Brosna () is a village and parish situated in the

Sliabh Luachra Sliabh Luachra (), sometimes anglicised Slieve Logher, is an upland region in Munster, Ireland. It is on the borders of counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, and bounded to the south by the River Blackwater. It includes the Mullaghareirk Mounta ...

area of

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

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 ...

. It lies from the town of

Castleisland Castleisland () is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is known for the width of its main street. As of the 2016 Census, Castleisland had a population of 2,486. Castleisland was described by one of its ...

. The

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 ...

of Brosna consists of the village and a number of

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 origi ...

s. It is a mainly agricultural area, supporting two churches, two schools, a post office, and five public houses.

Geography

Brosna is a village in north east County Kerry. A number of Munster rivers have their sources in the parish, including the Clydagh, the Braonach, and the

Munster Blackwater The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater ( ga, An Abhainn Mhór, The Great River) is a river which flows through counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland. It rises in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in County Kerry and then flows in an easterly ...

. The highest point is Mount Eagle. It is in the barony of

Trughanacmy Trughanacmy ( gle, Triúcha an Aicme) is a barony in County Kerry, Ireland. The barony is an obsolete administrative area, having ceased to have any government function since the enactment of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. In 1881 the ...

. Crochaun Mountain is above sea level. Brosna lies close to the Cork/Kerry and Kerry/Limerick borders, and neighbouring towns include

and

Knocknagoshel Knocknagoshel, officially Knocknagashel (), is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is around 15 km south east of Listowel. According to the 2011 census, the population of the Knocknagashel Electoral Division (which includes the village and ap ...

in Kerry,

Abbeyfeale Abbeyfeale (; ) is a historic market town in County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Kerry. The town is on the N21 road (Ireland), N21 road from Limerick to Tralee, some south-west of Newcastle West and south-east of Listowel and ...

and

Mountcollins Mountcollins () is a village in the extreme south west of County Limerick, Ireland, barely 100 metres from the border with County Kerry and just a mile from County Cork. The River Feale runs parallel to the village and is fed by the Caher River ...

in Limerick, and

Ballydesmond Ballydesmond (), formerly Kingwilliamstown, is a rural village in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the Blackwater River (near its source in Menganine) on the Cork-Kerry border. The Ballydesmond quarry is an area of geological interest, containi ...

and

Rockchapel Rockchapel () is a village in north County Cork in Ireland. It is located near the border of counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Rockchapel is within the Dáil constituency of Cork North-West. Much of the land close to the village is planted wi ...

in Cork.

History

In Samuel Lewis's 1837 ''Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'', Brosna was recorded as having 2168 inhabitants in 18,013 statute acres. The same entry notes that a "large portion of the land consisted of coarse mountain pasture and bog, the greater part of which might be reclaimed". As of the first half of the 19th century, there were 2 private schools in the area, in which approximately 120 children were educated. Lewis also records that the

Whiteboys The Whiteboys ( ga, na Buachaillí Bána) were a secret Irish agrarian organisation in 18th-century Ireland which defended tenant-farmer land-rights for subsistence farming. Their name derives from the white smocks that members wore in their ...

(an agrarian organisation involved in "disturbances" in support of tenant farmer rights) were active in the area in the 1820s. The placename of ''Brosna'' or ''Brosnach'' may translate from the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

for dried wood or fire wood.

Church and well

A thatched church was built about 1800 in the grounds of the graveyard near the present church. The present church of "St Moling & St Carthage" was built in 1868 to designs by architect

George Ashlin George Coppinger Ashlin (28 May 1837 – 10 December 1921) was an Irish architect, particularly noted for his work on churches and cathedrals, and who became President of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Biography Ashlin was ...

. This church is in

gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, and built with sandstone rubble walls and limestone ashlar dressings. The church is dedicated to

Saint Moling Saint Mo Ling (614–697), also named Moling Luachra, was the second Bishop of Ferns in Ireland and has been said to be "one of the four great prophets of Erin". He founded a monastery at St Mullin's, County Carlow. His feast day is 17 June. ...

, and was reputedly built from stone quarried from the lands in Knopoge, with local farmers bringing the stone to the site by horse and cart. Many of the stained glass windows were donated by parishioners. The design of the marble altar is attributed to

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. The marble altar rails are newer, and were donated by Denis Guiney in 1946, in memory of his parents Cornelius and Julia Guiney. Denis Guiney (1893–1967) was a native of Brosna, and had been a long-term operator of the

Guineys Michael Guiney's Ltd, more commonly known and referred to as Guiney's (), is an Irish department store founded in June 1971. The store specialises in homewares, menswear, womenswear and children's clothing. They have 11 stores in the Republic of ...

and

Clerys Clerys was a long-established department store on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, a focal point of the street. The business dates from 1853, however the current building dates from 1922, having been completely destroyed in the 1916 Easte ...

stores in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The church's stone presbytery was also built in the late 1860s. The presbytery was restored in 1998, and a restoration on the church itself was completed in 2010. Also close to Brosna, in the foothills of

, is a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

associated with

. The well is reputedly close to the spot where Saint Moling (c.614–697) was born. The well has been a place of pilgrimage over the years, with visits to the well traditionally occurring every Saturday in May.

References

{{Authority control Civil parishes of County Kerry

Geography

History

Church and well

See also

References