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

Killaloe Parish

A parish on the east border of the barony of Lower Tulla, and of co. Clare, Munster. It contains the town of Killaloe. Length, 5 miles; breadth 3¼; area, 10,707 acres, 2 roods, 20 perches,-of which 571 acres are in Lough Derg, and 158 acres, 31 perches are in the river Shannon. Pop., in 1841, of the whole, 4,957; of the rural districts, 2,948. Houses in the whole, 722; in the rural districts, 440. Both the Census of 1831 and the Ecclesiastical Authorities include in Killaloe the parish of O'BRIEN'S-BRIDGE. The parochial surface is at once varied in out-line, ornate in dress, and mixedly beautiful, romantic, and powerful in character; and it consists of land which aggregately has an annual value of 26s. per plantation acre. Mr. Fraser thus succinctly notices the chief objects of local interest: "About a mile below Lough Derg, the most splendid enlargement of the Upper Shannon, and where its broad waters again assume the river character, and dash over the rapids, stands the ancient and thriving little town of Killaloe. In the interesting and highly picturesque vicinity, a little below the town, is Clarisford-house, the diocesan seat of the Bishops of Killaloe; and opposite to it, on the Tipperary side, Fort-Henry, Mr. White; and near it Briensfort. Above the town is Ballyvally, Mr. Parker; and opposite, Derry-castle, Mr. Head. These two seats occupy prominent and beautiful situations on the bold banks which here bound the lake. Above Derry-castle, on the slopes of the hills which skirt the shores of the lower reach of the lake from Nenagh to Killaloe, are the slate quarries which have been so long and successfully worked; and on the margin of Lough Derg, about 2 miles above Derry-castle, is Castleclough, Mr. Parker. The beautiful line of road lately made by the Board of Works from Killaloe to Scariff, between the shores of Lough Derg and Slieveberagh, and round the point of Agnish, while it shows how much the pleasures, comforts, and business of the country are promoted by the application of science and practical skill to road-making, displays some of the most interesting mountain and lake scenery in this district of the island." Though some of the objects noticed in this extract are not within the parish, all blend with either its scenery or its economics. The western district of the parish is mountainous and pastoral; and sends up two heights to the altitude of, respectively 1,353 and 1,746 feet. This parish is a perpetual curacy, and a separate benefice, in the dio. of Killaloe. Glebe, £12 7s. 6d. Gross income, £103 4s.; nett, £98 15s. 2d. Patrons, the dean and chapter of Killaloe cathedral. The tithes are compounded for £369 4s. 7½d.; and the greater portion, amounting to £295 7s. 9d., are appropriated to the economy fund of Killaloe cathedral, while the remainder, amounting to £73 16s. 11d., are appropriated as mensal tithes to the diocesan. The church of the benefice is the cathedral of the diocese. Sittings 400; attendance 200. A church, with an attached perpetual curacy, exists also at O'Brien's-Bridge. Glebe, £4 10s. Gross income, £73 15s. 1d.; nett, £71 18s. 1d. Patrons, the dean and chapter of Killaloe cathedral. The church was built in 1820, by means of a gift of £830 15s. 4½d. from the late Board of First Fruits. Sittings 150; attendance 95. The Presbyterian meeting-house at Killaloe has an attendance of from 8 to 15. The Roman Catholic chapels at Killaloe, Garrinbeg, Bridgetown, and Trough, have an attendance of respectively, 780, 640, 960 and 300. In 1834, the parishioners consisted of 405 Churchmen, 8 Presbyterians, 7 other Protestant dissenters, and 8,802 Roman Catholics; and 8 daily schools - one of which was salaried with £50 from the National Board - had on their books 299 boys and 206 girls.

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