Kildysart
Places of Interest
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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KILDYSART CHURCH OF IRELAND was
built in 1812 and the last service was held in 1926. It was demolished
in 1951.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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