Crusheen, formerly Inchicronan, is a parish in

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 ...

. Current (2021) co-assistant parish priest is Pat O'Neil. The main church of the parish is the Church of St. Cronan in

Crusheen Crusheen () is a small village in County Clare, Ireland, in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan). Location The village is 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis on the R458 road (Ireland), R458 road to Gort. It is in ...

, completed in 1837. The is a cruciform

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 ...

. It replaced an older mass house, built in 1726, which in turn was thoroughly renovated or replaced in 1736. The second church of the parish is the "Chapel of the Immaculate Conception" in Ballinruan, built in 1824. A renovation and enlargement in 1857 gave the chapel its present form of two aisles at a 90-degree angle. The parish is also home to Inchicronan Priory.

Notable priests

* Fr. Ger Nash, first parish priest, later diocesan secretary and director of pastoral planning. In 2021 appointed

Bishop of Ferns The Bishop of Ferns () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...

. File:Crusheen Church outside.jpg, Church of St. Cronan in Crusheen File:Crusheen Church Altar.jpg, Altar of the Church of St. Cronan File:Ballinruan Church overview.jpg, Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Ballinruan File:Ballinruan Church entry.jpg, Entry Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Ballinruan

References

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