MONASTERANENAGH

In 1868, the parish of Monasteranenagh contained the following places:

"MONASTERANENAGH, a parish in the baronies of Coshma, Pubblebrien, and Smallcounty, county Limerick, province of Munster, Ireland, 2 miles N.E. of Croom. Youghall is its post town. The parish is 3 miles long by 1; mile broad, and contains the village of Six-mile-bridge. The surface lies along the banks of the river Commogue. The soil is mostly good. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Limerick, value £14, in the patronage of the crown for Lord Southwell. The Roman Catholic chapel is united to that of Fedamore. There are three day schools. Monasteranenagh House is the chief seat. This parish takes its name from an abbey which was founded by the O'Briens in the middle of the 12th century for Cistercian monks. The remains of the abbey, which stand on the right bank of the river, are considered the finest and most interesting of the kind in this part of Ireland. It was here that Sir J. Malby beat the Irish with great slaughter in 1579, when he dismantled the abbey. There was a subsequent conflict here in which the English were defeated. The site of the abbey was granted to the Wallops at the Dissolution.

"MANISTER-GRANGE, (or Grange), a parish, or district, in the barony of Small-County, county of Limerick, and province of Munster, 3 miles (N.) from Bruff, on the road to Limerick: the population is included in the return for Manister. It comprises 1224 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and consists of very good land, which is generally based on limestone, and chiefly in large dairy farms. From an inquisition taken in the reign of Elizabeth, this district appears to have belonged to the parish of Manister, of which it still forms a part for civil purposes. The village of Six-milebridge is within its limits. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Limerick, entirely impropriate in Lord Southwell: the tithes amount to £83. 6. 2. In the R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district of Bruff. Here are three druidical circles, the largest of which is 44½ yards in diameter, and consists of 65 upright stones; they are principally of limestone, sandstone, and clay-slate, but the largest, which is thirteen feet high, seven broad, and four thick, is formed of breccia. The second circle is 49 yards in diameter and consists of 72 smaller stones; and the third, which consists of 15 large shapeless blocks, is 17 yards in diameter. On the summit of Knockfinnell, which overhangs Lough Gur, are two extensive earthen forts."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018