Clare Places: Parishes: Killeely: Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, 1845

Killeely, Killealy, or Killygally

A parish, partly in the barony of Lower Bunratty, Co. Clare, and partly in the city of Limerick, and barony of Pubblebrien, co. Limerick, Munster. Length, 4¼ miles; breadth, 3. Area of the Bunratty section, 5,013 acres; of the Pubblebrien section, 1,210 acres; of the city of Limerick section, 360 acres of land, and 20 acres of water. Pop. of the whole, in 1831, 5,140; in 1841, 5,065. Houses 797. Pop. of the co. Clare section, in 1831, 2,030; in 1841, 1,955. Houses 307. Pop. of the Pubblebrien section, in 1841, 509. Houses 73. The Pubblebrien and the city of Limerick sections formerly belonged to the quondam county of the city of Limerick. The parochial surface extends in the direction of north-west from the Shannon; and is traversed by the road from Limerick to Ennis. It contains the hamlet of Meelick, and part of the wood of Cratloe. About two-thirds of the surface consist of good land; and the remainder is mountainous, and of inferior quality. A mountain on the northern boundary has an altitude of 1,010 feet. The chief residences in the Clare section are Woodcock-Hill, Punch-Bowl, Fort-Cottage, Burton, Summer-Hill, and Meelick.—This parish is a rectory, and a separate benefice, in the dio. of Limerick. Tithe composition, £280; glebe, £50. Gross income, £349 10s.; nett, £312 17s. 11½d. Patron, the diocesan. The incumbent holds also a vicar choralship in Limerick cathedral. The church was built in 1735, at the private expense of Mr. Burton, an ancestor of the Marquis of Conyngham. Sittings 100; attendance, about 12. In 1834, the parishioners consisted of 164 Churchmen, 17 Presbyterians, and 5,226 Roman Catholics; a Sunday school was usually attended by about 35 children; and 6 daily schools—one of which was supported partly by the rector, and another wholly by subscription, and by a charity sermon at the chapel—had on their books 136 boys and 142 girls.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, 1845
Courtesy of Clare Local Studies Project