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

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 southern

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

in Ireland. 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 language, Irish ''Loch Síleann'', is a limestone freshwater lough (lake) in central Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The lake is a part of the River Inny (Leinster), River Inny course, and ultimately of the Riv ...

. The parish consists of the village of

Kilnaleck Kilnaleck () is a village in County Cavan, Ireland on the R154 regional road. Kilnaleck was once the centre of a mining boom when, in 1879, some local businessmen and a school headmaster decided to develop the coal that existed nearby. However ...

, 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 ...

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

History

Historical sites in Crosserlough include

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

(portal tomb) sites in Duffcastle and Kildrumferton and several

ring fort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in S ...

s throughout the parish. There is also a

mass rock A Mass rock ( Irish: ''Carraig an Aifrinn)'' was a rock used as an altar by the Catholic Church in Ireland, during the 17th and 18th centuries, as a location for secret and illegal gatherings of faithful attending the Mass offered by outlawed ...

from the time of the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

in Lehery. Kill Cemetery is associated with a number of folktales, including the shooting of a priest for saying mass during the Penal era.

Facilities

There are three Catholic churches in Crosserlough, which is a

Catholic parish In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

in the Diocese of Kilmore. These include St Mary's Church (the main parish church built in 1888) in the townland of Cullow, in the Crosserlough area. The other two Catholic churches are in the village of Kilnaleck (St Patrick's) and in Drumkilly (St Joseph's). There is also a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church, at Kildrumferton, which was rebuilt in 1812. The national (primary) schools in the parish are located at Kilnaleck, Drumkilly and Crosserlough. There are also several

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

grocery shop A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym ...

s, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, a pharmacy, 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 re ...

, a

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 a ...

and a car dealership in Kilnaleck.

Sport

The local

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

(GAA) club is

Crosserlough GFC Crosserlough is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Kilnaleck, County Cavan in Ireland. Honours Men's football * Cavan Senior Football Championship (11) ** 1958, 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 2020, 2024 * Cavan Intermed ...

. The club has won the

Cavan Senior Football Championship The Cavan Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Cavan GAA, Cavan Gaelic football clubs. It was first competed for in 1888. The winners get the Oliver Plunkett Cup and qualifies to ...

on several occasions, including 7 back-to-back titles from 1966 to 1972. Crosserlough also fields a Ladies Gaelic football team, which won the Cavan Senior Ladies' Football Championship in 2021. Crosserlough GFC has its grounds outside Kilnaleck village. Innyvale Athletic Club is also based in Kilnaleck.

People

* 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 als ...

, 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.

References

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