Bunratty Upper () is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. This ancient geographical division of land is in turn divided into six

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

Legal context

Baronies were created after the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

as divisions of

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and were used the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.

Landscape

Bunratty Upper is a division of the former barony of Bunratty. This belonged to the Macnamara family, and was called Dangan-i-vigin. It is bounded to the north by the county of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. Within the county of Clare, it is bounded by the baronies of Tulla Upper (to the north-east), Tulla Lower (to the east), Bunratty Lower (to the south),

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

(to the south-west) and by

Inchiquin Inchiquin () is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 11 baronies in the county. Its chief town is Corofin, County Clare, Corofin. It is administered by Clare County C ...

(to the north-west). Lough Cullaunyheeda separates the barony from its neighbour, Tulla Lower. The barony has an area of . The land is rocky, but able to support large numbers of sheep. File:Baronies of Clare.jpg, Baronies of Clare. Bunratty Upper, coloured blue, is in the middle. File:Quin Abbey.JPG, Quin Abbey

Parishes and settlements

Bunratty Upper contains the

of Clooney, Doora, Inchicronan, Kilraghtis, Quin and Templemaley. The main population centres are Quin and

Crusheen Crusheen () is a small village in County Clare, Ireland, in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan). Location The village is 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis on the R458 road (Ireland), R458 road to Gort. It is in ...

. The barony now also includes the eastern and north-eastern edges of

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

. However, most of Ennis, including its historic centre, is in the Barony of

. Townlands.ie: Barony of Islands, Co. Clare. https://www.townlands.ie/clare/islands/

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunratty Upper, Barony of Baronies of County Clare