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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

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

"ABBEYFEALE, a parish in the Glenquin division of the barony of Upper Connello, in the county of Limerick, province of Munster, Ireland, 37 miles to the S.W. of Limerick, and 157 miles from Dublin. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Allaghaun and Feale, in a district very wild and mountainous. It is not many years since it was almost inaccessible. This recommended it to the Rockites as a safe retreat, who, in 1822, made it their head-quarters, dating their manifestoes "from our camp at Abbeyfeale." It was not till the year 1836, that the new road was opened, which leads right through the heart of the hills, from Abbeyfeale to Glin. Improvement of the roads has naturally been followed by increase of trade, and this by improvement in the general appearance of the place. Of the 18,000 acres comprised in the parish, above 3,000 are waste or bog. Large quantities of turf are cut and sent to the town of Newcastle, 10 miles distant, as fuel; limestone being brought thence in return. Near the village on the west is Wellesley Bridge, on the road from Limerick to Tralee; Goulburn Bridge is at about an equal distance on the east. In a bold situation on the river, about a mile from the village, are the ruins of Purt Castle, which was erected by the Geraldines to command the pass of the Feale. Brien O'Brien founded a Cistercian abbey here in 1188, which became, in 1209, a cell to the abbey of Nenagh. The living is an impropriate vicarage in the diocese of Limerick. The present church, which is small, and in the early English style, was built in 1812. There is a police station in the village. Fairs are held, chiefly for cattle, on the 29th June and the 24th September."

"CAHERLANE, a hamlet in the parish of Abbeyfeale, barony of Glenquin, in the county of Limerick, province of Munster, Ireland, 3 miles to the S. of Abbeyfeale. It is seated on the confines of Kerry, on the banks of the river Feale."

"PURT, a ruined castle in the parish of Abbeyfeale, barony of Glenquin, county Limerick, Ireland, 36 miles S.W. of Limerick. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Allaghaum and Feale, and was once a stronghold of the Geraldines."

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