Clonakilty Cloich na Coillte |
From Wiki: Clonakilty is rich in ancient monuments and dwelling places of early and pre-Celtic settlers. The Normans made the area their home and their castles and surnames survive to the present day. In 1292, Thomas De Roach received a charter to hold a market every Monday at Kilgarriffe (then called Kyle Cofthy or Cowhig’s Wood), close to where the present town now stands. The area was abundant in woods, as the Irish names of the town and surrounding townlands indicate.
In the 14th century, a ten-mile strip of fallow woodland called Tuath na gCoillte (the land of the woods) divided the barony of Ibane (Ardfield) and Barryroe and reached the sea at Clonakilty Bay. Here a castle called Coyltes Castell was recorded in a 1378 plea roll. This was subsequently referred to as Cloghnykyltye, one of the many phonetic spellings for Cloch na gCoillte (meaning the castle of the woods, from ‘cloch’, the Irish for stone or stone building, and ‘coillte’ meaning woods).
Clonakilty benefited greatly from the patronage of Richard Boyle First Earl of Cork ('the Great Earl'), who may properly be regarded as its founder. It was this Lord Cork who obtained its charter from King James I of England in 1613 with the right to return members to the Irish House of Commons. The borough of Clonakilty returned two members from 1613 to 1801; it was disenfranchised when the Act of Union came into force in January 1801.
Clonakilty was later inherited by the Earls of Shannon, another branch of the Boyle dynasty. They remained the main landlords of the town from the eighteenth century through until the early twentieth century.
Shannonvale, near Clonakilty, is known as "the only place in all Munster where a blow of some sort had been struck during the Rising of '98" at the Battle of the Big Cross There is a commemorative statue celebrating the Battle of the Big Cross in Astna Square in the centre of Clonakilty.
Battle of the Big Cross statue, Clonakilty. General Michael Collins, who was the Director of Intelligence for the IRA, which campaigned for independence from Britain in the 1920–1921 period, lived in Clonakilty and attended the local boys' national school. General Collins later served as Chairman of the Provisional Government and was thus instrumental in the founding of the Irish Free State.
Collins is widely regarded as one of Ireland's leading historical figures. He was killed by an Anti-Treaty ambush party during the Civil War. He gave many an oration from O'Donovan's Hotel on the Main Street of Clonakilty. A statue of Michael Collins by local artist Kevin Holland was erected in the centre of Clonakilty and dedicated in 2002. It can be seen at the junction of Bridge Street and Emmet Square.
In the 14th century, a ten-mile strip of fallow woodland called Tuath na gCoillte (the land of the woods) divided the barony of Ibane (Ardfield) and Barryroe and reached the sea at Clonakilty Bay. Here a castle called Coyltes Castell was recorded in a 1378 plea roll. This was subsequently referred to as Cloghnykyltye, one of the many phonetic spellings for Cloch na gCoillte (meaning the castle of the woods, from ‘cloch’, the Irish for stone or stone building, and ‘coillte’ meaning woods).
Clonakilty benefited greatly from the patronage of Richard Boyle First Earl of Cork ('the Great Earl'), who may properly be regarded as its founder. It was this Lord Cork who obtained its charter from King James I of England in 1613 with the right to return members to the Irish House of Commons. The borough of Clonakilty returned two members from 1613 to 1801; it was disenfranchised when the Act of Union came into force in January 1801.
Clonakilty was later inherited by the Earls of Shannon, another branch of the Boyle dynasty. They remained the main landlords of the town from the eighteenth century through until the early twentieth century.
Shannonvale, near Clonakilty, is known as "the only place in all Munster where a blow of some sort had been struck during the Rising of '98" at the Battle of the Big Cross There is a commemorative statue celebrating the Battle of the Big Cross in Astna Square in the centre of Clonakilty.
Battle of the Big Cross statue, Clonakilty. General Michael Collins, who was the Director of Intelligence for the IRA, which campaigned for independence from Britain in the 1920–1921 period, lived in Clonakilty and attended the local boys' national school. General Collins later served as Chairman of the Provisional Government and was thus instrumental in the founding of the Irish Free State.
Collins is widely regarded as one of Ireland's leading historical figures. He was killed by an Anti-Treaty ambush party during the Civil War. He gave many an oration from O'Donovan's Hotel on the Main Street of Clonakilty. A statue of Michael Collins by local artist Kevin Holland was erected in the centre of Clonakilty and dedicated in 2002. It can be seen at the junction of Bridge Street and Emmet Square.