Kilfenora ( ga, Cill Fhionnúrach , meaning 'Church of the Fertile Hillside' or 'Church of the White Brow')
is a village and 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in
County Clare
County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...
,
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 is situated south of the
karst limestone region known as
the Burren
The Burren (; ) is a karst/ glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland.
Burr ...
. Since medieval times when it was the
episcopal see of the
Bishop of Kilfenora
The Bishop of Kilfenora () was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilfenora in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with o ...
, it has been known as the "City of the Crosses" for its seven (now five)
high crosses.
The village had around 220 inhabitants in 2011. Much of the TV show ''
Father Ted
''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including ...
'' (1995–98) was filmed there.
Name
''Cill Fhionnúrach'' is generally translated as "Church of the Fertile Hillside", "Church of the White Brow" or "Church of the White Meadow".
The village and diocese of Kilfenora have also been referred to as Fenebore, Kilfenoragh, Finneborensis or Collumabrach.
Village
![TedFest plaque, Kilfenora - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/TedFest_plaque%2C_Kilfenora_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1606616.jpg)
According to the Census of 2011, 463 people lived in the Kilfenora area, up from 409 in 2006.
However, most of them do not live inside the village. In 2011, there were just 220 inhabitants in the village proper, up from 169 in 2006 and only around 100 in 1980.
In 1975 the "Burren Display Centre", an interpretative centre displaying the botany and wildlife of The Burren, in the former National School building, was opened by president
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976.
His birth name was registered in English ...
.
It was the first interpretative centre in Ireland and was built with funds from
Fáilte Ireland
Fáilte Ireland is the operating name of the National Tourism Development Authority of the Republic of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 and replaces and builds upon the functions ...
and the
Clare County Council
Clare County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae an Chláir) is the authority responsible for local government in County Clare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...
.
The TV show ''
Father Ted
''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including ...
'' (1995–98) used Kilfenora as an important filming location. This later gave rise to a "Father Ted Festival", first held in 2007.
Kilfenora also gave its name to the
Kilfenora Ceili Band
Kilfenora ( ga, Cill Fhionnúrach , meaning 'Church of the Fertile Hillside' or 'Church of the White Brow') is a village and a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated south of the karst limestone region known as the Burren. Sin ...
.
Kilfenora Cathedral
Kilfenora Cathedral is dedicated to St. Fachtna (St. Fachanan) and the present structure dates to between 1189 and 1200. It was built in the so-called transitional style with a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and a
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ov ...
. These were later separated and by 1839, "thirty-six feet of the east end" were roofless.
The nave is now used for worship by the Church of Ireland, for which it was reconstructed around 1850.
It features a bishop's throne, donated in 1981. There is also a large square stone baptismal font (possibly from around 1200). In addition, the church contains various tombs, but the interior is mostly devoid of ornamentation.
According to local tradition, the chancel was roofed with an oak ceiling (blue with a gold star) until the end of the 18th century. It is roofless today and features a 15th-century doorway, a 15th-century
Gothic sedilia
In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...
as well as a
Romanesque three-light east window with its triangular pillars topped by carved capitals. On both sides of the window is a carved effigy: a bishop with his right hand raised in blessing (possibly early 14th century), to the north; and a tonsured, bareheaded cleric holding a book (possibly 13th century) to the south. The chancel also contains several tombs and the remains of high crosses.
The "Lady Chapel" (sacristy or chapter room) was in a rectangular wing leading to the north of the chancel. It likely shares the building date of the main building and may have served as a sort of
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...
in the past. Two lancet-type windows and a broken two-light one are left in the eastern wall. There are also fragments of a high cross.
Today, the cathedral remains in a partially ruined state, although restoration work was done by the
National Monument Service in the early 2000s.
The transept was fitted with a glass roof in 2005 to protect the remains of the three high crosses moved there.
Although tradition maintains that there were once seven crosses, only the remains of five of them were extant in modern times (plus one from post-reformation times). Three of those, including the one known as the "Doorty Cross", were located within the graveyard of the cathedral. The Doorty Cross is so named because its shaft was used as the tombstone of the Doorty family grave until the 1950s when the two parts of this mid-12th century cross were reunited. A shaft of a 13th- or 14th-century cross stood near the doorway of the cathedral (the "South Cross"). Near the graveyard, gate was a simple cross (possibly dating from the 14th or 15th century). The third cross is located within the chancel. West of the graveyard and roughly halfway between the cathedral and the modern Catholic church is the fourth high cross (the "High Cross"), standing in a field. The fifth cross ("Cross on the Hill") was removed in 1821, by Dr Richard Mant, Bishop of Kilfenora and Killaloe, to
Killaloe, County Clare
Killaloe ( ; ) is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland. The village lies on the River Shannon on the western bank of Lough Derg and is connected by Killaloe Bridge to the "twin town" of Ballina on the eastern bank of the lake.
