CASTLETOWN, a parish

Samuel Lewis

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland

1837

CASTLETOWN, a parish, in the barony of COONAGH, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 7 ¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Tipperary; containing 1055 inhabitants. This place derives its name from an ancient castle built by one of the O'Hurleys towards the close of the 14th century, and of which there are still some very interesting ruins. The parish is situated on the road from Doon to Tipperary, on the confines of the county, and comprises 6896 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The soil is tolerably fertile, and the land chiefly under tillage; there is an extensive tract of very valuable bog, which in some part lets at the high rate of 18s. per perch. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Cashel, and is appropriate to the mensal of the Archbishop: the tithes amount to £67. 2. 10. There is neither church nor chapel. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union of Doon. A little to the south of the castle ruins are the remains of the old parish church, and not far distant are those of the small church of Templebuie.

Search Topographical Dictionary of Ireland »

Featured Books

An American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine:

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger

Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country.

Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today.

The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowing: Annals of the Famine in Ireland.

See more of our books »

The Ocean Plague: or, A Voyage to Quebec in an Irish Emigrant Vessel is based upon the diary of Robert Whyte who, in 1847, crossed the Atlantic from Dublin to Quebec in an Irish emigrant ship. His account of the journey provides invaluable eyewitness testimony to the trauma and tragedy that many emigrants had to face en route to their new lives in Canada and America. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Irish in America by John F. Maguire provides a substantial and invaluable account of the extreme difficulties faced by pioneer Irish immigrants in North America during the 19th Century. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of how the hardy breed of men and women, who in America came to be known as the ‘Scotch-Irish’, was forged in the north of Ireland during the seventeenth century. It relates the circumstances under which the great exodus to the New World began, the trials and tribulations faced by these tough American pioneers and the enduring influence they came to exert on the politics, education and religion of the country.

Show fewer titles