Clara (Irish: Clóirtheach; sometimes translated locally as Clárach)[8] is a town on the River Brosna in County Offaly, Ireland.

Situated on the Esker Riada, the ancient thoroughfare which connected the east and west coasts of Ireland, numerous ring forts are to be found in the countryside surrounding the town suggesting that the early settlement may have been a staging post for travellers.

St Brigid's original monastery, founded shortly after her religious profession – her first foundation, would have been constructed in wood and consisted of a number of buildings surrounding a central church.

Mass rocks are also to be found in the hills outside the town, having provided secret places for Catholics to worship during the persecution which followed the Reformation.

Following the involvement of the Chieftain, Hubert Fox in a rebellion in the 1640s – he was defending Catholic interests against the Puritan Oliver Cromwell who came to Ireland to suppress uprisings against English rule.

[citation needed] Andrew Armstrong (1727–1802) built the neo-classical Clara House on the west side of the town in the 1770s.

The family had provided the people of Clara with employment in a number of areas: factory work, domestic service and farming.

Other industries in the town included flour mills, distilleries, a brewery, manufacturers of tobacco, soap, candles, and clothes together with food processing companies.

To cater for the needs of the townspeople, two religious orders founded communities and schools: the Franciscan Brothers arrived in 1821 and the Sisters of Mercy some years later.

[citation needed] Father Niall Molloy (14 April 1933 - 8 July 1985) was a Catholic priest who was killed in mysterious circumstances in Kilcoursey House in Clara, County Offaly, the home of Richard and Therese Flynn.

Flynn was charged with manslaughter and with actual bodily harm, but the judge at his trial, a family friend, directed the jury to give a 'not guilty' verdict.

In 2008 there was a proposal for a small regional airport in the area, which later fell through[28] Clara's local GAA club is involved in Gaelic football and hurling from under 8 to senior level.

A bog boardwalk (Accessible from Ballinough, off Tullamore road) is very popular with local walkers but is virtually unknown to visitors.