Ballinard () is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

located in the eastern part of

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The civil parish is part of the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Smallcounty Smallcounty or ‘’’Small County’’’ ( ga, An Déis Bheag) is a historical Barony (Ireland), barony in County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Settlements in the barony include Hospital, County Limerick, Hospital, Herbertstown, Fed ...

. The largest population centre is the village of

Herbertstown Herbertstown () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland. It is part of the ecclesiastical parish of "Hospital and Herbertstown", in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Herbertstown is in the centre of the electoral ...

. The south-eastern part of the parish borders the parish of

Kilcullane Kilcullane () is a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and townland located in County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The civil parish is in the barony of Smallcounty. It is located in east County Limerick near the village of Bruff. ...

. Geologically, the parish rests on a substratum of limestone, except in some few places where the basalt rises.

History

According to Lewis' Topography of Ireland (1837), the parish contained 867 inhabitants and comprised 1366 statute acres. The land was recorded as "in general good". The rectory was impropriate in Edward Deane Freeman. The

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

s of the parish amounted to £148, 18 shillings, of which two-thirds were payable to the impropriatorIn

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

, appropriation is the perpetual annexation of an ecclesiastical

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

to the use of some spiritual corporation, either aggregate or sole. In the Middle Ages in England the custom grew up of the monasteries reserving to their own use the greater part of the tithes of their appropriated benefices, leaving only a small portion to their vicars in the parishes. On the dissolution of the monasteries the rights to collect "great tithes" were often sold off, along with former monastic lands, to laymen; whose successors, known as "lay impropriators" or "lay rectors," still hold them, the system being known as ''impropriation''. and the remainder to the vicar. Lewis recorded that there were two pay schools in the parish. The remains of "Ballynard Castle" were to be found on the hill by Ballinard townland itself. This castle was the main seat of a branch of the

FitzGerald dynasty The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

that was built in the fifteenth century. The Powel family, who gave their name to a neighbouring townland, had a mansion at Eaglestown.

Ecclesiastical parish

Like all civil parishes, this civil parish is derived from, and co-extensive with a pre-existing

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

parish of the same name in the diocese of Cashel and Emly. The church mentioned in Lewis's survey is located in the townland of Ballinard. At that time, the church was in ruins. ParishesInCashelAndEmlyWithLegend3

In the Catholic Church, the civil parish forms part of the ecclesiastical parish of "Herbertstown and Hospital" located at the western edge of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly ( ga, Ard-Deoise Chaisil agus Imligh) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in mid-western Ireland and the metropolis ...

.Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
- "Hospital and Herbertstown" There are two church buildings in the parish: the Sacred Heart Church, Herbertstown;National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, BALLINARD, Register number 21903224 St. John The Baptist, Hospital.

Townlands

There are four townlands in the parish: * Ballinard which constitutes 505 acres and contains the ruins of Ballinard Castle, the ruins of the Medieval parish church and the eastern side of the village of Herbertstown. * Ballyloundash which constitutes 316 acres * Cloghaviller which constitutes 545 acres and contains the ruins of Cloghaviller House * Rootiagh which constitutes 274 acres.

References

From Other: {{Reflist Civil parishes of County Limerick