Islands() is a barony located in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

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 ...

. This ancient unit of land division is in turn divided into five

civil parishes 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. ...

Etymology

The name refers to the many islands of the Fergus estuary, such as

Canon Island Canon Island (''Inis na Canánach'' in Irish) is an island situated in the River Shannon, about east of the village of Kildysart, County Clare in Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in ...

, Deer Island, Inishloe, Feenish and Trummer: the

Anglo-Normans The Anglo-Normans ( nrf, Anglo-Normaunds, ang, Engel-Norðmandisca) were the medieval ruling class in England, composed mainly of a combination of ethnic Normans, French, Anglo-Saxons, Flemings and Bretons, following the Norman conquest. A sma ...

approaching from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

along these waters perceived the County Clare region as an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

and named it "the

cantred A cantred was a subdivision of a county in the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Ireland between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, analogous to the cantref of Wales or the hundred of England. In County Dublin the equivalent unit was termed a serjeant ...

of the isles of

Thomond Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...

", a name still preserved in that of the barony.

Legal context

Baronies were created after the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

as divisions of

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and were used the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.

Location

The barony is bounded by the barony of

Inchiquin Inchiquin ( ga, Inse Uí Chuinn) is a barony in County Clare, Ireland.Placenames Database of ...

(to the north), by Bunratty Upper (to the east), by

Clonderalaw Clonderalaw is an historical barony in County Clare, Ireland. Baronies are geographical divisions of land that are in turn is divided into civil parishes. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as administra ...

(to the south) and by

Ibrickane Ibrickane (or Ibrickan) is one of the ancient baronies of Ireland.Placenames Database of Ireland
- Barony of Ibri ...

(to the west). It covers of which are tideway of the River Fergus and are water. The river and estuary of the Fergus form the eastern boundary of the barony, which slopes down to the water. The western part is mainly peaty uplands, while the east includes some of the rich pasturage known as "Corcasses".

Parishes and settlements

The barony contains the

of Clare-Abbey, Clondagad, Dromcliffe,

Killone Killone ( ga, Cill Eoin) is a civil parish of County Clare, Ireland, to the southwest of Ennis. It is known for the ruins of Killone Abbey. Location Killone is in the Barony of Islands, southwest of Ennis on the road to Kildysart. It is so ...

, and Kilmaly. The main settlements are Ennis and Clare.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Islands, Barony of Baronies of County Clare