Corofin is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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, and part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe The Diocese of Killaloe ( ; ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in mid-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral of Ss Peter a ...

. The parish is an amalgamation of the medieval parishes of Rath and Kilnaboy (or Killinaboy). At least since 1731 both parishes are administered by one priest. parish priest is Des Hillary with Pat O'Neil as assistant priest. The main church of the parish is the Church of St. Brigid in Corofin, completed in 1823. This is possibly the first Catholic church in County Clare designed by an architect. The second church of the parish is the "Church of St. Joseph" in Kilnaboy. This church was built in 1967. It replaced a

barn church A barn church or barn chapel is a specific type of clandestine church, built in times that a certain church was illegal but tolerated as long as the churches were not specifically looking like churches. These were no elaborate buildings but simple ...

built in 1846 (now a garage). Tradition wants that this barn church was a replacement of a mass house built in 1725. Third church of the parish is St. Mary in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

Roxton, part of the former parish of Rath. This church was built in 1869 and replaced an older church in the townland Liscullaun.

Parish of Rath

The ecclesiastical parish of Rath was rather peculiar, as it had never any settlement but was entirely rural. p. 5 The correct name was Rathblathmaic as it derived it name from de rath of St. Blathmaic. It comprised the

Túath ''Túath'' (plural ''túatha'') is the Old Irish term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of Gaelic Ireland. ''Túath'' can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory. The smallest ''túath ...

of the Ui Flaithri, subtribe of the

Dal gCais The Dalcassians ( ) are a Gaels, Gaelic Irish clan, generally accepted by contemporary scholarship as being a branch of the Déisi Muman, that became very powerful in Ireland during the 10th century. Their genealogies claimed descent from Tál ...

Gallery

;Parish of Kilnaboy (renamed Corofin) Corofin - St Brigid's Church - 20190902144920.jpg, St. Brigid's Church, Corofin Kilnaboy Church.jpg, Church of St. Joseph, Kilnaboy Kilnaboy Church, front.jpg, Main entrance of the Church of St. Joseph, Kilnaboy Barn Church Kilnaboy.jpg, Barn church in Kilnaboy, predecessor of Church of St. Joseph. Now a garage. Kilvoydan, remains of monastic site.jpg, Remains of the early monastic site in Kilvoydan, close to Corofin County Clare - Coad Church - 20190930155523.jpg, Ruin of Coad Church ;Former parish of Rath County Clare - St Mary's Church - 20190927165235.jpg, St. Mary's Church, Roxton Church of Rath Blaithmaic.jpg, The Church of Rath Blaithmaic File:Church of Rath Blaithmaic south wall 15th century, with older stones at bottom.jpg, The present ruin of the Church of Rath Blaithmaic is mainly 15th century, but the big stones at the bottom are reused stones from an earlier church. File:Church of Rath Blaithmaic Nave and chancel.jpg, Nave and chancel File:Church of Rath Blaithmaic sheela-na-gig (upside down).jpg, A

Sheela na gig A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture ...

, often seen as a fertility symbol. Placed upside down. File:Church of Rath Blaithmaic carved head.jpg, Carved head at the inner wall.

References

{{Catholic parishes of County Clare Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe