Tuamgraney (Tomgraney)
Historical Backgound

Tuamgraney derives its name from tuaim greine, the tumulus of Grian, the daughter of a now-forgotten chieftain who was drowned in Lough Graney.

The Lady Grian, according to folklore, was also called Gile Greine, the brightness of the sun. She was a famous beauty who lived here in the very distant past. She was of supernatural origin, having been begotten by a human being on a sunbeam, and when she was told of this, she became depressed and decided to commit suicide. She threw herself into Lough Graney and drowned. Her body floated and was carried in a south-easterly direction by the stream flowing from the lake, before it was cast ashore on the edge of a wood later called Doire Greine. Shortly afterwards, her friends discovered her body and had it interred nearby. They raised a tumulus over it for posterity and continued to give it the name of Tuaim Greine. John O’Donovan suggested in 1839 that the name could also be derived from another translation of tuaim greine, meaning the sun-mount or sunny hill. This name could have been coined by sun worshippers who may have established a colony here in ancient times.

St Cronan established a monastery here. According to the Four Masters, his memory was celebrated on October 19th although O’Donovan refused to specify when the first ecclesiastical establishment was founded in Tuamgraney. Cronan of Tuaim Greine may have been the same Cronan who founded Roscrea. He flourished in the latter part of the sixth century and formed establishments here, in Inchicronan and in Teampal Chronain at Carron.