Crosserlough, historically known as ''Cros Ar Loch'', is a large

civil parish 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 below district ...

in southern

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

, in the province of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is located between

Ballyjamesduff Ballyjamesduff () is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. A former market town, it was the winner of the 1966 and 1967 Irish Tidy Towns Competition. History The first mention of Ballyjamesduff is found in The Registry of Deeds, Kings Inns, Henriett ...

and

Lough Sheelin Lough Sheelin (), in standard Irish ''Loch Síleann'', is a limestone freshwater lough (lake) in central Ireland. The lake is a part of the River Inny course, and ultimately of the Shannon system. Geography and geology Lough Sheelin lies at ...

The parish consists of three areas.

Kilnaleck Kilnaleck or Kilnalec () is a small village in County Cavan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the R154 road, R154 Regional road (Ireland), regional road. Kilnaleck was once the centre of a mining boom when in 1879 some local businessmen and a scho ...

, which is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, Drumkilly and Crosserlough. The latter is a small settlement at the northern edge of the eponymous townland.

Facilities

There are three schools in the parish, Kilnaleck, Drumkilly and Crosserlough. There are three Catholic Churches in Crosserlough, St Mary's Church (the Parish Church) in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Cullow, in the Crosserlough area. This church was built in 1888. There is also a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

church at Kildrumferton. There are five

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, three

grocery shop A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, a pharmacy, two off-licences (attached to pubs), a butcher's shop, a garage, barbers, drapery shop, a number of takeaway restaurants, a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be r ...

beautician Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such as ...

, car dealership and approximately 30 houses in Kilnaleck. John Comiskey, a Chicago-based Democratic politician, and father of

Charles Comiskey Charles Albert Comiskey (August 15, 1859 – October 26, 1931), nicknamed "Commy" or "The Old Roman", was an American Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League, and was also ...

, owner of the Chicago White Sox in the early part of the 20th century, was born here in 1826 and emigrated to the US in the mid-19th century.

Sport

Sportspeople from Crosserlough parish won seven

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

senior championships in a row during the 1970s. All-Ireland winner

Mick Higgins Mick Higgins (22 August 1922 – 28 January 2010) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Cavan county team, winning three All-Ireland medals during his career. In later years he was a successful coach. His first All ...

(1922–2010), spent his youth in Crosserlough. Crosserlough have always played at senior level, the only team to do so in the county. Crosserlough also have a

Camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men only ...

team. Crosserlough is also home to Innyvale Athletic Club.

History

Kill Graveyard near Killnaleck (geograph 5097552)

The historical sites in Crosserlough include a

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...

in Duffcastle, and one in Kildrumferton. There is a

mass rock Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

from the time of the Penal Laws in Lehery and there are several

ring fort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wale ...

s throughout the parish. Kill Cemetery is associated with a number of legends, including the shooting of a priest for saying mass during the Penal era. There are over 70 townlands in Crosserlough.

References

{{Civil parishes of County Cavan Civil parishes of County Cavan