Shanagolden () is a small village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is west of the

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is the historic name given to an area of rolling pastureland in the province of Munster in southwestern Ireland. The area covers parts of three counties: Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Considered the best land in Ireland ...

, an area of fertile agricultural land in the province of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. The village is around 35 km west of Limerick city on the R521 road between Foynes and Newcastle West. The population was 303 at the 2016 census. 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

The area is mentioned in the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

''. In 968 the King of Munster, Mathgamain mac Cennétig, defeated the Hiberno-Norse Kings Ivar of Limerick and Ivar of Waterford at Sengualainn in a "red slaughter". In 1124, Turlogh O'Connor gathered a fleet together to cross the River Shannon and plundered the lands of the Uí Conaill at Foynes Island. After the defeat of the Rebel Earl during the

Second Desmond Rebellion The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald Dynasty of County Desmond, Desmond in Munster against English rule. The second rebellion began in ...

, Shanagolden village was laid out during the 1580s as an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

plantation village.

Places of interest

The ruins of Shanid Castle, an important Anglo-Norman stronghold, are located a short distance away from the village. The castle was possibly constructed in 1230 on land associated with the FitzMaurice family which settled in the area after 1169 and was a fortress of the Knights of Glin before being burned in 1641. Known as the "Old Abbey", St. Katherine's Abbey, Monisternagalliaghduff (Manisternagalliaghduff) is a former Augustinian nunnery founded in 1298 and dissolved in 1541. One of the earliest recorded nunneries in Ireland, it is located in a valley about 2 miles north east of Shanagolden. The town's history has been chronicled in a local book, written by students of the local primary school, and was published and distributed to many local shops.

References

{{County Limerick Towns and villages in County Limerick Townlands of County Limerick Civil parishes of County Limerick

History

Places of interest

See also

References