Hospital () is a village in east

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. It is also 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the ancient

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 ...

Smallcounty Smallcounty or Small County () is a historical barony in eastern County Limerick, Ireland. Settlements in the barony include Hospital, Herbertstown, Fedamore and Knockainy. Location Located in County Limerick, the barony of Smallcounty is bor ...

. The village's population was 674 in the 2022 census. The village itself is situated in the

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 ...

of Barrysfarm, one of 11 in the civil parish. It lies on the River Mahore, a tributary of the River Camogue.

Name

The village acquired its name from the crusading

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

who built the archaeologically significant Hospital Church here before 1215. This church has the remains of three tombs, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. An alternative explanation, from the biography of

Sir Valentine Browne Sir Valentine Browne (died 1589), of Croft, Lincolnshire, was auditor, treasurer and victualler of Berwick-upon-Tweed. He acquired large estates in Ireland during the Plantation of Munster, in particular the seignory of Molahiffe. He lived at ...

, Surveyor General of Ireland (who was awarded lands in the area by

Queen Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

), is that the village formed part of the parish of

Aney Aney may refer to: * Madhav Shrihari Aney (1880–1968), 2nd governor of Bihar ** 1, Aney Marg, residence of the governor of Bihar * Jessie Aney (born 1998), American tennis player * Mahesh Aney, Indian cinematographer * Aney, village near Dir ...

in ancient times, and derived its name from a hospital for

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, founded in 1226 by Geoffry de Marisco, then Lord Justice of Ireland.

Transport

The "Old Cork Road" from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in the north of County Cork, Ireland with a population of over 3,740. It is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains. Mitchelstown is 13 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Cave, 53 km nor ...

and

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

(also known today as the R513 road) passes through the village.

Amenities

The village's secondary school was completed in 2000 and had around 1,000 students in 2018. There is also a primary school which was completed in the summer of 2004. Hospital is also home to one of Limerick's ''Youthreach'' schools. Hospital had six

public houses A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

in 2017, but this had reduced to four by July 2022. The village shares a

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 ...

(GAA) club (

Hospital-Herbertstown GAA Hospital-Herbertstown is a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling and football club in County Limerick, Ireland, and is based in the South Division. Hospital-Herbertstown competed in the County Senior Hurling Championship in 2011 following the cl ...

) with the village of Herbertstown. Former

Limerick GAA The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick. The county board is also responsible for the Lime ...

captain Damien Reale is a member of the club. Hospital

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team was founded in 1881 by Sir P.J. Butler. Formerly known as Hospital Crusaders, today it is called Kilfrush Crusaders. Other recreational bodies include the local tennis and handball clubs. Hospital also has an active Family Resource Centre on Knockainey Road. There is a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

nearby at Ballinamona. The village celebrated the 800th anniversary of its foundation in 2015.

Development

In 2006,

Limerick County Council Limerick County Council () was the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council had 28 elected ...

published a local area development plan for Hospital which laid out plans and proposals for the future expansion of the village.

Notable people

* Roger Utlagh (c.1260–1341), cleric and statesmanMackay, Ronan "Outlawe (Utlagh), Roger" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography'' 2009 *

Jon Kenny Jonathan Kenny (28 September 1957 – 15 November 2024) was an Irish comedian and actor, best known as one half of the Irish comic duo D'Unbelievables with Pat Shortt. They were a successful duo until 2000, releasing ''One Hell of a Video, D'U ...

(1957-2024), comedian and actor * Jimmy Carroll (b.1957), Limerick inter-county hurler *

Damien Reale Damien Reale (born 17 May 1981) is an Irish former hurling, hurler. At club level, he played with Hospital-Herbertstown GAA, Hospital-Herbertstown, divisional side Emmets GAA, Emmets and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling tea ...

(b. 1981), Limerick inter-county hurler *

Liam Reale Liam Reale (born March 16, 1983) is an Irish middle distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. As a younger athlete he finished fourth in 2000 m steeplechase at the 1999 World Youth Championships. He finished eighth in the 1500 m final ...

(b. 1983), athlete * George Cecil Bennett (1877-1963), TD for Limerick 1927-1948 and Senator 1948–1951. resident at Rathaney House (now demolished) Obituary of Mr George C Bennett Irish Times Tuesday June 25 1963 (accessible via paywall on Irish Times website )

References