The ...
where it is still on display at
St. Flannan's Cathedral and known as the "Kilfenora High Cross".
In 2003, three high crosses from the site were removed for conservation by the Office of Public Works and from 2005 have been on display in the transept of the cathedral; amongst them the "Doorty Cross".
Other antiquities
The ruins of Ballyshanny Castle are located in the eponymous townland, around 600 meters from the village. It was built in a
ringfort and was originally an
O'Brien castle. In 1631 it was owned by Daniel O'Shanny, Dean of Kilfenora. Remains of two upper floors and a vaulted lower floor are still extant.
To the west of Ballyshanny, in Ballykeel South townland, lie the outhouses of the Ballykeel estate, one of the few "big houses" in northwestern Clare. It was originally built by George Lysaght of Woodmount, Ennistymon in the late 18th century. It was replaced in the early 19th century by the Blake Foster family with a classical house of cut stone with a central bow.
A large ring fort surrounded by ''
chevaux de frise
The ''cheval de frise'' (plural: ''chevaux de frise'' , "Frisian horses") is a defensive obstacle, which existed in a number of forms and were employed in various applications. These included underwater constructions used to prevent the passa ...
'' in Ballykinvarga townland is named after the townland. The fort itself has a diameter of over 50 meters but has not been conclusively dated. Due to its size it has been considered the likely seat of a regional "cattle baron", and was described in detail by antiquarian
Thomas Johnson Westropp
Thomas Johnson Westropp (16 August 18609 April 1922) was an Irish antiquarian, folklorist and archaeologist.
Career
Westropp was born on 16 August 1860 at Attyflin Park, Patrickswell, County Limerick. His relatives were landowners of Engli ...
in 1897.
Burren Centre
The former Burren Display Centre today provides an updated exhibition on the Burren, a film, tea rooms and a craft store.
Civil parish
Kilfenora civil parish is on the east side of
barony of Corcomroe
Corcomroe () is a barony in County Clare, Ireland. It is the southern half of the Gaelic '' tuath'' of ''Corco Modhruadh''.
Legal context
Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used the ad ...
. The parish is and covers . In 1845, the "Parliamentary Gazette" reported that about one-half of the surface is prime fattening-ground; about one-fourth is excellent rearing and tillage-land; and the remainder is mountain and bog, but only to a small extent unprofitable. The land, while of good quality, is also better cultivated than that of the adjacent districts on the south.
[
]
Townlands
This is a list 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 orig ...
s in the parish: Ballagh, Ballybaun, Ballybreen, Ballyclancahill, Ballygoonaun, Ballyhomulta, Ballykeel North, Ballykeel South, Ballykinvarga, Ballyshanny, Boghil, Caherminnaun East, Caherminnaun West, Clogher, Clooneen, Cloonomra, Cohy, Commonage, Coolpeekaun, Creggaun, Doon, Fanta Glebe, Kilcarragh, Kilfenora, Laraghakea, Lickeen East, Lickeen West, Lisdoony East, Lisdoony West, Lisket, Maryville, Roughan, Slievenagry, Tullagh Lower and Tullagh Upper.[
]
History
Kilfenora is "one of the oldest urban settlements" in County Clare. According to tradition, the ecclesial presence at Kilfenora began with Saint Fachanan, who founded a church here in the 6th century. The first building was probably made of wood and followed by a stone construction. That church was burned down in 1055 by Murchad O'Brien. It was rebuilt between 1056 and 1058, only to be plundered in 1079 and then destroyed by an accidental fire in 1100. In 1152, the Synod of Kells
The Synod of Kells (, ) took place in 1152, under the presidency of Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni, and continued the process begun at the Synod of Ráth Breasail (1111) of reforming the Irish church. The sessions were divided between the abbeys o ...
changed the status of the ecclesial settlement here from monastic to diocesan. The diocese corresponded with the ancient territory of Corcomroe.[, ''The Province of Munster'', p. 500.]
