Galbally () is a village in southeast
County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province
, subd ...
,
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 ...
, on the border with
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
. It is located at the foot of the
Galtee Mountains
Galtymore or Galteemore () is a mountain in the province of Munster, Ireland. At , it is one of Ireland's highest mountains, being the 12th-highest on the Arderin list, and 14th-highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Galtymore has the 4th-hig ...
and at the western approach to the
Glen of Aherlow
The Glen of Aherlow ( Irish: ''Gleann Eatharlaí'') is a valley located between Slievenamuck and the Galtee Mountains in the western part of County Tipperary in Ireland. The principal village is Lisvarrinane (sometimes spelled Lisvernane). There ...
. The Aherlow River, flowing down from the Galtee mountains, runs by the village, to meet the Suir at
Kilmoyler a short distance north of
Cahir
Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West.
Location and access
For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dubli ...
.
Galbally is in a valley overlooked by the Galtee Mountains.
History
![Moor Abbey, Galbally, County Limerick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Moor_Abbey%2C_Galbally%2C_County_Limerick.jpg)
A number of archaeological sites and buildings in the Galbally area are included in the
Record of Protected Structures
Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for conservation of the built environment and conservation of the natural environment in Ireland. Con ...
. Among these is "Darby's Bed", a
passage tomb
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...
which sits on a nearby hill in the townland of Duntryleague. It is cited in Irish legend as one of the places where
Diarmuid and Grainne spent a night during their flight from the angry
Fionn MacCumhaill.
Also located just outside the village is
Moor Abbey. This
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
friary was founded in the thirteenth century by Donach Cairbreach Ua'Briain. The only standing building from site is the friary's church, which was built in 1471. The site had a tumultuous history, matching the ebbs and flows of Irish politics and religious freedoms, and was inhabited until 1748, though with periods of desertion. Present in the church is the remains of a tomb, which is perhaps that of the founder.
In the centre of Galbally's village square is a statue of a soldier, erected in memory of named local volunteers who lost their lives during the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List o ...
in 1921. The south side of the square was the site of a poor house during
famine times.
Charles Bianconi's carriages used to drive through the village, and the stables they used still stand on the north side of the village square.
The
Barons Massy of
Duntryleague had their original seat in the area and their Charnel house (burial place) is still extant. The Massy's, an English family of Norman descent, received land in county Limerick in the Cromwellian plantation, and settled in Duntryleague, in the parish of Galbally. The family played a prominent role in the Anglo-Irish ascendancy class up to the 20th century. Their Summer house, Massy Lodge, stands near the neighbouring village of
Anglesborough.
Also located at Duntryleague are the remains of a Protestant church tower and a graveyard. A number of the graves are occupied by the Bennett family, who had owned nearby Gleneffy House Estate (also known as Castle Creagh)
from the 1680s until the 1920s. William H Massy Bennett, a Justice of the Peace, was the last Bennett to live there. He died in 1920 and it was sold by his son George Latham Massy Bennett in an auction in July 1920. In 1826 the Rev P Fitzgerald referred to Castle Creagh as "a very handsome seat of the Bennet family, now in ruins" in his History of Limerick.
The current Gleneffy House was built for William's father, George Latham Bennett by the architect Charles Frederick Anderson in the 1850s, it stands on the site of the older castle, mentioned by the Rev Fitzgerald, and is located on the hillside of the Glen of Aherlow to the north of Galbally. It is now a private residence.
Amenities
Galbally hosts amenities and services include a number of pubs, a carpenters, undertakers, shops, a chipper, a number of B&Bs, a village museum/gallery, and an equestrian centre. The village's sporting facilities include: pitches for field sports, a community field, and "all weather" astro-turf facilities.
The village's Catholic church, the Church of Christ the King, is within the ecclesiastical parish of Galbally & Lisvernane which straddles the Limerick-Tipperary border.
Its 'sister' village within this parish is the village of Lisvernane, which lies in the
Glen of Aherlow
The Glen of Aherlow ( Irish: ''Gleann Eatharlaí'') is a valley located between Slievenamuck and the Galtee Mountains in the western part of County Tipperary in Ireland. The principal village is Lisvarrinane (sometimes spelled Lisvernane). There ...
in
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
.
Community and clubs
Although the
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
usually has one club in each parish, there are two in this parish: Galbally, on the Limerick side, and Aherlow, across the border in Tipperary. While each club plays
hurling to some extent,
gaelic football is the primary sport, and both clubs have won their respective county senior football championships, Aherlow winning the Tipperary title for the first time in 2006. Galbally were first-time winners of the
Limerick Senior Football Championship
The Limerick Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Limerick GAA clubs. The champions qualify to represent Limerick in the Munster Senior Club Football Championship, the winners of which progre ...
in 1994 and repeated the feat in 1997. Galbally also won the 1995 County Junior B Hurling title, captained by
John Kiely, who went on to manage the Limerick county hurling team to victory in the
2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
The 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, the 131st event of its kind and the culmination of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 19 August 2018.
The final was shown live in Irela ...
.
Galbally
Camogie Club fields teams from under 12 to Senior. Galbally is also home to the Mooreabbey Milers AC running club.
In 1994, Galbally was selected as the 'prettiest town in Ireland' in the annual
Irish Tidy Towns Competition
Tidy Towns ( Irish: ''Bailte Slachtmhara'') is an annual competition, first held in 1958, organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development in order to honour the tidiest and most attractive cities, towns and villages in the Republic ...
, and has won the Limerick competition nine times.
Popular culture
A folk ballad, ''The Galbally Farmer'', tells of the trials suffered by a hired labourer working for the miserly farmer of the title, Darby O'Leary.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
*
Galbally, County Tyrone
References
{{Tidy Towns (Ireland)
Towns and villages in County Limerick