Offaly Ireland

Offaly also known as the King’s county, a county of Ireland, bounded N by E. and W. Meath, E by Kilkenny and Queen’s county, S by Tipperary, and W by Galway; 43 long and 39 broad, containing 707 square miles. With the exception of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, which form its southern boundary, the terrain of the county is mostly flat, with many large peat bogs; these now supply turf for the county’s power stations. The principal rivers of Offaly (Accommodation, Offaly, Ireland) are Shannon, Little Brosna, and Greater Brosna. It sends 2 members to parliament. The Irish name for the county reflects its pre-Norman history; it was part of the territory of U�Failghe, a tribal grouping whose name may be continued in the modern surname Faley or Fally. In historical times the most powerful families in the region were the O’Carrolls (who gave their name to Ely O’Carroll, an area in the south of the county), the O’Connors and the O’Molloys. Their lands were annexed to the English crown in the thirteenth century, but effective English control was not imposed until the sixteenth century, when county was planted with English settlers and renamed King’s County, to match its neighbour Queen’s County, now Laois. The counties acquired their present names after independence in 1922.

The main towns in Offaly (Hotels, Offaly, Ireland) include Tullamore, Birr, Clara, Edenderry, Portarlington.

Surnames associated with this county include Dooley, Dunne, Egan, Dempsey, Lalor, Flattery, Daly, Condron and Lynam.

There was some emigration from this area from the late 18th century onwards but emigration dramatically increased during the period of the Great Famine. The chief destinations were Australia, Canada and the United States of America. During the period of the Great Famine the area overall lost about 25% of its population with some towns experiencing population reductions of up to 50%.

Laois & Offaly (Holiday Cottages, Offaly, Ireland) Family History Research Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland

The Laois & Offaly Family History Research Centre is the designated research centre for the counties of Offaly (formerly called Queen’s County) and Offaly (formerly called King’s County). The Centre offers a Full Service. All initial enquiries are answered promptly while research usually takes from four to six weeks.

Church records in the Laois & Offaly area have various starting dates:

The earliest Roman Catholic parish records at this centre start at 1763 and the latest start in 1862

The earliest Church of Ireland (Anglican/Episcopalian) records date from 1699 and the latest from 1876.

Methodist records commence in1830

In addition to the usual primary source material the Laois & Offaly (Holiday Homes, Offaly, Ireland) Family History Research Centre have indexed:

The Birr Workhouse register

Births, marriages and deaths recorded in the ‘King’s County Chronicle’ newspaper (1845 - 1865) and the ‘Leinster Express’ (1831 - 1851)

Entries in trade directories for the period 1788 to 1908

The Geashill Estate rental (1883).

About 750,000 genealogical records have now been computerised at this centre.

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Posted on April 15th, 2008 under Genealogy. Tags: Brosna, church, Church of Ireland, Clara, emigration, English, Fally, Family History Research Centre, Galway, Great Famine, Ireland, Kilkenny, Laois, Meath, Methodist, O'Carrolls, Offaly, Portarlington, records, Roman Catholic, Slieve Bloom Mountains, surnames, Tipperary. Comments: None

