 620; market charter 1619

Coords

52.8667° N, 8.7600° W

01 / 08

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The music

Home of the Tulla Céilí Band, formed 1946.

One of the oldest céilí bands in Ireland and a carrier of the slow, ornamented east Clare fiddle style. P.J. Hayes led it for decades; his son Martin Hayes learned the style nearby. The Comhaltas centre, Cnoc na Gaoithe, keeps it going year round.

Stories & lore → 02 The hill

St Mochulla's monastery, founded about 620, on the hilltop over the village.

Tulach means a hill or mound, and the whole village climbs it. The old monastic graveyard, the holy well and an inscribed cross slab are at the top, overlooking the rooftops and the small lakes around the town.

Walks & outings → 03 The setting

East Clare drumlin country, on the East Clare Way.

Rolling hills, scattered lakes and forestry between Ennis and Lough Derg. The 180 km East Clare Way runs through, and the 12 O'Clock Hills trails are ten kilometres south. Quiet, green and almost entirely un-touristed.

Walks & outings →

02 / 08

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Minogue's

Music pub with the history

Traditional bar, main street

The trad pub in Tulla. Christy Moore played some of his earliest gigs in the back room, and musicians have gathered for a weekly session here for decades. The late John Minogue was the face of it for sixty years and an independent county councillor for thirty-one. If you come to Tulla for the music, you come here.

Flan McArthur's Bar

Local

Village bar, Tulla

A working village bar - a pint and the local company rather than a programmed music venue. The everyday Tulla pub.

03 / 08

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Flappers Restaurant	Restaurant, village	€€	A small, cosy eatery in the village - the one place locals point to for a proper sit-down meal in Tulla itself. Hours are village hours: check before making a special trip.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

East Clare sound, 1946

The Tulla Céilí Band

The Tulla Céilí Band was formed in 1946 in east Clare and is the longest-running céilí band in Ireland. P.J. Hayes took over leadership in 1952 and ran it for four decades. They won All-Ireland Céilí Band Championships and recorded for Gael-Linn, carrying the east Clare style of fiddle playing - slower and more ornamented than the west Clare and south Galway styles, and held to deliberately. P.J. Hayes died in 2001. His son Martin Hayes grew up in the Feakle parish and is now one of the most recorded Irish traditional fiddle players in the world. Tulla also has its own pipe band, the St Patrick's Pipe Band, founded in 1936.

A monastery from about 620

St Mochulla's hill

The village grew up around a monastery founded about 620 by Mochulla, who became its patron saint. The monastic site is on the hilltop above the village, now St Mochulla's graveyard. Stone steps lead to St Mochulla's well, a Celtic cross stands over it, and to the right of the well is an eleventh or twelfth-century inscribed cross slab. Tulla got a market charter in 1619 and held markets through the year. By 1845 the parish held around 9,000 people; the Famine and emigration cut that to roughly 6,700 by 1851, and the long decline after it is why a village with this much history now counts under 700.

A tower house that barely lasted

Tulla Castle and the MacNamaras

The MacNamara clan built a tower house at Tulla before 1574, when it first appears in the records under Donell Reogh MacNamara. It did not last: by 1613 antiquarian sources already describe it as a ruin, so it may have stood forty years at most. What survives today is a poor scrap of limestone wall, under four metres long and less than half a metre high. Better-preserved sixteenth-century tower houses stand in the countryside around Tulla, including Fortane Castle a kilometre east of the village.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

St Mochulla's hill and graveyard Up through the village to the old monastic graveyard on the hilltop. The well with its Celtic cross and the inscribed early-medieval cross slab are here, and the view runs out over the rooftops to the lakes and drumlins of east Clare. The reason the village exists, and the best half hour in it.

Short climb from the villagedistance

30-45 minutestime

The East Clare Way through Tulla Tulla sits on the East Clare Way, a 180 km waymarked circular route through the hills, forestry and lakes of east Clare that links up with the Mid Clare Way. You do not walk the whole thing - pick a section out of the village toward Feakle or the forestry north of the town and turn back.

180 km full circuit; day sections from the villagedistance

Pick a sectiontime

The 12 O'Clock Hills Ten kilometres south of Tulla. Three waymarked trails - red, blue and purple arrowheads - through woodland, bog and around small lakes, with castles and long views over east Clare. The serious walking in the immediate area.

Three waymarked loopsdistance

1-3 hourstime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Quiet east Clare turning green. Worth combining with Feakle and the lake country.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The Féile Chnoc na Gaoithe is at the end of June - the weekend the music comes out onto the main street. The best time to come for it.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The east Clare roads and forestry in autumn colour, and almost no one about.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Tulla is small. Check what is open, and whether there is a session on, before making a special trip.

◐ Mind yourself

07 / 08

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Tulla Castle as a sight

There is almost nothing left - a scrap of limestone wall under four metres long. Read the story, do not go looking for a castle.

Expecting a year-round music scene

The heritage is real and the Cnoc na Gaoithe centre runs events, but the big concentration is the Féile at the end of June. Outside that, check what session is on rather than assuming.

Getting there.

By car

On the R462, just off the R352, about 18 km east of Ennis. Feakle is roughly 10 km north and Lough Derg lies to the east. Ennis is the nearest town with a full range of services.

By bus

TFI Local Link Limerick Clare runs a service between Tulla and Ennis (about 25 minutes). Frequencies are rural - check the Local Link timetable before relying on it.

By train

No station in Tulla. The nearest mainline station is Ennis, on the Limerick-Galway line, about 18 km west.

By air

Shannon Airport (SNN) is roughly 40 minutes south by car and is the obvious arrival point for the area.