Bunratty's famous castle dates back to 1425 and was the original home of the O'Brien Clan, the High Kings of Munster, and later the Earls of Thomond.
They ruled the region, safe against their enemies, in their impressive home with its imposing tower and defensive position.
Bunratty Castle has a long historical tradition of medieval banquets, ever since it was refurbished in 1954 - serving up feasts twice a day to hungry hordes.
It quickly became well known across the world as a place to celebrate traditional songs and music, much loved by over 100,000 tourists who visit the venue each year.
It’s located in the Bunratty Folk Park which depicts the traditional thatched cottages of olden times, as well as traditional farm animals, olde world shops and farm practices.
But the Covid pandemic has hit this popular tourist location hard - and in doing so, has also hit the many businesses nearby which have benefitted from Bunratty's bounty of visitors down through the decades.
The globally well-known Durty Nellys pub and restaurant has been in darkness and vacant for the past 14 months.
For owner Maurice Walsh, the announcement of definite dates for reopening for outside dining on 7 June and indoor dining on 5 July, has been a welcome relief.
"We now have two key dates at last so we can plan and get our premises ready to welcome customers back. The past year has been horrendous for our industry and now we can be sure of a return date," he said.
Mr Walsh, who also heads up a local Clare tourism group, said there are 500 people employed in the hospitality business alone in the village of Bunratty, which shows how important it is to the locality.
Down the road is the family-run Bunratty Manor hotel and restaurant, in business for the past 19 years and regarded as one of the finest restaurants in the region.
Owner David Wallace said they are absolutely delighted to be welcoming patrons back to the hotel and restaurant after such a long absence.
"We started getting calls about booking for the restaurant and weddings once the details were out on the RTÉ 6.1 news, when the Taoiseach confirmed the reopening of indoor and outdoor dining.
"We are delighted to be opening our hotel door on 2 June next, but the confirmation that we can open indoor dining for our restaurant to the general public is most welcome."
Mr Wallace said that while staycation trade was likely for most of this summer, "we also rely heavily on international visitors ... we hope that travel from the UK and US can resume swiftly as this is vital to our business for the future".
Samantha Harding, who runs an events and destination management company for visitors coming into the West of Ireland region, said it has been a tragic year for the hospitality and tourist sector.
Now, finally, there is hope, she said.
"I feel like doing cartwheels at hearing that we can finally reopen hospitality and we look forward to welcoming international visitors back to this great tourist region at last," Ms Harding said.
Thousands of people employed in the hospitality business right across the Wild Atlantic Way can now plan to reopen their businesses.