Monastic Foundations
Where Leinster formerly contained (according to Ware, 1654) some forty-four religious foundations of various descriptions. A short account of the more important of these may commence with Clonmacnois, which is situated on the banks of the Shannon some nine miles from Athlone, Offaly. One of the most interesting early monastic settlements in western Europe, it was founded in A.D.. 547 by St. Ciaran, and rapidly grew in importance, becoming one of the greatest of the Irish monastic schools. Many famous names are connected with Clonmacnois, one of the best known being Tighearnach O Broin, abbot in a.d. 1088, author of the Annals of Tighearnach. The Irish Annals record continual plundering of Clonmacnois by both Norsemen and natives: it was almost entirely destroyed in 1552 by the English garrison of Athlone, who plundered and dismantled all the buildings. It is not therefore a matter of wonder that there arc few portable antiquities which can be definitely connected with the monastery; it is a subject of congratulation that the crosier of Clonmacnois, one of the most perfect and interesting of Irish crosiers, has survived; it is now in the Koval Irish Academys Collection in the National Museum, Dublin. It was found early in the nineteenth century, with a rosary of brass wire, a hollow ball of brass, and a chalice and wine vessel, in the church of St. Ciaran. Clonmacnois was rather a monastic city than a monastery ; its population included numerous lay per- sons living under a religious rule, as well as anchorites and monks. Of the twelve churches known to have existed. fight now remain in a more or less ruined state. Of these the must interesting are, the cathedral re-founded by King Flann and Abbot Colman in 904 a.d. (the north door of this building being a specimen of late Gothic, fifteenth century, work) ; St Finghins Church and round tower, of which there is little left but the chancel and round tower, both being probably of tweltth-century date ; and the Nuns Church. The Nuns Church, a beautiful little Romanesque building, is stated to have been restored by the unfortunate Queen Dearbhforgairi in 1180 a.d. , its chancel arch is one, of the finest specimens of Romanesque re- maining in Ireland. The round tower forming part of St Finghans Church lias already been mentioned. The second tower is known as ORourkes Tower; its construction being assigned by tradition to Fearghal O Ruairc, slain in 964. It is 622 It. in height with a base circumference of 58 ft. 8 inches. The remains of five High Crosses can be seen, but three of these are in a fragmentary condition. The so-called West and South Crosses are, however, complete, and arc worthy of study. The West Cross is a wheel cross, 13 ft. high ; it is inscribed, but the inscriptions are illegible. Its erection is attributed to Abbot Colman as a monument to King Flann. On one face of this cross is carved a representation of the Crucifixion ; its construction being assigned by tradition on the other that of the Last Judgment ; there are twelve panels on the shaft, three on each face, and each edge, carved with figure subjects. The South Cross, which is 12 ft. high, is made of three pieces. On the west face of the shaft is a representation of the Crucifixion ; the rest of the cross is covered with spirals, bosses, and interlaced work. The- feature that gives Clonmacnois its chief importance is the large series of inscribed cross slabs placed in the cemetery as memorials 1o persons buried there. There are just over two hundred of these slabs recorded ; they date from the eighth to tlie eleventh century. Tlie inscriptions are engraved in tlie Irish language and form the most important corpus of Christian inscriptions in Irish that with crosses and ornamented with fret and spiral patterns : the favourite type being a Latin cross having a round centre filled with spiral work, and expanded ends filled with fret patterns. It is of interest to note that at dallen Priory, Ferbane (about 7 miles from Clonmacnois), where a monastery was founded by St Mochonog in a.d. 492, a number of inscribed slabs have been discovered of the same type as those at Clonmacnois. They were probably carved by the same artists. The architectural remains of tlie ancient foundation of dallen have disappeared, but the ruins of a fifteenth-century church with a flamboyant east window can still be seen.

Ecclesiastical remains are to be seen at Rahan near Tullamore, Offaly (Hotels, Offaly, Ireland) County. A monastery was here founded about a.d. 580 by St Carrthach ; no remains of this ancient Celtic foundation are extant, but tire ruins of three churches, probably of twelfth- century date, built in tlie Romanesque style, remain. Of these, one is perfect; its chancel is of interest. It is a small stone-roofed structure with a remarkable chancel arch which consists of three rectangular piers rounded into semi-columns at their angles ; these support three semi-circular arches which are unornamented. The capitals are richly decorated with human heads, having flowing hair ; a remarkable feature is a highly ornamented circular window, which gave light to a room between the chancel and the roof, in which the priest resided. The other two churches are in a ruined condition ; the Romanesque doorway of one may, however, be noticed.

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Posted on April 15th, 2008 under Architecture. Tags: Athlone, church, Ciaran, Clonmacnois, Crosses, Dublin, High Crosses, King Flann, Koval Irish Academys Collection, Leinster, National Museum, Norsemen, Offaly, Rahan, RomanesqueSt Finghans Church, Shannon, slabs, St Carrthach, St. Ciaran, Tighearnach, tlie, Tullamore. Comments: None