Spancill Hill Cnoc Uarchoille | |
---|---|
Settlement | |
Coordinates: 52°52′16″N8°54′01″W / 52.871033°N 8.900156°W | |
Country | Ireland |
Province | Munster |
County | County Clare |
Townland | Muckinish |
Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
Spancill Hill or Spancilhill (Ordnance Survey spelling Spancel Hill for the hill [1] and settlement, [2] Spancelhill for the electoral division; [3] [1] Irish : Cnoc Uarchoille [1] ) is a hill and adjacent dispersed settlement in County Clare, Ireland. The historic hamlet of Spancilhill was by the fair green, [4] which is still the site of the Spancill Hill Fair, which occurs annually on 23 June. [5] Houses are concentrated slightly south at Cross of Spancilhill, where the R352 road between Ennis to the west and Tulla to the east crosses a local road between Barefield to the north and Quin to the south. [6]
The original Irish name was Cnoc Fhuar Choille ["Cold Wood Hill"], which was misinterpreted as Cnoc Urchaill ["Spancel Hill"]. [2] [7] A spancel is a rope used to tie an animal's legs together; the association of the place with a horse fair encouraged the misinterpretation. The hill itself was called Knockrughil on the 1842 six-inch Ordnance Survey map and 1896 25-inch map. [4]
Spancel Hill is in the townland of Muckinish, civil parish of Clooney, and barony of Bunratty Upper. [1] The fair had a royal charter from Charles II. [8] Historically, fairs were held on 1 January, 3 May, 24 June, 20 August, and 3 December. [9] In 1913, British and Continental cavalry forces bought over 1,000 horses there. [8]
In 1841 the population of the village was 169, in 26 houses. [10] In 1851, after the Great Famine, there were fewer than 20 houses, so its population was not recorded separately from the townland, whose total population had fallen from 278 in 46 houses to 174 in 34. [11] In 1911 the townland population was 72, in 14 houses. [12]
A townland is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion, and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey. The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.
Doora is a village and civil parish in County Clare, Ireland, just to the east of the town of Ennis.
Spancil Hill, or in original spelling Spancilhill, is a traditional Irish folk ballad composed by Michael Considine (1850–73), who was born in Spancil Hill and migrated to the US. It bemoans the plight of the Irish emigrants who so longed for home from their new lives in America. This song is sung by a man who longs for his home in Spancill Hill, County Clare, his friends and the love he left there. All the characters and places in this song are real.
Quin is a village in southeast County Clare, Ireland. The name also refers to a civil parish in the barony of Bunratty Upper, and to an ecclesiastical parish of the same name. The main attraction in the vicinity is Quin Abbey, the ruins of Franciscan friary, which is open to the public. Although roofless, much of the structure remains and is relatively well-preserved. The abbey was built on the foundations of an earlier Norman castle; the foundations of three corner towers can still be seen.
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Clooney is a civil parish of County Clare, Ireland, located to the northeast of Ennis, south of Inchicronan. The area is marshy, with the Oysterman's Marsh Natural Heritage Area in the vicinity. Clooney-Quin GAA is a GAA club for the Catholic parish of Clooney and Quin.
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St. Patrick's, or Kilquane, is a civil parish that is situated on both banks of the River Shannon near the city of Limerick in Ireland. It is unusual in that it is distributed over three baronies: Bunratty Lower, Clanwilliam and the barony of the City of Limerick. Besides the suburbs of the city, it also contains the villages of Ardnacrusha and Parteen. It is known for the Ardnacrusha power plant, a major hydroelectric plant.
Kilmaleery is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is part of the Catholic parish of Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Carntemple, once known as Kilbrecan, is a ruined church in the civil parish of Doora, County Clare, Ireland. It may date back to 480 AD. Little remains except the massive foundations.
Rathconrath, previously the barony of Rathcomyrta, before that Daltons country, is a barony in the west of County Westmeath, in Ireland. It was formed by 1542. It is bordered by County Longford to the north–west and five other Westmeath baronies: Moygoish to the north, Moyashel and Magheradernon to the east, Moycashel and Clonlonan to the south and Kilkenny West to the west. Note that the village of Rathconrath is not synonymous with the barony of the same name.
Kells is a barony in the south-west of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is one of 12 baronies in County Kilkenny. The size of the barony is 155.6 square kilometres (60.1 sq mi). There are 10 civil parishes in Kells, made up of 167 townlands. The chief town is Kells.
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