| Home |
Ballycotton (also spelt Ballycotteen)
(from the
Gaelic 'Baile' or 'Bally' place or farm, and 'cotton'
small
house) is a 'townland' a small farming area,
with no town, north of
Liscannor, in the parish or diocese of
Kilmacrehy, on the west coast of
County Clare.
Kilmacrehy, the parish which includes Ballycotton and Liscannor, derives from Cill McCreehy the church of McCreehy (in Liscannor). The neighbouring parish of Killaspuglnonane derives from the church of Bishop Flannan.
Clare is in the province of Munster, on the west coast of Ireland, between Galway bay to the north and the Shannon river in the south. Its major towns are Shannon, Ennis and Corofin. It takes its name from the Irish An Clár, a level surface or plain.
Liscannor, in Clare, takes its name from Lios Ceannuir, O'Connor's Fort, and started in the early 18th century. In 1703 it had an old castle out of repair, and three cabins. It claims to have the Pope as its Parish priest. John Holland, who invented the submarine, was born in Liscannor in 1841. East of Liscannor are the remains of St. Macreehy's Church (originally called Church of McCreehy by the seaside), a medieval parish church, built in the early 12th century on the site of a famous school founded by St. Macreehy in the 6th century. Next to the church ruin is a cemetery, with many Greene tombstones.
Lahinch (also called Lehinch) takes its name from Leacht Ui Chonchur O'Connor's Grave. It has an 'internationally recognised golf course', and to its north, at O'Brien's Bridge, is Dough Castle, built by an O'Connor, and taken over by the O'Briens. On the cliffs of Moher ('the tallest cliffs in Europe'), several miles from Lahinch, is O'Brien's tower, built in 1835 as an observation point for strangers.