Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

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THE TOWN OF KILLALOE (1996 Census, Population 972) Killaloe stands on the River Shannon, on the southern end of Lough Derg. It owes its origin to the sixth century monastic establishment of St. Lua, which first stood on a small island in the Shannon, about 1km. downstream from Killaloe bridge. Later the monks moved to more spacious ground on the mainland opposite. This monastic centre was called Cill Dálua, (Killaloe), or the Church of St. Lua. KILLALOE remained an important centre for many centuries. In 1579, Sir Nicholas Malby, the Governor of Connaught was directed by Queen Elizabeth to designate Killaloe, Quin or Ennis as the capital town of the County of Clare. He chose Ennis. In 1650 Cromwell's army encamped for ten days at Ballina exploring a passage across the river. Thirty years later, King James's men marched through on their way to defend Athlone. Patrick Sarsfield maintained a strong garrison to defend the passage of the river. In August, 1690, he crossed t he Shannon with a select body of cavalry to destroy an ammunition train on its way to William of Orange, then besieging the City of Limerick. With the coming of peace after the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 the town began to take on its present day appearance. Most of the houses on Main Street and at the lower end of the town were built during the eighteenth century. A distillery was erected at John's Street, about which Arthur Young wrote in 1777 "The whisky stills at Killaloe trebled in five or six years ". Killaloe also had a flourishing woolen and cloth industry which employed over 150 people at five shillings a week. The two weekly markets would indicate a certain prosperity among the farming classes in the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1793 the first Post Office was opened in Killaloe. The nearest mail coach stop was at Birdhill. A foot messenger conveyed the mail twice daily from there to Killaloe. In 1837 Killaloe consisted of one square, and a principal and several smaller streets, and contained about 300 houses. Above and below the bridge there were numerous eel weirs as well as a salmon fishery. A spirit of cheerful industry and enterprise seemed to promise much for the increasing prosperity of t he town. The Shannon Steam Navigation Company had their headquarters here and had established a regular communication by steam packets for goods and passengers up the Shannon, through Lough Derg to Portumna, Athlone, and Banagher, and from Banagher by canal boats to Dublin. The company also afforded employment to a great number of people in the construction and repair of docks and warehouses. Below the bridge was a ridge of rocks over which the river rushed with a great noise. Many a Viking raider must have cursed this obstacle but the thought of all the plunder to be had along the shores and islands of the Shannon would have spurred these hardy pirates on. The Shannon Steam Navigation Company, however, constructed a canal through the bishop's demesne, avoiding the rocks, and joined the river beyond the falls. From there their steam boats continued down river to the pier head above O'Briens Bridge. In 1837 Lewis described the bishop's palace, Clarisford House, as "finely situated in a highly improved demesne, near the only ford across the river into this county from that of Tipperary; the mansion is handsome and of modern appearance and, though small, forms a pleasant residence". The representative body of the Church of Ireland sold the property in 1977.
During the famine years the town of Killaloe lost 191 people. Between 1841 and 1851 the number of inhabited houses in the parish dropped from 1,253 to 920. In Killaloe 50 houses were listed as unoccupied in 1851, the number of mud cabins fell from 38 in 1841 to 4. By 1861 the parish had lost a total of 441 families.
In the nineteenth century Killaloe was described as being pleasantly situated on rising ground on the western bank of the Shannon, near the noted falls of Killaloe and connected with the County of Tipperary by a bridge of thirteen arches. The falls have since vanished beneath the higher waters necessary for the implementation of the Hydroelectric Scheme. After the attack on Scariff R.I.C. Barracks in 1920 the Auxiliaries searched the countryside for people suspected of involvement. They found three men in hiding in Williamstown House. They were Alfie Rogers and Brud McMah on from Scariff and Martin Gildea from Galway. Michael Egan from Whitegate was caretaker at Williamstown House and he was also captured. Two others, John and Michael Conway were captured en route and all six were taken by boat to Killaloe. The boat landed at the jetty of the Lakeside Hotel. After questioning in the hotel the Conway brothers were released. The other four were taken to the bridge at Killaloe around midnight where they were shot. A small concrete bunker can now be seen on the Killaloe side of the bridge, as a reminder of this event during the Troubles. Today's Killaloe is no longer the capital of Ireland or Clare but it is still the water capital of Lough Derg and the southern limit of the recommended navigable part of the Shannon by small craft. The Shannon hydroelectric scheme created an artificial lake between Lough Derg, which acts as t he main reservoir, and the weir at O'Brien's Bridge farther down river. Killaloe is the most important boating and fishing centre within the three counties of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. There are facilities for sailing and a large marina. Hector Newenham introduced water skiing to Killaloe in 1956. By 1958 it had become a regular sport here and spread to the rest of Ireland. Today, fishing, cruising, boating, sailing, swimming, wind -sailing and water skiing are all well catered for, while all around is a rich heritage waiting to be explored.

OpenStreetMap

City/Town : Latitude: 52.79967, Longitude: -8.44987

Birth

Matches 1 to 13 of 13

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Birth		Person ID
1	Courtney, James	9 Dec 1868	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I195868
2	Courtney, Matthew	Abt May 1874	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I130741
3	Courtney, Michael J.	29 Sep 1875	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I12095
4	Garvey, Patrick	Abt 1824	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I79407
5	Houle, Mathilda O.	Abt 1793	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I2043
6	McNamara, Catherine	Abt 1792	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I16905
7	McNamara, Cornelius	1 May 1823	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I309136
8	McNamara, Dennis	Abt 1822	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I309137
9	McNamara, Hanora	Abt 1820	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I309138
10	McNamara, Roger	Abt 1821	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I309141
11	McNamara, Timothy	Abt 1834	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I309135
12	Powers, Winefred	31 Mar 1831	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I823
13	Quinn, Bridget	Abt 1799	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I64401

Residence

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Residence		Person ID
1	POWERS, Martin [End of Branch]	Bef 1840	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	I20

Married

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Family	Married		Family ID
1	Garvey / Quinn	Abt 1821	Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland	F39672

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Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland

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