Corofin (Corrofin, County Clare

Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland (), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, ...

. Retrieved: 2011-11-22. or ''Coradh Finne'') is a town on the

River Fergus The River Fergus () is a river within the Shannon River Basin which flows in County Clare, Ireland. The river begins at Lough Fergus in north Clare and flows into the Shannon Estuary. The source is at Lough Fergus in the townland of Kilmore N ...

in northern

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, Ireland and also a parish of the same name in the Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. The 2022 population was 793, up from 776 in 2016, and 689 in 2011.

Name

The name Corofin means "the white or foam-flecked ford" from the , the earliest form of the name to be found in the literature: "fearann re hucht Finn Coradh". - � hUidhrín, 15c. Topographical PoemA different translation is "Finne's weir". The town name is sometimes spelled "Corrofin". Corofin also styles itself as "The Gateway to the Burren" or "The Angler's Paradise".

Geography

The town is north of the county town of

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

, at the crossroads of the R460 and R476 regional roads. It is on the southern edge of the upland limestone region of

The Burren The Burren ( ; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.

. Corofin is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of

Kilnaboy Kilnaboy or Killinaboy () is a village, townland and civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the Burren, and as of the 2011 census the area had 347 inhabitants. Civil parish Kilnaboy is a parish in the historic Barony (Ireland ...

in the Barony of

Inchiquin Inchiquin () is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 11 baronies in the county. Its chief town is Corofin, County Clare, Corofin. It is administered by Clare County C ...

. It lies across the townlands of Baunkyle, Laghtagoona and Kilvoydan. It lies in the parish of the same name of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe The Diocese of Killaloe ( ; ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in mid-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral of Ss Peter a ...

Places of interest

On Church Street is the former

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

, ''St. Catherine's Church'', built between 1715 and 1720 by Catherine Kneightly. It was renovated c. 1820 and by 1829 the steeple had been added. The building is now in use by the Clare Heritage and Genealogical Research Centre. An Irish

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

, the Cross Inneenboy, also known as Roughan Hill Tau Cross, is a stone tau cross which has been moved into the centre for safe keeping. Inchiquin Castle exterior

Inchiquin Castle is located just outside the town, on the north side of Lake Inchiquin. It was possibly begun by Teige-an-Chomhaid O'Brien (d. 1466). In 1542, it belonged to Turlough, son of Murrough, first Baron of Inchiquin. Murrough O'Brien, the fourth Baron, was in possession in 1580. His descendants, the Marquesses of Thomond, derived their title of Earl of Inchiquin from this estate. During the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, Hugh Roe O'Donnell raided Clare and Inchiquin Castle was attacked by one of his lieutenants, Maguire of Fermanagh. During the Confederate Wars Christopher O'Brien, Murrough the Burner's brother, lived here. Murrough's son, Colonel John O'Brien, abandoned Inchiquin towards the end of the 17th century. By then it had deteriorated into a ruin. Today the castle remains a ruin surrounded by pastures. Part of the older castle tower is still extant as is a good portion of the later 17th-century banquet hall.

Town twinning

Corofin is twinned with Tonquédec in France.

Notable people

* Chartres Brew, 19th century Gold commissioner, Chief Constable and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: * Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) * Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also * History of ...

* Frederick William Burton, 19th-century painter and director of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London * Tony Killeen, (born 1952),

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

politician, former

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Clare constituency and Minister for Defence * Benjamin Lucas, soldier of the 17th century * Gerry Quinn,

Hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

left-wing back (born 1980) * Corofin is the childhood home of painter Frederick William Burton.

References

;Sources * Michael Mac Mahon, ''The Parish of Corofin: A Historical Profile'', .

External links

Corofin on Clare Library Website

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe Towns and villages in County Clare Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe