Killanny () 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 counties

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

and

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

in Ireland. Killanny is also 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 Clogher. It is named after Saint Enda of Aran, known by the diminutive Éanna. The civil parish consists of 31

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 ...

s in County Monaghan and 11 in County Louth. The townland of Killany, which can also be spelled Killanny or Killaney, lies within County Louth, and contains the old St. Ultan's Killanny Parish church and graveyard. The main

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

–

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

road passes through Killanny. Several small lakes are to be found throughout the parish and the

soil quality Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integ ...

is superior to that of the north of

Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The population was 5,745 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle buil ...

, reflecting the underlying limestone rock.

History

Killanny lays claim to an association with

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

through an old Christian burial site at Annagh Golish Hill in Annaheam.Mac Iomhair, Diarmuid (1963), ''Clogher Record'', 5 (1) p.49.

Saint Ultan Ultan was an Irish monk who later became an abbot. He was the brother of Saints Fursey and Foillan. He was a member of Fursey's mission from Ireland to East Anglia in c. 633, and lived there both as a monastic probationary and later alone as ...

, a patron of children who died in the 7th century, is the patron saint. Unusually, Killanny is located across two counties and it is thought possible that Killanny originally consisted of two parishes separated by the River Glyde and that following the Anglo-Norman settlement the two parts were joined. It is also suggested that the parish boundaries are an older entity than the county boundaries and correspond to an older socio-political entity. St. Ultan's holy well was located in Killanny townland in the 19th century. At this old church and cemetery, the walls of a friary and three private chapels can be found. The church in Killanny was used by the

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 ...

until 1727 when a new church was built in Aghafad. The Catholics returned to use the church in Killanny in penal times. The present Catholic church of St. Enda, built in Hiberno-Romanesque style in 1927, is on a new site in Tullydrum, County Louth. It replaces earlier churches in Corcreeghagh, Rocktate and Killanny itself.

Sport

The parish has a

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

team called Killanny Geraldines. They have a senior team and underage teams. The club's U-16 team won the Division 3 Championship title and U-13 lost in the Division 2 Final in 2007. They won six underage cups in 2008.

Education

In the 1820s, there were six schools in the parish - in Ballymackney, Shanrah, Ballyregan, Corcreegagh, Essexford and Leeg. As of the 21st century, one national (primary) school, the new ''Scoil Naoimh Éanna'', serves the whole parish. There is no secondary school so the children go to school in Carrickmacross.

Demographics

While the total parish population declined by one third over the 20th century, in the early 21st century a number of new homes have been built in the corner of the parish adjoining

town. Killanny, as in other parts of south Monaghan, retained the Irish language to a degree into the 20th century. According to the 1911 census 9.76% of the parish could speak Irish, whilst 7.63% could in 1901. The 1901 figures show a greater number of older speakers. The dialect of Killanny would have been the now extinct East Ulster dialect, which covered the area of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Monaghan, parts of Cavan, Louth and North Meath.Ó Duibhín, Ciarán (1997). "The Irish Language in County Down". In Proudfoot, L J (ed.). Down: History & Society. Geography Publications.

References

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External links