Brosna, County Kerry
 |
Brosna
Brosnach | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Brosna Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 52°19′N 9°12′W / 52.31°N 9.2°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Kerry |
| Population (2016)[1] | 193 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
| Irish Grid Reference | R746888 |
Brosna (Irish: Brosnach)[2] is a village and parish situated in the Sliabh Luachra area of County Kerry, Ireland. It lies 16 km (9.9 mi) from the town of Castleisland. Its electoral area incorporates 2356.502 ha (5,823 acres 2 roods and 6 perches). The civil parish of Brosna consists of the village and a number of townlands.[3] It is a mainly agricultural area, supporting two churches, two schools, a post office, and five public houses.
Geography
Brosna is a village in north east County Kerry. A number of Munster rivers have their sources in the parish, including the Clydagh, the Braonach, and the Munster Blackwater. The highest point is Mount Eagle. It is in the barony of Trughanacmy.[2]
Crochaun Mountain is 1,400 feet (430 m) above sea level. Brosna lies on the Cork/Kerry and Kerry/Limerick borders. The nearest neighbours are Castleisland and Knocknagoshel in Kerry, Abbeyfeale and Mountcollins in Limerick, and Ballydesmond and Rockchapel in Cork.
History
In Samuel Lewis's 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Brosna was recorded as having 2168 inhabitants in 18,013 statute acres.[4] The same entry notes that a "large portion of the land consisted of coarse mountain pasture and bog, the greater part of which might be reclaimed".[4] As of the first half of the 19th century, there were 2 private schools in the area, in which approximately 120 children were educated.[4] Lewis also records that the Whiteboys (an agrarian organisation involved in "disturbances" in support of tenant farmer rights) were active in the area in the 1820s.[4]
Name
The placename of Brosna or Brosnach translates to firewood.[citation needed] This has no bearing on the old name Cathair Bessleen in the calendar of entries in the papal register.[citation needed]
Church
A thatched church was built about 1800 when Fr Nicholas Moore was parish priest, in the grounds of the graveyard near the present church. (Fr Moore died in 1803). The present church of "St Moling & St Carthage" was built in 1868,[5] when Fr Patrick Moriarty was parish priest. It was designed by architect George Ashlin.[5] This church is in gothic form and was built from dressed stones quarried from the lands of Pat O'Callaghan in Knopoge.
The local farmers drew them to the site with horses and carts. The roof beams were made of pitch pine and the seating is also pine. Many of the stained glass windows were donated by parishioners. The altar is marble designed by Pugin. On arrival in Brosna it was transported by 11 horses. There are stained glass windows behind the altar. The marble altar rails are newer and were donated by Denis Guiney in 1946, in memory of his parents Cornelius and Julia Guiney. Denis Guiney (1893-1967) was a native of Brosna, and had been a long-term operator of the Guineys and Clerys stores in Dublin.[6][7]
The presbytery for the church was built at the same time as the church itself, in 1868. This stone building has been home to the parish priests and curates who have served the parish. It was restored by Revd. Tadhg O'Doherty in 1998. The church's restoration was completed in 2010.[citation needed]
St Moling's Holy Well
In 614 AD it was in the foothills of Sliabh Luachra that Saint Moling's mother who was a native of these parts, gave birth to her baby while marooned in a fall of snow as she returned to her parents home from Carlow in Leinster. According to legend, a service of angels descended to the spot where the baby lay. The snow melted for 30 feet (9.1 m) around him and a spring well marked the spot.
A number of miracles are attributed to St Moling. He was Archbishop of Ferns. He returned to Carlow to his father's royal homestead where he built a monastery. It was here he died and was buried in Tigh Moling in 646 AD. This well has been a place of pilgrimage over the years. People have paid visits to the well every Saturday in May. A decade of Rosary is said at each of the five kneelers around the well, going three times around the kneelers. Then taking sips of water from the well in their cupped hands.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area - Settlements - Brosna". census.cso.ie. Central Statistics Office. 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Brosnach / Brosna". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Commission. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ "Civil Parish of Brosna, County Kerry". townlands.ie. Townlands of Ireland. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Samuel (1837). Topographical Dictionary of Ireland – via libraryireland.com.
- ^ a b "1869 – St Moling & St Carthage Church, Brosna, Co. Kerry". Archiseek.com. Archiseek. 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ "City changed utterly by decline and sudden fall of an iconic department store". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
Denis Guiney, originally from Brosna, Co Kerry, became the most successful retailer in the city and ran Clerys until his death in 1967
- ^ "So exactly which Guineys is closing down?". thejournal.ie. The Journal. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
Guineys & Co at 79-80 Talbot Street, which was the sister shop to Clerys on nearby O'Connell Street [..] was set up by Kerry businessman Denis Guiney, who bought Clerys in 1941