The barony of Mohill (, historically
Conmhaícne Maigh Réin) is an ancient
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
in
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
Etymology
Mohill barony shares its name with
Mohill
Mohill (, meaning "soft ground") is a town in County Leitrim, Ireland. The town of Carrick-on-Shannon is approximately 16 km (10 miles) away.
History
The Justinian plague of Mohill devastated the local population in the 6th centur ...
(, "soft or spongy ground") village. Historically a variety of corrupted names were used- , , and .
Location
Mohill is found in south
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
, on the
Cloone River
Cloone River () is a river in County Leitrim in Ireland. Its course is almost entirely within the boundaries of the Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial ...
, containing
Lough Rynn and bordering
Lough Boderg. It is bordered to the northeast by
Carrigallen
Carrigallen () is a small village in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is on the R201 and R203 roads in the east of the county, 19 km west of Cavan town. , the village had a population of 387. The village is in a civil parish of the same name. ...
; to the northwest by
Leitrim (both the preceding baronies are also in County Leitrim); to the southeast by
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...
,
County Longford
County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...
; and to the southwest by
Ballintober North,
County Roscommon
County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
.
History
This place was historically named
Conmhaícne Maigh Réin. After the 9th century the Reynolds (MacRannall or
Muintir Eolais
The Muintir Eolais of Conmaicne Réin were nobles of Gaelic Ireland. For seven hundred years from the 8th century, they lived in and ruled an area roughly conterminous with present-day south County Leitrim. Their territory comprised the lands n ...
) were chiefs of this territory.
Plague
Back in the 6th century, the
Justinian plague of Mohill
In 6th century Ireland, the population of Maigh Rein, Mohill was devastated by the Plague of Justinian, Justinian plague, an early phenomenon of the . The Mohill plague occurred following the Volcanic winter of 536, extreme weather events of 535 ...
devastated the population of Mohill barony and parish.
Museum artefacts
The following are preserved in a collection at the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
museum in
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 ...
.
A medieval sword was found buried deep in hard clay and gravel in the Black river running through the Clooncumber
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 ...
, in Cloone parish,
county Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
. The long narrow sword blade, of the leaf-shape style, measures long by width, imperfect at both extremities, with four rivet-holes on the hand-plate.
A medieval spear-head was found buried deep in gravel, between
Rinn Lough
Rinn Lough (, also ), also known as Lough Rynn, is a freshwater lake in the northwest of Ireland. It is located in south County Leitrim.
Geography
Rinn Lough measures about long and wide. It is located about south of Mohill. Lough Rynn Castl ...
and
Lough Sallagh, near
Mohill
Mohill (, meaning "soft ground") is a town in County Leitrim, Ireland. The town of Carrick-on-Shannon is approximately 16 km (10 miles) away.
History
The Justinian plague of Mohill devastated the local population in the 6th centur ...
in
county Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
. This bolt or arrow head measures long, with the length of the socket as long as the blade.
Breanross hanging tree
, according to tradition recorded by
Irish Folklore Commission
The Irish Folklore Commission () was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland.
History
Séamus Ó Duilearga (James Hamilton Delargy) founded ''An Cumann le Béaloideas Éir ...
, is the
stump of a
hangman's tree, on which
Irish rebels of 1798 were
executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
, is still pointed out at Breanross
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 ...
.
Cloonmorris Ogham stone

The is the only recorded
Ogham inscribed stone discovered in
county Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
.
Oldest Irishman
aged may be the
oldest recorded Irishman, dying at
Tawnymore in Cloone on . A telegram reporting his death was sent to news outlets from
Mohill
Mohill (, meaning "soft ground") is a town in County Leitrim, Ireland. The town of Carrick-on-Shannon is approximately 16 km (10 miles) away.
History
The Justinian plague of Mohill devastated the local population in the 6th centur ...
. His father had fought under
General Munro in the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...
, and was imprisoned and martyred afterwards. Tom Coughlan compiled his unverified biography.
Natural history
Irish elk
In the 19th Century the skull of an ancient
Irish elk
The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus''), also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus '' Megaloceros'' and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across northern Eurasia during th ...
was "found in the parish of Cloone, barony of Mohill, county of Leitrim. This head was in the possession of a labourer, who said he found it in the river, under the village of Cloone. A very perfect, large head, measuring, from the occipital crest at top to the end of the mouth bone, 22 inches. The head is rather narrower than usual; a portion of each stem and both brow antlers are perfect. The palm of the brow antler is seven inches across; there is some irre gularity in the crown of the left beam, as if from exuberant growth; a small tit-like projection, apparently the commencement of a third horn, springs from the bone beneath the base of the beam on this side. The colour of the whole is very dark, but both the bone and horn are in a fine state of preservation; it is heavier than any of the other specimens held by the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
museum in Dublin."
List of settlements
Below is a list of settlements in Mohill barony:
*
Cloone
Cloone () is a village in County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located in the south of the county, just off the R201 road (Ireland), R201 road; its nearest town is Mohill. Its name is an anglicised version of the Irish- ...
*
Mohill
Mohill (, meaning "soft ground") is a town in County Leitrim, Ireland. The town of Carrick-on-Shannon is approximately 16 km (10 miles) away.
History
The Justinian plague of Mohill devastated the local population in the 6th centur ...
*
Dromod
Dromod or Drumod () is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. Dromod is a fishing village beside Bofin and Boderg, which are threaded by the River Shannon. Built along the River Shannon, this is a Tidy Towns winner with a modern harbour that is ...
*
Roosky
Roosky, Ruskey, or Rooskey () is a village on the River Shannon in the northern midlands of Ireland, near the point where counties Leitrim, Longford, and Roscommon meet. The N4 road from Dublin to Sligo passes by the Leitrim side of the vill ...
Notes and references
Plague notes
Mohill notes
Citations
Irish annals
*
*
Primary sources
*
*
Secondary sources
Ecclesiastical
*
*
*
Oldest Irishman
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Archaeological
*
*
Rebellion
*
*
External links
*
*
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{{County Leitrim
Baronies of County Leitrim
Places of Conmaicne Maigh Rein
Mohill