[5] The residential areas were intended as a home for the thousands of workers at the airport, surrounding industries and support services.

This was partly due to the proximity of 'friendly' places to live, such as Ennis town and Limerick city, or even the nearby village of Newmarket-on-Fergus.

Shops fronted onto pedestrian malls that were originally uncovered, allowing estuary winds and rain to strike at shoppers.

Shannon was originally located in the parish of Newmarket-on-Fergus in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, and at first a priest in residence of the airport served the population.

Shannon was the manufacturing base of GAC Ireland, which built almost all buses for CIÉ during its short existence between 1980 and 1986.

Improvements to facilities in the town included the opening of a second major supermarket, Lidl,[8] with the shopping centre being expanded by the addition of the "Skycourt" complex.

Shannon Free Zone is Ireland's largest cluster of North American investments.

Major companies in Shannon include Jaguar Land Rover, Zimmer Biomet,[11] Element Six, Symantec, AXA Partners, Lufthansa Technik, Mentor Graphics, RSA Security, GE Capital, Ingersoll Rand, Intel and Digital River.

[18][19][20] In addition, prior to September 2004, Shannon Development, a state-sponsored body had charge of many services normally provided by local authorities in Ireland.

In September 2004 its situation was regularised when Shannon Development transferred its local government functions to Clare County Council.