Rathborney, sometimes Rathbourney, () 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 the Barony of Burren 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.

Location

Rathborney parish is in the Barony of Burren, from the village of Burren on the road to

Ennistymon Ennistymon or Ennistimon () is a country market town in County Clare, near the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Inagh River, River Inagh, with its small rapids known as the Cascades, runs through the town, behind the main street. ...

. It is SSW of

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 ...

and includes territory in the valley of Ballyvaughan, the slopes of surroundings hills and the side valley of the Rathborney river (also known as Feenagh Valley). The parish is , and covers . The highest point is Cappanavulla hill, on the northern boundary, at above sea level. Much of the parish is rocky hill pasture, and there is some

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses ...

in the west of the parish.

Demographics

In 1841, the parish had a population of 1,000 in 177 houses.

Antiquities

The parish includes numerous prehistoric and historic sites, including several

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 such as the earthen

Ballyallaban ringfort Ballyallaban ringfort () or sometimes ''An Rath'' ("The Rath") is an earthen ringfort south of Ballyvaughan in the Burren area, in County Clare, Ireland. It is a National Monument. Location The fort lies right next to the R480 road between the ...

and the limestone Cahermore ringfort. At Cahermacnaghten stands the central cashel of the O'Davoran family with the ruins of their law school nearby. In Faunarooska townland there are several

wedge tomb A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of gal ...

s. In Gleninsheen townland, the Gleninsheen Gorget was discovered in 1932. There are also remains of more wedge tombs, known as the Gleninsheen wedge tombs. There are two church ruins within 500 m of each other, both in Croagh North townland. One is known as Glenaraha (''Gleann na Ratha'' or Valley of the Ráths or Ringforts), with a ringfort (Doontorpa) nearby. It is a large t-shaped church with a vestry to the east. According to a sign in the west annexe, it was built in 1795 by the 1st Marquess of Buckinghham for use by his tenants. By 1837 the church had been enlarged and 40 acres of land allotted for use by the parish priest. The other church is known as Rathborney Church, from ''Ráth Bhoirne'' (the Ráth of the Burren) and was built inside the remains of another ringfort. Most of the remains date to the 15th century, when a smaller earlier church was almost completely rebuilt. Parts of the east and north wall date to that original structure. Later features include the ornate east window and the pointed arch of the doorway in the south wall. A graveyard surrounds the church and it includes several crude grave markers of unknown date. There is also a

bullaun A bullaun (; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French ''bol'') is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun. The size of the bullaun is highly variable ...

. Its presence and the fact that the original church was built before 1302 inside a ringfort may indicate a monastic origin for this site. The church ruin both inside and out is an active graveyard private to local families. The rebuilt

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

and hotel of Gregans Castle are located in the parish, in the townlands of Gregan West and Gregan East, respectively.

Townlands and hamlets

The parish contains 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 ...

s of Ballyallaban, Berneens, Burrenwee, Cahermacnaghten, Cahermacun, Cloonmartin, Cullaun, Cregavockoge, Croagh North, Croagh South, Donnyvardan, Drumbrickaun, Faunarooska, Feenagh, Garracloon, Gleninsheen, Gragan East, Gragan West, Lisgoogan, Lislarheenmore, Lismacsheedy, Lismacteige, Lissylisheen, Poulacapple and Poulnabrucky. The hamlets in 1845 were Knockatun, Lissaroo, Cahirmacun and Croagh.

References

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