Kildysart
Places of Interest

• CROVRAGHAN CASTLE was levelled to the ground in 1893. By then it was of less importance than the busy village of Kildysart. Teige Mac Conor O'Brien owned the castle of Crovraghan in 1580. Later, the castle grounds included a corn mill, a grain store, a brewery, a lime kiln and a Cavalry barracks. During the insurrection of 1641 the castle was attacked and burned by the Catholic insurgents.
• THE OLD CHURCH resembles a monastery rather than a parish church of the usual character. It is firmly built, large in size, and has a square tower at the west end. Frances Marcella O'Brien, better known as Attie O'Brien (1840-1883) is buried here under a white marble celtic cross. Her best known books were WON BY WORTH and FROM DAWN TO DARKNESS.
• HOLY WELLS: There are three holy wells in the parish, Tobar Brecain at Crovraghan, Tobar Ruadhan at Cooga and one at Lacknashannagh which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The latter was a popular place of worship right up to modern times, particularly on August 15th each year.
• ST. MICHAELS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was built between 1829 and 1831. Before this time it is reported that an old thatched church stood on the site.
• KILDYSART CHURCH OF IRELAND was built in 1812 and the last service was held in 1926. It was demolished in 1951.
• PEADAR CLANCY MONUMENT: Peadar Clancy was born in Cranny in 1894. In 1916 he was promoted to Lieutenant because of his part in the Easter Rebellion. He was amongst those captured and sentenced to death but the sentence was later commuted to penal servitude for ten years. He was released under the amnesty of 1917. He staged prison escapes for many of his comrades. He was captured and killed in November of 1920 in Dublin. He is remembered in Kildysart where a monument has been erected in his memory.
• SCHOOLS: In the parish of Kildysart in 1834, 145 boys and 87 girls attended two "hedge-schools". In 1840 111 boys and 71 girls attended National School at Kildysart. This school was built in the 1820's. The present school was constructed in 1899 and renovated in 1959.
• CAHIRACON HOUSE is now a school and convent belonging to the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. It is a large square 18th century three-storey, five-bay house over a basement, with large nineteenth-century two-storey wings. About 1780, when an East India fleet took refuge in the Shannon, an encampment was formed in the deer-park of Cahiracon. In 1837 it was the seat of Bindon Scott. The Scotts were popular landlords. James Kelly was the owner of Cahiracon House in 1865. He sold it to Lord Annaly in 1876. Lord Annaly is better known locally as Colonel White, the man who "brought water over a hill" from Effernan Lake by siphon to supply the domestic needs of Cahiracon. He is also the man who built the billiard-room in expectation of a visit from his crown prince, later King Edward VIII. Colonel White sold the estate in 1889. The Vandeleur family moved to Cahiracon in the late 1890's after their house at Kilrush had burned down. The Society of St. Columban, also known as the Maynooth Mission to China, bought the property in 1920. They in time sold it to the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco.