[9] It was recorded in 940 that King Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks and his forces, found that Cretshalach, as it was then known, was the worst passageway during their Circuit of Ireland.

In ancient times the passageway through Cratloe ran over a steep hill, and was the main route from Munster into Connacht.

The remainder of the parish consists of the south-western and western portion of Woodcock Hill, which summits at 310 m (1,016 ft) just outside Cratloe's boundary.

A state forest has been planted over a large portion of the Cratloe area, with mostly spruce and pine trees covering the 800 acre woodland.

On the back road to Limerick that passes through the village, the ancient oak trees of Garranon Wood are still visible, and the forest has been historically dated to exist from at least 700 AD.

The oak trees from this forest provided the timbers for the roofs of London's Westminster Hall and the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

[13] One of the oldest historic sites in the village itself is in the Craughaun Cemetery, where a megalithic wedge tomb, known as the Ballinphunta Dolmen, was discovered.

D'Esterre Bridge, built in 1784, crossing the Ratty/O'gChearnaigh River between Bunratty and Sixmilebridge, is characterised by the ruins of the gate-towers remaining from its days as a toll-crossing.

The novelist and travel writer Georgiana Chatterton stated in 1841 that it flows from a clear stream, but over the time it has not been used, it has nearly been swallowed up in foliage and natural growth.

[16] The remnants of several small ráths, or ring-forts are located in various fields around Cratloe, although several of these forts were destroyed when the Western Railway Corridor was built in the late 19th century.

This was once one of the biggest castles in Cratloe, being used by the McNamaras as a trading post because of its location on the River Shannon and its proximity to both Bunratty and Limerick.

In 1730 most of this castle was destroyed and the stones were used to build Cratloe Wood House, the only example of an Irish longhouse still lived in by a family.

In his 1893 work The History and Topography of the County of Clare, James Frost mentions that one Augustus Stafford O'Brien MP removed the ruins of a friary from the grounds of his residence, Cratloe Woods House, apparently because it interfered with the view.

The ruins of the medieval parish church and cemetery of Kilfintenan can be found in the townland of Carrowmore on the road from Sixmilebridge to Gallows Hill.

The R462 regional road, which begins as the Cratloe exit from the N18, connects the towns of Sixmilebridge and Tulla and the villages of Kilkishen and Kilmurry to Limerick.