Kilteely-Dromkeen
Encyclopedia
Kilteely and Dromkeen is a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
. It is located in east County Limerick
in the province of Munster
, Ireland
, near the border of County Tipperary
.
The village of Kilteely or in Irish
Cill Tíle (The Church of Tidel) stands below the Hill of Kilteely, about 14 miles south-east of Limerick
City.
The village of Dromkeen or in Irish
Drom Caoin (The Smooth Ridge) is little more than a crossroads on the N24 Limerick
- Waterford
Road, halfway between Limerick
City and Tipperary
Town.
This is due to the fact that Kilteely-Dromkeen is situated in one of the most important Carboniferous
Volcanic districts in either Great Britain
or Ireland
. A wide variety of igneous rocks from two volcanic phases of about 300 million years ago can be found here. The volcanic plugs of Knockderk 220 m (782 ft) and Kilteely Hill 176 m (580 ft) are both conical in appearance, while in the neighbouring parish of Pallasgreen
stands the Hill of Nicker, where hardened lavas have formed a cliff of basalt
hexagons, similar to those found at the Giant's Causeway
. As the area is within the Golden Vale
, the land in this area is generally good, and is used primarily for the grazing
of livestock
and some tillage
. The Mulkear
river flows through the eastern edges of Dromkeen parish.
, an attack on Black and Tan
police forces during the Irish War of Independence in 1921. The attach was carried out near the old Church of Ireland church in a joint operation between the East Limerick and West Limerick Brigades of the IRA
. A Flying Column
force of about 40 ambushed two lorrys carrying between them 13 Black and Tan police officers. Two of the these managed to escape, however the other 11 were killed. It was one of the larger operations carried out by the IRA during the War of Independence, the IRA had been expecting a larger police force.
In modern times, Dromkeen was well-known for its ballroom of romance, "The Oyster Ballroom", owned by the Hayes family which in the 1950s and 60s attracted large crowds, sometimes up to 2,000 dancers from counties Limerick and Tipperary for the weekly Sunday night dance where the leading showbands of the day played on a regular basis.
and Gaelic football
.
Kilteely AFC Soccer club was founded in 1983 and plays its football in the Limerick city and county leagues.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in mid-western Ireland. The diocese is in the secular province of Munster. The Diocese of Cashel was established in 1111 by the Synod of Rathbreasail and promoted to the status of a Metropolitan Province in 1152 by the...
. It is located in east County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
in the province of Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, near the border of County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
.
The village of Kilteely or in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Cill Tíle (The Church of Tidel) stands below the Hill of Kilteely, about 14 miles south-east of Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
City.
The village of Dromkeen or in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Drom Caoin (The Smooth Ridge) is little more than a crossroads on the N24 Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
- Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
Road, halfway between Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
City and Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
Town.
Geography
The landscape in this parish is subtly unusual, different from the predominantly flat County LimerickCounty Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
This is due to the fact that Kilteely-Dromkeen is situated in one of the most important Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
Volcanic districts in either Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
or Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. A wide variety of igneous rocks from two volcanic phases of about 300 million years ago can be found here. The volcanic plugs of Knockderk 220 m (782 ft) and Kilteely Hill 176 m (580 ft) are both conical in appearance, while in the neighbouring parish of Pallasgreen
Pallasgreen
Pallasgreen or Pallasgrean is a village in East County Limerick, situated on the Limerick–Tipperary N24 road. The name means "the Stockade of Grian," referring to an ancient Irish Goddess of Love, whose is associated with the a nearby hill of Nicker.Just a short distance down the road is the...
stands the Hill of Nicker, where hardened lavas have formed a cliff of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
hexagons, similar to those found at the Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills...
. As the area is within the Golden Vale
Golden Vale
The Golden Vale is an area of rolling pastureland in the civil province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. Covering parts of three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, it is the best land in Ireland for dairy farming....
, the land in this area is generally good, and is used primarily for the grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
of livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and some tillage
Tillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking...
. The Mulkear
River Mulkear
The Mulkear River rises in the Slievefelim and Silvermine Mountains, flows through the east of County Limerick before joining the River Shannon near Annacotty, Co. Limerick. The Mulkear flows through both Counties Limerick and North Tipperary. The principal tributaries are the Dead River, the...
river flows through the eastern edges of Dromkeen parish.
History
Dromkeen is famous for the Dromkeen AmbushDromkeen Ambush
The Dromkeen Ambush took place on 3 February 1921, during the Irish War of Independence at Dromkeen in County Limerick. The Irish Republican Army ambushed a Royal Irish Constabulary patrol, killing 11 policemen....
, an attack on Black and Tan
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
police forces during the Irish War of Independence in 1921. The attach was carried out near the old Church of Ireland church in a joint operation between the East Limerick and West Limerick Brigades of the IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
. A Flying Column
Flying Column
Flying Column was the name adopted by a group of Irish traditional musicians and singers who formed a folk band in Belfast around 1967/68. They took their name from the small tight cells that comprised the IRA active service units during the Anglo-Irish war of 1916-1921.-Name:Sammy Largey, the...
force of about 40 ambushed two lorrys carrying between them 13 Black and Tan police officers. Two of the these managed to escape, however the other 11 were killed. It was one of the larger operations carried out by the IRA during the War of Independence, the IRA had been expecting a larger police force.
In modern times, Dromkeen was well-known for its ballroom of romance, "The Oyster Ballroom", owned by the Hayes family which in the 1950s and 60s attracted large crowds, sometimes up to 2,000 dancers from counties Limerick and Tipperary for the weekly Sunday night dance where the leading showbands of the day played on a regular basis.
Education
The parish is served by two primary schools; Kilteely National School is located in Kilteely village, Cloverfield National School is located in Dromkeen parish.Sport
There is a strong aelic Athletic Association|G.A.A.] following in the area. Teams from Kilteely-Dromkeen GAA Club compete in the East Limerick Division at Junior and under-age competitions in HurlingHurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
and Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
.
Kilteely AFC Soccer club was founded in 1983 and plays its football in the Limerick city and county leagues.
People
- Willie O'DeaWillie O'DeaWillie O'Dea is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Teachta Dála for the Limerick City constituency. He served as the Minister for Defence from September 2004 until 18 February 2010, when he resigned from his post due to controversy over a defamation case.-Early and private life:O'Dea was born...
(born November 27, 1952) - Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
T.D.Teachta DálaA Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
for Limerick East and Minister for DefenceMinister for Defence (Ireland)The Minister for Defence is the senior minister at the Department of Defence in the Government of Ireland. Under new arrangements this department is being merged with the Department of Justice over which Mr. Shatter will also preside....
. - John Francis Dillon (born July 24, 1930 - died August 18, 1952) - Killed in the Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. - William LundonWilliam LundonWilliam Lundon was an Irish nationalist politician and MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party represented East Limerick when elected to the 27th Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1900 general election and...
(born 1839 - died March 24, 1909) - Irish Parliamentary PartyIrish Parliamentary PartyThe Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
M.P. for East Limerick.
Transport
- Dromkeen railway station opened on 2 February 1851, closed for goods traffic on 9 September 1963, and finally closed altogether on 6 September 1976.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland