O'Grady clan. To maintain their dominance three castles or fortified houses were built, one at Tuamgraney (which still stands), one near the bridge at the Scairbh which no longer exists and a third, smaller building, at Moynoe. The earliest account of Scariff castle is from 1564. In 1633 Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, bought ten quarters of land north of the Graney River, including the castle and ironworks of Scarriff. These lands were combined with the old Moynoe parish to form the Scariff parish. Today Scariff and Moynoe is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. Scariff as a town developed around the castle and its growth was helped by the presence of a smelting furnace which operated there. It is shown on a map of the Down survey in 1655. The town grew gradually in the following centuries, its fortunes generally in line with those of the country as a whole. In penal times Mass was celebrated at the Mass Rock at Cappabane. Scariff suffered greatly during the Famine in the 19th century. A workhouse was built in 1841 at Drewsboro to provide some relief for the poor, and was opened in May 1842 to accommodate 600 persons. After the famine started in 1845 starving and destitute locals flocked to the workhouse. By 1846 the local graveyard was full with inmates from the workhouse and a new graveyard had to be opened outside Tuamgraney. The following year the workhouse ran out of food, water and clothing for the inmates, who were dying from fever and starvation at the rate of a dozen a day, along with those who were caring for them. The matron, her children and the parish priest, among other carers, died of fever. Even after the famine passed, in 1851, the workhouse had 3,212 inmates. The population in the Workhouse Union district in 1851 was reduced during the famine by more than 50% to 23,057. The East Clare Brigade of the IRA burned the remains of the workhouse down in 1921. The 20th century however saw the town begin to prosper. New roads were built. It had a bank, a police station, flour mills and a Market House reflecting its growing importance as a market town. As well as improved road connections, the Dock provided vital trade links and Scariff enjoyed its position as the business centre of north-east Clare. Two of the