Kilcloon or Kilclone () is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

situated in the south-east of

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

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 ...

. Kilcloon parish is largely rural and contains the village of Kilcloon itself and the neighbouring villages of

Batterstown Batterstown () is a small rural village in the townland of Rathregan (''Ráth Riagáin''), County Meath, Ireland. It is about northwest of Dublin, on the R154 regional road. It hosts a yearly cycling race. There are approximately forty houses ...

and

Mulhussey Mulhussey () is a townland and village in County Meath, Ireland. It has a school, a castle with accompanying cemetery, a nearby church (or the 'Little Chapel', as it is commonly known) at the edge of the Kilcloon parish in Kilcock, and a religi ...

. The parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

is located at Ballynare Cross Roads in the village of Kilcloon with chapels in

Kilcock Kilcock () is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Its population of 6,093 makes it the ninth largest town in Kildare and 76th largest in Ireland. The town is located 35 km (22 ...

and Batterstown.

Village

Kilcloon village is centered at Ballynare Cross Roads where the parish church is located. Kilcloon National School is also located in the village. The Central Statistics Office also defines

Kilcloon Kilcloon or Kilclone () is a parish situated in the south-east of County Meath in Ireland. Kilcloon parish is largely rural and contains the village of Kilcloon itself and the neighbouring villages of Batterstown and Mulhussey. The parish chur ...

as a census town (or "settlement") with a population of 280 at the Census of 2016. The census town encompasses a much larger area than the village (See Maps below).

Parish

Kilcloon parish is composed of the six medieval parishes of Moyglare, Kilclone, Balfeighan, Rodanstown, Ballymaglassan and Rathregan. The medieval parish of Kilclone was in turn made up of the

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 of Kilclone, Pagestown,

, Milltown, Longtown, Jenkinstown, Collistown, Barstown, and Kimmin’s Mill. The medieval parish of Kilclone was also known as Kilcloon and this was the name given to the union of the six medieval parishes in the 18th century. The modern parish of Kilcloon approximates to the civil parishes that had by the 19th century replaced the medieval parishes for census and taxation purposes. For instance, Kilclone civil parish does not include Jenkinstown or Barstown townlands. Kilcloon is also defined as a

postal town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...

, though with the introduction of

Eircode A "postal address" in Ireland is a place of delivery defined by Irish Standard (IS) EN 14142-1:2011 ("Postal services. Address databases") and serviced by the universal service provider, '' An Post''. Its addressing guides comply with the ...

s in 2015, this has been subsumed into the A85 ( Dunshaughlin) routing key. Kilcloon postal town only covers a portion of Kilcloon parish (See Maps below).

Maps

File:Kilcloon civil parishes.png, Civil parishes in Kilcloon File:Kilclone townlands.png, Kilclone civil parish and its townlands File:Kilcloon schools.png, Schools in Kilcloon File:Kilcloon GAA pitches.png, Kilcloon GAA pitches File:Kilcloon churches map.png, Churches in Kilcloon File:Kilcloon postal town.png, Kilcloon postal town (part of A85 Eircode routing key) File:Kilcloon postal town with townlands.png, Kilcloon townlands that use the Kilcloon postal town File:Kilcloon village and census town.png, Kilcloon census town and village File:Kilcloon village.png, Kilcloon village in detail

History

For nearly 700 years before the arrival of the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

in the 12th century the area was occupied by Christian farmers. Very little trace of their lives remains but it was an agricultural society and the remains of ring forts of strong farmers can still be seen dotted around the countryside. The Normans under

Hugh de Lacy Hugh de Lacy may refer to: * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Lassy (c.1020–1085), first recorded member of the Norman noble family de Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (died 1186), 4th Baron Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Abbot of Shrewsbury (died c. 1215/18) *Hug ...

brought about revolutionary changes in the old Gaelic way of life. de Lacy created several

baronies Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

in the

Kingdom of Meath Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of ...

. The barons in turn established

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

s and their associated parishes over the course of the following 400 years. Each manor was in turn divided into a number of townlands. The manors of Kilclone (Mulhussey), Balfeighan and Rodanstown were part of the Barony of Deece ruled by the Husseys of Galtrim, whereas the manors of Ballymaglassan and Rathregan were part of the Barony of Ratoath, the personal fiefdom of de Lacy himself. Moyglare was also part of the Barony of Deece but took on a separate identity when Hugh de Hussey handed it back to de Lacy who then gave it to Hugh Tyrell. The parishes were usually of the same size and boundaries as the manors. Priests and churches were financed by

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

s. Control of the parish churches and the income from tithes was given over to the monasteries. Rodanstown chapel

The system of baronies, manors and parishes persisted until the political and religious turmoil in England caused by the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

civil wars A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and the introduction of the Penal Laws in the 16th and 17th centuries. These events resulted in the confiscation of lands from the barons and the suppression of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. By the 18th century the Husseys had mostly disappeared from the parish and only two manors survived intact: Moyglare and Rathregan. Ballymaglassan never became a manorial centre, but was owned by various lords whose manorial centres were elsewhere. The churches had fallen into ruins. After the failure of the

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage wa ...

, the new parish of Kilcloon was created in 1704 as a union of the six medieval parishes and a new "

popish The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodo ...

priest" was registered. The remains of many of the medieval parish churches and

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

s from the Middle Ages can be found in the parish.

Amenities

The parish contains the parish church (Church of St. Oliver Plunkett, Kilcloon) and chapels (Church of the Assumption, Batterstown and Church of the Assumption, Kilcock). The patron of the parish church is Oliver Plunkett, bishop and martyr, and was the first church dedicated to his memory. A sculpture of Oliver Plunkett is featured in the Kilcloon Millennium Garden. Kilcloon Post Office

There are three national schools in the parish: Kilcloon, Mulhussey and Rathregan (Batterstown), as well as a school for

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

children. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

is located near Kilcloon village (Kilclone Post Office). A

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

was established in Kilcloon Parish in 1972. The head office is located in Kilcock with a sub-office in Batterstown. In 2018, Meath County Council granted permission for a 426 square metre

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

, on a site in the centre of the village of Kilcloon along with permission for the development of 13 sites for people who meet local needs criteria. The parish is home to the Blackhall Gaels

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

club. The club's main grounds are in Batterstown with a second GAA pitch at Collistown. The Collistown grounds are named after Cyril O'Brien, Jack Fitzgerald and John Kelly. The 11th Meath Kilcloon Scouts meet regularly at Kilcloon National School.

People

* Lisa Hannigan, singer/songwriter, grew up in Kilcloon. * William Conolly (1662-1729), politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner, had his country residence at Rodanstown until he purchased Castletown in 1709.

Gallery

File:OliverPlunkettBust.jpg, Bust of Oliver Plunkett in the Kilcloon Millennium Garden File:Kilcloon GAA pitch.jpg, Fitzgerald Kelly O'Brien Park File:Kilclone ringfort.jpg, A ringfort in Kilclone townland File:Ruins of Moyglare gateway.jpg, Ruins of Moyglare gateway