The River Clare is a river in counties Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

 and Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

The 93 kilometres (57.8 mi) long river rises north of Ballyhaunis

Ballyhaunis

Ballyhaunis is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line connecting Dublin to Westport and Ballina....

 in Mayo and descends past Dunmore, where it flows west, then turns south past Milltown, continuing down through Kilbennan Church near Tuam

Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...

. It continues south until past Turloughmore, then turns sharply west, flowing north of Claregalway

Claregalway

Claregalway is a village situated about 10 km from the city of Galway in County Galway, Ireland. Claregalway was founded on the banks of the River Clare, hence the derivation of its name: Baile Chláir na Gaillimhe meaning "town on the Clare, in Galway"...

 and, thence, further westward into Lough Corrib

Lough Corrib

Lough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest lough in Ireland . It covers 178 km² and lies mostly in County Galway with a small area of its northeast corner in County Mayo.The first canal in...

. From there it flows as the River Corrib

River Corrib

The River Corrib in the west of Ireland flows from Lough Corrib through Galway to Galway Bay. The river is among the shortest in Europe, with only a length of six kilometres from the lough to the Atlantic. It is popular with local whitewater kayakers and is the training ground of , as well as...

 into Galway Bay

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city is located on the northeast side of the bay. It is about long and from to in breadth...

.

A large section of it is a former turlough

Turlough (lake)

A turlough, or turlach, is a unique type of disappearing lake found mostly in limestone areas of Ireland, west of the River Shannon. The name comes from the Irish "tuar", meaning dry, with the suffix "lach", meaning a place . The "lach" suffix is often mistakenly spelled and/or thought to refer to...

, which, at 6.5 square kilometres, used to be Ireland's largest.

The Clare is the longest river in the Lough Corrib catchment. It has since the 1960's being subject to ongoing arterial drainage to lower the bed of the river and mitigate flooding. This has resulted in the river being straightened and canalized between ramparts of dredge material making access to the river difficult and comprising its value as a public amenity. It is an important spawning channel for salmon and trout and a noted fishery in its own right for both species.