Noughaval or Nohoval () 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 ...

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.

Name

The name of the parish means 'new acquisition' or 'new settlement'.

Geography

The parish lies on the southern boundary of the

Barony of Burren The Barony of Burren is a geographical division of County Clare, Ireland, that in turn is divided into civil parishes. It covers a large part of the Burren. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions ...

. It is to the north of

Kilfenora Kilfenora ( , meaning 'church of the fertile hillside' or 'church of the white brow') is a village and a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated south of the karst limestone region known as the Burren. Since medieval times when ...

. It is and covers . The land is mostly rocky limestone pasture, with little land suitable for cultivation. It slopes up to an altitude of in the north of the parish. Lough Aleenaun lies in the east.

Antiquities

Map Noughaval and Ballyganner North by Thomas Johnson Westropp 1897

The old church was in fair condition in 1897, with a nave and a choir surrounded by a cemetery. There is a holy well nearby dedicated to Saint Colman MacDuach. Parts of the church may date to the early medieval period, and it may have been the site of a monastic settlement. This is indicated by the remains of outbuildings and the shape of some field walls. The nave shows early medieval masonry. The parish contains several

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ', meaning "subterrain", is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northwards from Gaul d ...

s built of limestone flags, either hiding places or storage rooms. There are many cahers, or stone forts, now ruined. The parish has several

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being a ...

s. There is an exceptionally large cromlech at Ballyganner. The table stone is almost in dimensions, supported by upright flagstones and rising about above the ground. Noughaval Market Stone SW 2015 09 01

A stone pillar near the church is said to be a

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosses ...

, and some lines drawn on were used as measures of length. The shaft is octagonal and stands on a stepped dais. There are three

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, 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 ...

s in the parish, which in the 19th century were held to have been built by "the Danes". The ruins of the old church stand on the glebe in Noughaval. There are ruined castles at Banroe, Ballymurphy and Ballyganner. These were the property of the O’Loghlen family in 1580. Noughaval James Davoren Chapel 2015 09 01

Noughaval James Davoren Chapel 2015 09 01

The medieval church was built and rebuilt from the 12th to the 14th centuries. A later memorial chapel of the O'Davoran family nearby was built (or, according to

Thomas Johnson Westropp Thomas Johnson Westropp (16 August 18609 April 1922) was an Irish antiquarian, folklorist and archaeologist. Career Westropp was born on 16 August 1860 at Attyflin Park, Patrickswell, County Limerick. His relatives were landowners of Englis ...

, repaired) in 1725 by James Davoren.

History

In 1841, the population was 450 in 65 houses. The hamlet of Noughaval had 64 people in 10 houses. In 1845, the Noughaval and

Carran Carran (), also Carron, is a small village in County Clare, Ireland. It is in the Burren region, within a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. It is notable mainly for being the birthplace of Michael Cusack, the inspi ...

chapels were united. In 1941, the former

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 in

Ballyvaughan Ballyvaughan or Ballyvaghan () is a small harbour village in County Clare, Ireland. It is located on the N67 road on the south shores of Galway Bay, in the northwest corner of The Burren. This position on the coast road and the close proximity ...

was sold for £25, dismantled and moved here. In 1943, it was reconsecrated as a Roman Catholic church, St. Mochua's Church.

Townlands

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 are Ballyganner North, Ballyganner South, Ballymahony, Ballymurphy, Cragnarooan, Deerpark, Kiltaan, Kiltennan North, Kiltennan South, Knockavoarheen, Lismoher, Noughaval, Rusheen and Sheshymore.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * {{Civil parishes of County Clare Civil parishes of County Clare