Galbally, County Limerick
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Galbally () is a village in southeast
County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, on the border with
County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
. 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-highe ...
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 Kilmoyler is a townland in the civil parish of Killardry in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Clanwilliam, barony, Tipperary, Clanwilliam, County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The townland is in the parish of 'Bansha and Kilmoyler' in ...
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. The village is in a
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 ...
and
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 ...
of the same name.


History

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 Historic preservation, conservation of the built environment and Environmental protection, conservat ...
. Among these is "Darby's Bed", a
passage tomb Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * Passage (2008 film), ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * Passage (2009 film), ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ...
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 Moor Abbey () is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary in Galbally, County Tipperary, Ireland, on the banks of the River Aherlow. Originally founded in the 13th century, the surviving ruins date from the late 15th century. The abbey was burnt ...
. This
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...
was founded in the thirteenth century by Donach Cairbreach Ua'Briain. The only standing building from the 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 Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
in 1921. The south side of the square was the site of a poor house during
famine times This is a list of terminology used in the fictional Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert, the primary source being "Terminology of the Imperium", the glossary contained in the novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' (1965). ''Dune'' ...
.
Charles Bianconi Charles Bianconi (24 September 1786 – 22 September 1875) was an Italo-Irish entrepreneur. Sometimes described as the "man who put Ireland on wheels", he developed a network of horse-drawn coaches that became Ireland's "first regular public tran ...
's carriages used to drive through the village, and the stables they used still stand on the north side of the village square. The
Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
s 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 Act of Settlement in 1662 until the 1920s. William H Massy Bennett, a Justice of the Peace, lived there until his death in 1920. After his death, it was sold by his son George Latham Massy Bennett in an auction held in Tipperary town hall in August 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 () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
.


Community and clubs

Although the
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
usually has one club in each parish, there are two in this parish: Galbally, on the Limerick side, who are based at Cussen Memorial Park and Aherlow, across the border in Tipperary who are based at O'Gorman Park. While each club plays
hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
to some extent,
gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
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. Galbally
Camogie Camogie ( ; ) 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 "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...
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 Republ ...
, 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. In 2024, American chat-show host
Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...
stated that his ancestor Thomas O'Brien, son of Jeremiah, was from Galbally.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland *