KILMOLERAN

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

"KILMOLERAN, a parish in the barony of Upperthird, county Waterford, province of Munster, Ireland, containing Carrickbeg, its post town, which adjoins Carrick-on-Suir. The parish is 2 miles long by 1½ mile broad. The surface comprises part of the Suir valley. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lismore, value with Dysert, £252, in the patronage of the bishop. The Roman Catholic chapel is united to those of Dysert and Kilsheelin. There are also one or two day schools. Coolnamuck Court is the principal residence of the place. A church formerly stood here, dedicated to St. Maidoc. Ballyclough Castle is within the limits of this parish."

"CARRICKBEG, a village in the parish of Kilmoleran, barony of, Upper Third, in the county of Waterford, province of Munster, Ireland, forming the S. suburb of Carrick-on-Suir. It is situated on the S. bank of the Suir, and is connected with the town of Carrick by an ancient bridge of stone. It is a place of some antiquity, and is said too have been a corporate town. It was the site of a Franciscan monastery, founded in the 14th century by one of the Butlers, earls of Ormond, which existed till the Dissolution. The tower of the conventual church still remains, and is a curiosity of architecture, being square, and increasing in diameter from the base upwards, so as to resemble an inverted pyramid. An elegant archway of the monastery is also preserved, and forms now the entrance to the Roman Catholic chapel. There has not for many years been a Protestant living in the parish of Kilmoleran, which is a very small one. Here is a friary of the Franciscan order, founded about 1822, with a chapel built of stone in the perpendicular style, with a groined roof and a tower. Petty sessions are held, and a police force is stationed here. There is a small court-house. Annual fairs are held on the 26th January, the 26th February, the 25th March, the 28th April, the 15th June, the 15th July, the 27th September, the 7th November, and the 5th December."

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