Bunratty Lower

Bunratty Lower
Bunratty Lower
Coordinates: 52°44′24″N 8°50′25″W / 52.740137°N 8.840416°WCoordinates: 52°44′24″N 8°50′25″W / 52.740137°N 8.840416°W
Country Ireland
Province Munster
County Clare
Area
 • Total 27,957 ha (69,083 acres)

The Barony of Bunratty Lower is a geographical division of County Clare, Ireland, that in turn is divided into civil parishes.

Legal context

Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.

Landscape

Bunratty Lower is a division of the former barony of Bunratty. This belonged to the Macnamara family, and was called Dangan-i-vigin. It is bounded on the north by the barony of Bunratty Upper, on the east by the barony of Tulla Lower, on the south by the River Shannon and the Shannon Estuary, which divides it from County Limerick, and on the west by the River Fergus estuary, which divides it from the baronies of Clonderalaw and Islands. The barony covers an area of 69,083 acres (27,957 ha), of which 11,623 acres (4,704 ha) are tideway. The land is rocky, but able to support large numbers of sheep.[1]

Parishes and settlements

Lower Bunratty contains the parishes of Bunratty, Clonloghan, Drumline, Feenagh, Kilconry, Kilfinaghta, Kilfintinan, Kilmaleery, Kilmurry, Kilnasoolagh and Tomfinlough, as well as part of the parishes of Killeely, St. Munchin's and St. Patrick’s. The main towns are Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge.[1] More recently, Shannon has become an important town.

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