Ardpatrick () is a small village in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, Ireland. It lies at the foot of the north slopes of the Ballyhoura Mountains, on the edge of the

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is the historic name given to an area of rolling pastureland in the province of Munster in southwestern Ireland. The area covers parts of three counties: Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Considered the best land in Ireland ...

. As of the 2006 census, the

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

of Ardpatrick which contains the village, had a population of 398. In an area which was anciently known as ''Tulach na Féinne'' (Hill of the Fianna), the village comprises a small number of houses around a Roman Catholic parish church. At the south end of the village is a memorial garden and tourist information. Each summer there is a 3-day, "Festival na Fianna". The Greenwood, just to the south of the village, gives access to walking trails across the countryside.

History

On the hill above the village is the site of a 5th-century

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

and

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

or cloictheach, now in ruins. Legend tells of a peal of 7 silver bells which once hung in the tower. The monastery was reputedly founded by St. Patrick himself, and is surrounded by earthworks probably far more ancient. From the hill can be seen

Castle Oliver Castle Oliver (also ''Clonodfoy'') is a Victorian castle-style country house in the southern part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defense, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room a ...

, a 19th-century mansion built by the Oliver Gascoignes, an Anglo-Irish family. Its stained glass windows, which feature the life of St. Patrick, have since been restored. The local parish church, Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic church, was built in 1835 and renovated in the 1920s. Ardpatrick was formerly joined with neighboring parish Kilfinane.

Notable people

* John Fleming,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and current

Bishop of Killala The Bishop of Killala () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Killala in County Mayo, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bis ...

, born in Sunville

References

External links

Ardpatrick.ie - village website
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick Towns and villages in County Limerick

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links