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by Lord Mortimer, and held for many ages by the
Fitzgeralds against the O’Mores. The present remains
have a stack of chimneys on each side-wall and gable,
with a turret at one of the angles; but the interior is
wholly destroyed. About 200 yards to the south,
beyond a rivulet that runs through a small valley, is a
building apparently an ancient chapel. Shara castle,
in this parish, called formerly Lion, or Shelaw castle,
was, in 1397, the head of a manor belonging to Sir
Robt. Preston; it was besieged and taken by the in-
surgents in the war of 1641, and in the following year
surrendered to Sir Chas. Coote, from whom it was re-
taken by Owen Roe O’Nial in 1646 and finally surren-
dered, in 1650, to Cols. Reynolds and Hewson, by whom
it was demolished; the few remains that existed were
wholly removed some few years since.
STRADBALLY, a parish, in the barony of DUN-
KELLIN, county of GALWAY, and province of CON-
NAUGHT, 3 miles (S.) from Oranmore, on the road from
Galway to Gort; containing, with the village of Claran-
bridge, (which is described under its own head) 1053
inhabitants. The parish, which comprises 4291 statute
acres, is situated in the interior of an inlet that pro-
ceeds eastward from Kilcolgan Point and receives two
rivers which flow through the parish, the Kilcolgan
river, frequently called the Carnamart, and the Claran,
nearly dry in summer and meeting the sea at Claran-
bridge. The surface for the most part consists of large
tracts of naked limestone rock, yet affording, in all those
places that are covered with soil, a very nourishing her-
bage for sheep, and where tilled throwing up excellent
crops notwithstanding its bad culture: the sea weed col-
lected from the shore is the only manure used, and the
too frequent application of it has been found very ex-
hausting: ash timber thrives well. The district is sup-
plied with peat for fuel from Connemara and the coast
of Clare by the inlet, which is navigable for small
craft to the village. There is a weekly market on Tues-
day at Claran-bridge, and four fairs on the first Thurs-
day after the 11th of Feb., May, Aug., and Nov. The
chief traffic, both in the markets and fairs, is in wheat,
oats and pigs, which last are bought up by the agents
of the provision merchants. There are also fairs at
Tubberbracken in May and October, the latter chiefly
for turkeys. Kilcornan, the residence of T. N. Red-
ington, Esq., situated near the village, of which he is
proprietor, is about to be enlarged and improved ac-
cording to the Tudor style of architecture. In the de-
mesne are the ruins of a castle, said to have belonged
to a celebrated heroine of the Clanricarde family, named
Norah Burke, but better known, from her cruelties, by
that of Norah na Kaun, or “Norah of the heads.” La-
vally is the residence of T. Lynch, Esq. Several old
monuments in the neighbourhood during the three last
centuries bear the names of members of this family.
Rahasane, lately the residence of R. J. French, Esq.,
and now of his sisters and coheiresses, is a fine, thickly
wooded demesne.
The parish is in the diocese of Kilmacduagh: the rec-
tory is appropriate to the see and to the archdeaconry:
the vicarage forms part of the union of Kilcolgan. The
tithes amount to £115. 9. 10., of which £28. 17. is
payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, £55. 2.10.
to the archdeacon, and £31.10. to the vicar. The R. C.
parish, which is also called Kilcornan and Claran-bridge,
VOL. II.—577
STR
is co-extensive with that of the Established Church,
and has two chapels: the old chapel is in a retired
situation; a stone over the entrance bears the date
1763: the modern chapel at Claran-bridge, a plain sla-
ted building, was erected by the late C. and T. Reding-
ton, Esqrs., father and grandfather of the present pro-
prietor. A monastery near the village was also built
by the same gentlemen, and has been endowed with
seven acres of land, on condition that the tenantry on
the Kilcornan estate should be educated gratuitously
at the school attached to the establishment. An insti-
tution of the religious sisters of charity is about to be
endowed, and the building erected by Mrs. Redington,
widow of the late Mr. Redington, on a piece of ground
given by the present proprietor on similar conditions
to the former: that lady contributes £25 per ann. and
supplies books and other school requisites to a female
school: 165 boys are educated in the former of these
schools and 66 girls in the latter. Near Lavally is the
holy well of Tubberbracken, “the Well of the Trout,” not
much frequented at present. Not far from Kilcornan, in
the townland of Tarmon, and on the estate of Mr. Red-
ington, are the ruins of an old church in a cemetery
now not used from a superstitious notion of the pea-
santry. The castle of Dunkellin, now in ruins, the pro-
perty of the Marquess of Clanricarde, gives the inferior
title of Baron to that nobleman.
STRADBALLY, a parish, in the barony of CORK-
AGUINEY, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER,
10 miles (N. E. by N.) from Dingle, on the Connor-Hill
road to Tralee; containing 1253 inhabitants, of which
number, 425 are in the village. It is situated on St.
Brandon’s bay, and comprises 5790 statute acres, as
applotted under the tithe act; the soil is in general
light, and there are some patches of bog: the state of
agriculture is gradually improving. A new road, in
continuation of the line from Dingle made a few, years
since, is now in progress through the parish, and will
be extended to Knockglass, in the parish of Kilgobbin,
where it will form a junction with the mail road to
Tralee. The village of Stradbally comprises about
60 small houses, mostly thatched; and within the
limits of the parish are Hillville, the residence of
John Jas. Hickson, Esq., and Stradbally Lodge, of Geo.
Hickson, Esq., both commanding fine views of the
bay and mountain of St. Brandon. It is a vicarage, in
the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, forming part of
the union of Ballynacourty, also called the union of
Kilflyn: the rectory is impropriate in the Earl of Cork.
The vicarial tithes amount to £185. In the R. C di-
visions it is part of the union or district of Castle-Gre-
gory. In the cemetery adjoining the village are the
ruins of the old church.
STRADBALLY, county of LIMERICK—See CAS-
TLECONNELL.
STRADBALLY, a market and post-town, and a pa-
rish, in the barony of STKADBALLY, QUEEN’S county, and
province of LEINSTER, 5 miles (E.) from Maryborough,
and 38 (S. W. by W.) from Dublin, on the road to Cork,
containing 2392 inhabitants, of which number, 1799
are in the town. This place, anciently called “Mon-au-
Bealing”, was the site of a Franciscan monastery founded
in the 12th century by the chief of the O’Mores, which,
in 1592, was granted with all its possessions, compris-
ing several castles, to Francis Cosbye and his heirs, to
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