Drumline () 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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, located about northwest of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, just north of Shannon.

Location

The parish is in the Bunratty Lower barony, and is southwest of Sixmilebridge and almost southeast of

Newmarket-on-Fergus Newmarket-on-Fergus, historically known as Corracatlin (), is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It is from Ennis, from Shannon Airport, and from Limerick. History The English rendering of the name 'Newmarket-on-Fergus' probably owes its ori ...

. It is and covers 2,955. In 1841 the population was 1,327 in 187 houses. A small part of the south of the parish lied on the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

. The

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s are Ballycasey Beg, Ballycasey More, Ballycunneen, Crossagh, Culleen, Drumline, Firgrove, Knockaun, Mogullaan, Smithstown and Tullyvarraga.

History

The parish is named after the townland of Dromline, or ''Druim Laigean'' in Irish, meaning the hillside of the spears. There were two castles. One, in the townland of Dromline, was owned in 1580 by Mortogh O’Brien, son of Conor, first Earl of Thomond. The other is in the townland of Smithstown (Baile na gabhna), and in 1580 was owned by O’Maoelconery. As of 1897 its ruins were in good condition. The first known list of parishes for the diocese of Killaloe dates to 1303, and includes seven civil parishes that make up the present parish of

. These were Kilnasoolagh, Tuamfinlough, Bunratty, Drumline, Clonloghan, Kilconry and Kilmaleery. After 1688 one priest served the five parishes of Bunratty, Drumline, Clonloghan, Kilconry and Kilmaleery. James O’Shaughnessy was appointed parish priest of the five parishes in 1776, and when James O’Halloran died in 1782 he was given charge of the other two. The penal laws were eased that year, but due to the shortage of priests the consolidated structure was retained.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * {{Civil parishes of County Clare Civil parishes of County Clare