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From \'A History of Clare Castle and its Environs\' by Joseph Power: \"Officially the parish is called Clare Abbey and Killone, however, it is more familiarly known nowadays as Clare Castle & Ballyea (where the Catholic chapels are located). The name of the settlement at Clare Castle has changed several times over the centuries. The earliest place-name, cited in the Annals of the Four Masters, is Clár Átha Dá Charad (1270). Later in the same text it is referred to as Clár Mór, (1589 and 1600). From the seventeenth century up to the nineteenth century it was called the town or village of Clare, or simply Clare. ……..Towards the end of the nineteenth century the suffix “Castle” was added to Clare, hence the present-day name Clare Castle or Clarecastle.\"