Part of the Archdiocese of Cashel, it only extended over 200 square miles of very thinly populated land. It was reckoned the poorest diocese, with only 13 parishes. Demand for the position of bishop thus was not great, but for 1189 a bishop is recorded. In 1660, Samuel Pullen was made Archbishop of Tuam and Kilfenora became part of his province.
Kilfenora was the site of the largest fair in north Clare, held here on 9 October from late mediaeval times until the early 19th century. Of this an old paying stand is still extant next to the field known as "Fair Green" east of the R476 road.
The last Bishop of Kilfenora in the succession of the Roman 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 ...
was James Augustine O'Daly (d. 1749). In 1750, the diocese was united with Kilmacduagh. In 1883 "Kilfenora and Kilmacduagh" was again merged with the diocese of Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
. Today, the bishops of Galway and Kilmacduagh are styled "Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora"; while the bishop administers the diocese, in Canon Law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
, the ordinary of the diocese is the Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
.
In the Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
, Kilfenora was merged in turn with the dioceses of Limerick (1606–07), Tuam (1617-1742), Clonfert (1742-1752), Killaloe (1752-1976) and again Limerick (since 1976).
From the late 17th century Kilfenora went into decline and the Catholic population suffered under the Penal Laws. Attempts by the clergy to support their parishioners led to confrontations with the temporal authorities. In 1712, the High Sheriff of Clare
The High Sheriff of Clare was a High Sheriff title. Records show that the title was in existence from at least the late 16th century, though it is not used today in the modern Republic of Ireland. The title existed within County Clare in the west ...
ordered the arrest of the entire clergy at Kilfenora on the suspicion of turning a blind eye to the laming of landowner cattle by malcontents. After the 1798 uprising, a local priest, Father Charles Carrick was briefly jailed for supporting the rebels.
By 1837, Samuel Lewis described Kilfenora as "a decayed market town" of 558 people, linked by a new road to Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoonvarna () is a spa town in County Clare in Ireland. The town is famous for its music and festivals. Although the music festival was discontinued in the 1980s, Lisdoonvarna still hosts its annual matchmaking festival each September. The pop ...
and Ennistymon
Ennistymon or Ennistimon () is a country market town in County Clare, near the west coast of Ireland. The River Inagh, with its small rapids known as the Cascades, runs through the town, behind the main street. A bridge across the river leads ...
. After the West Clare Railway
The West Clare Railway (WCR) originally operated in County Clare, Ireland, between 1887 and 1961. This narrow-gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush a ...
in 1887 connected Ennistymon, but not Kilfenora, to the rest of the country by rail, the latter's decline into a backwater was hastened. As of 1841, the population of the parish was 3,266 in 522 houses.[
In 1942, a survey by the Irish Tourist Association found that the town had 100 inhabitants and "seven public houses, ten groceries, a Post Office, a Guard's Barracks nda National School".] It also noted that around 60 men were employed by a phosphate mine and that Kilfenora was "a very important village for cattle and sheep fairs".
Ecclesiastical parish
Protestant Parish
In 1837, the nave portion of the cathedral was adopted for use as the Protestant parish church for Kilfenora.Church of Ireland
- Kilfenora parish It is still used for occasional worship.
Catholic Parish
In the Roman Catholic Church, the ecclesiastical 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 ...
is merged with the civil parish of Kiltoraght
Kiltoraght ( ga, Cill Tórachta) is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland.
It is just south of Kilfenora and is part of Catholic parish of Kilfenora.
Location
The parish is in the barony of Corcomroe, and is southeast of Kilfenora.
It is a ...
. There are two churches in this parish: St. Fachtna's (in Kilfenora) and St Attracta's (Kiltoraght).
See also
* Dean of Kilfenora
The Dean of Kilfenora was based at the Cathedral Church of St Fachnan (also known as St Fachtna) in Kilfenora, Clare in the small Diocese of Kilfenora within the Church of Ireland. It is probable that the Dean and Chapter were established aroun ...
* List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Clare)
* List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
External links
Kilfenora Tourism and Community Website
* ttp://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/archaeology/kilfenora_stone_crosses/kilfenora_stone_crosses.htm ''The Stone Crosses of Kilfenora'' by Jack Flanagan at the Clare Library
Burren Centre website
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Clare
Father Ted
Civil parishes of County Clare