Connello Upper (; sometimes ''Upper Connello'', and occasionally spelled ''Conello'') is a historical barony in southern

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. Baronies were mainly

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...

History

Originally western Limerick was a single vast barony known as Connello. It was divided into

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

(northern) and Upper (southern) halves some time before 1821, and 1841 the western part of Connello Upper was made a separate barony, Glenquin, while the western half of Connello Lower became the barony of Shanid. The Connello Upper region was the anciently the possession of the Uí Chonaill Gabra, part of the Uí Fidgeinti; the name refers to an ancestor, Conall Gabra, "Conall of the White Horse." Hy Cnocnuil Gabhra was the name of the

Eóganachta The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of De ...

cantred. The

Ó Coileáin Ó Coileáin (Middle Irish: ''Ua Cuiléin'') is a Modern Irish surname generally belonging to the descendants of the last leading family of the Uí Chonaill Gabra, a sept and small but notable overkingdom of medieval and ancient Ireland, based in ...

(Collins or Cullane) were lords of Connello until they moved to

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

in the 13th century.

Geography

Connello Upper is in the south-centre of the county, north of the

River Maigue The River Maigue (, ) rises in the Milford area of north County Cork, Ireland. The River Maigue is long. It drains an area of It is joined by the small River Glen and the larger River Loobagh in south County Limerick. It then flows north t ...

where it forms part of the border with

List of settlements

Settlements within the historical barony of Connello Upper include: * Ballingarry * Ballyagran *

Bruree Bruree () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland, on the River Maigue. It takes its name from the nearby ancient royal fortress, the alternative name of which from the earliest times into the High Middle Ages was ''Dún Eochair ...

* Castletown * Feenagh * Kilfinny *

Kilmeedy Kilmeedy () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland, in the parish of Feenagh-Kilmeedy. In Irish, Kilmeedy translates as , or Church of my Ita. This refers to Saint Ita who founded a church in the area before moving to another parish in th ...

References

{{reflist Baronies of County Limerick