Moyarta ( ga, Maigh Fhearta) 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

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 118,817 ...

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 lies on the

Loop Head Loop Head (), is a headland on the north side of the mouth of the River Shannon, in County Clare in the west of Ireland. Loop Head is marked by a prominent lighthouse. The opposite headland on the south side of the Shannon is Kerry Head. The Sh ...

peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the

Shannon Estuary The Shannon Estuary ( gle, Inbhear na Sionainne) is a large estuary where the River Shannon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary has Limerick City at its head and its seaward limits are marked by Loop Head to the north and Kerry Head to th ...

. The parish contains the villages of

Carrigaholt Carrigaholt () is a small fishing village in County Clare, Ireland, a castle and a Catholic parish by the same name. The area was officially classified as part of the West Clare Gaeltacht; an Irish-speaking community; until 1956. Location Carriga ...

and

Doonaha __NOTOC__ Doonaha () is a small village on the Loop Head peninsula in County Clare, Ireland. It is located along the R487 road and close to the banks of the River Shannon. The ''Doonaha Battery'' was the northern part of the defences of the Shan ...

Location

The parish of Moyarta is situated in the

barony 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 ...

Moyarta Moyarta ( ga, Maigh Fhearta) is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the Loop Head peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Shannon Estuary. The parish contains the villages of Carrigaholt and Doonaha. Location The parish o ...

of the same name on the

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

peninsula. It has land borders with two parishes -

Kilballyowen Kilballyowen ( ga, Cill Bhaile Eoghain) is the name of both a civil parish and a townland within that parish in County Clare, Ireland. The name is also occasionally used for the slightly larger Catholic parish of Cross. Kilballowen parish is l ...

to the west and Kilfearagh to the east. To the north of the peninsula is the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

with the

on the opposide side. It is and covered . The Atlantic coast is high and rocky and includes the small headlands of Castle-Point and Foohagh-Point. A large part of the surface is bog or moorland. The Moyarta River flows east through the parish from the parish of Kilballyowen to the head of Carrigaholt bay on the Shannon Estuary, a distance of . There are national schools, for children aged up to 12, in Carrigaholt, Doonaha, Moveen and Querrin. The civil parish contains the Catholic parish of Carrigaholt, which is sometimes also called Moyarta, and part of the Catholic parish of

Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. From at least 1704 the parishes of Moyarta and

were united, served by one priest. In 1878 they were divided again, The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in 1832-33, is in Carrigaholt. The Church of the Holy Spirit, built in 1808, is in Doonaha.

Antiquities

The name of the parish, Magh Fearta, means the Plain of the Graves. The graveyard of Moyarta has never contained a church. There are the ruins of two churches in the townland of Kilcredaun, Teampul Shearlais and Teampul-an-aird. The second has no cemetery. There is a holy well not far away called Tobar Cradaun, apparently dedicated to a Saint Caritán. Its water comes from a cliff face, and at high tide it is covered by the sea. The church of Kilcrony, with its graveyard and holy well, are in the townland of Lisheencrony. It is not known which of the various virgin saints named Croiné this church commemorate. The list of castles in

Thomond Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenag ...

of 1580 names four in the parish, all the property of Turlogh MacMahon. The first is Carrigaholt, the main seat of the MacMahons Lords of West Corcabaskin, beautifully situated on Carrigaholt bay. The others are Dunlicky, and two castles that have been leveled to the ground, Moyarta and Knocknagarhoon. The ruins of Knocknagarhoon and Doonlickey Castles look over the Atlantic coast.

Notable people

Eugene O'Curry Eugene O'Curry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Comhraí or Eoghan Ó Comhraidhe, 20 November 179430 July 1862) was an Irish philologist and antiquary. Life He was born at Doonaha, near Carrigaholt, County Clare, the son of Eoghan Ó Comhraí, a farmer, and hi ...

(1796–1862), an Irish philologist, historian and archaeologist, was born in Doonaha.

Townlands

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 are Bellia, Breaghva, Cammoge, Carrownaweelaun, Clarefield, Cloonconeen, Doonaha East, Doonaha West, Furroor Lower, Furroor Upper, Kilcasheen, Kilcredaun, Killeenagh, Killinny, Knocknagarhoon, Lisheencrony, Lisheenfurroor, Moveen East, Moveen West, Moyarta East, Moyarta West, Newtown East, Newtown West, Querrin, Rahaniska, Rahona East, Rahona West, Rinemackaderrig, Shanganagh, Trusklieve, Tullaroe and Tullig. File:Carrigaholt - geograph.org.uk - 55299.jpg, Farmer near Carrigaholt in 1992 File:Pub & shop Carrigaholt.jpg, Interior of a pub in Carrigaholt that also serves as a shop

References

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