Coolkerry () is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

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 ...

Clarmallagh Clarmallagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Ireland. Etymology Clarmallagh means "Flat land of Maigh Locha 'lake plain'', referring to Grantstown Lake. Geography Clarmallagh is located ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. It is separated into two disjoint areas by an arm of Aghaboe civil parish.

Political geography

Coolkery has six townlands. The townland of Coolkerry, along with the townlands of Coolnaboul East (a tiny area of only 4 acres, 2 roods and 12 perches), Graigueanossy and Turfarney are in the main, western, part of the civil parish, while the townlands of Coolacurragh and

Middlemount Middlemount is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,899 people. It is nicknamed the "Giant Peanut" by some locals du ...

(which is also known as Ballyvoghlaun) are in the eastern exclave of the parish. The political geography of the parish is further complicated by the fact that it is divided between two baronies. Coolnaboul East is in the barony of

Clandonagh Clandonagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland. A barony was a historical subdivision of a county; mainly cadastral rather than administrative. Etymology Clandonagh barony ...

while the rest of the parish is in the barony of Clarmallagh.

Population

At the time of the 1861 census, there was nobody living in Coolnaboul East but the rest of the parish had a population of 260.

History

Coolkerry parish was established in the early 13th century, when it was patronised by the builders of Norman strongholds such as the nearby ''Coolkerry Castle''.Seosamh Ó Cinnéide
The monastic heritage & folklore of County Laois
, (2003), pages 57-59 The Norman patrons allocated the tithes of the parish to St Thomas's Abbey in Dublin, a house of the

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

. The ruins of ''Coolkerry Church'' are in a graveyard near the south-western corner of Coolkerry townland. The church is on a rise overlooking the

River Erkina The River Erkina () is a river that flows through the county of Laois in Ireland. It is a tributary of the River Nore. It has its source on the Laois-Kilkenny border south of Rathdowney. It flows north towards Rathdowney and then turns east in ...

. Only the remains of the west gable are still standing, with just grassy banks in the place of the remaining walls of the church which was about 17 metres long and 7.3 metres wide. The church has been in ruins since at least the middle of the 17th century, the

Down Survey The Down Survey was a cadastral survey of Ireland, carried out by English scientist William Petty in 1655 and 1656. It was created to provide for precise re-allocation of land confiscated from the Irish. The survey was apparently called the "Do ...

marking the site as having a "ruined church, weir and cabin". The church was located near a ford where the

was crossed by an ancient road that ran from western Upper Ossory to Kilkenny. A system of toghers skirted

Rathdowney Rathdowney or Rathdowny () is a small town in southwest County Laois, Ireland. It lies some 32 km southwest of Portlaoise in the Irish Midlands, at the point where the R433 regional road from Abbeyleix to Templemore is crossed by the R ...

(a few miles west of Coolkerry) and then turned southwards to cross the Erkina at several places. One of these continued to Gorteen and, crossing the

River Goul The River Goul (; ) is a river that flows through the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Laois in Ireland. It is a tributary of the River Erkina which is in turn a tributary of the River Nore. It has its source in the Slieveardagh Hills, app ...

near Newtown Nunnery, continued to Aharney Church. There are no visible remains of Coolkerry Castle which was built close to the site of the church, although its ruins are shown on the mid-19th century Ordnance Survey map. Less than 1 kilometre to the south-west of Coolkerry Castle, in the neighbouring townland of Rathpiper South, is the site of another castle which is believed to have been built by Pipard, a descendant of

Adam de Hereford Adam de Hereford was one of the first generation of Norman colonisers in Ireland. Naval commander He was the Norman commander at a naval battle in 1174 when a fleet of thirty-two ships from Cork, carrying armed men under the command of Gilbert, ...

, the first Norman to colonise this part of County Laois. Both castles were associated with the weir on the River Erkina just by the site of Coolkerry Church.

References

{{coord missing, County Laois Civil parishes of County Laois