Sixmilebridge

Evidence of prehistorical settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, and a number of ringforts, mounds, enclosures and wedge tombs are located in the parish.

In antiquity, the name of the village was Cappagh (that name still present in local townlands), chiefly on the west side of the river, and Ballyarilla on the east. The name Cappagh is an anglicized form of an Irish word meaning a cultivated field, while Ballyarilla is named after the castle that once stood before Mount Ievers Court was built. An ancient name of the river appears to be Raite, today anglicised into Ratty; as the river flows past Bunratty Castle into the Shannon Estuary, it is still known as the Ratty. Kilfinaghty seemed to always be the name of the parish of Sixmilebridge. The village was under the Lordship of Thomond, especially the McNamaras and the O'Briens. It is assumed that the original local lords were the O'Garneys, but there is little reference to them in the histories. It is possible that the O'Ahernes were also ruling lords at a different time.

Coolmeen Lake, located in a valley in the hills east of Sixmilebridge, played an important part in the 13th-century "Wars of Turlough". During the fighting, Lochlainn MacNamara and his nephew were given safe conduct by the Norman De Clares, their rivals, to enter their castle without being harmed. But that was merely a trap, and the Irish were captured, marched from the Bunratty Castle to Coolmeen Lake, and executed there. Soon after, the De Clares were defeated at the Battle of Dysert O'Dea. The lake has since enjoyed a somewhat sinister reputation, with numerous legends of monstrous eels, witch-hares, and bottomless pits associated with the lake.

Sixmilebridge played a part in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The following passage is from The History and Topography of the County of Clare, by James Frost:

Immediately after Ludlow returned to Limerick, the Clare forces, under David Roche, son of Lord Fermoy, sent a message from Quin, by a woman, to Hugh O’Neill, Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison of Limerick, to the effect that they were about to come to his aid, and that they would wait at Sixmilebridge to learn from him how they could best render assistance. The woman was intercepted by the English at Thomondgate, and being conducted into the presence of one of their generals whom she was taught to believe to be O’Neill, she delivered her message. The information she possessed being extracted from the poor creature, they hanged her, "for fear of giving further intelligence", as they said.

The account goes on to tell that the garrison at Sixmilebridge were to move to Limerick when a light would be exhibited from "the mountain of Glenagross", i.e. Woodcock Hill, on 31 July. When the Cromwellian forces discovered this, they strengthened their garrison at Meelick Pass in response; in that time, the Pass would have been the main road to Limerick.

The main English lords of the area were the Ievers of Mount Ievers, the Butlers of Castlecrine, and the D'Esterres of Rossmanagher. All three of their houses (two of which have been demolished) are built on the site of earlier castles. After the Ievers came, building their seat on Ballyarilla Castle, that side of the river became known as Ieverstown, the other O'Brienstown. Sixmilebridge surpassed both these names in the 18th century.

The unusual English name of the village derives, as Thomas Dineley who visited Sixmilebridge in 1681, describes:

From Bunratty, the seat of the Earl of Thomond, into the town of Sixmilebridge, belonging also to that noble family, is 3 miles; from whence to the city of Limerick, to which are two ways, namely by the oil mills and the seat of the McNamaras beyond it, or over the high mountain, famous for its admirable prospect, hanging as it were over Sixmilebridge town and commonly known as Gallows Hill; this is the upper, the other the lower way to Limerick and from town to the city six miles either way, whence the town hath its name.

The original village grew up around a crossing place on the O'Garney River. By the end of the 17th century development was tied to the industrialisation of the area as people of Dutch origin found the river very suitable for milling. This ended abruptly with the building of a toll bridge on the river by Henry D'Esterre (Ó Dálaigh 2004). D'Esterre's construction gained a profit from people crossing the river but halted the trading done with Holland.

According to local tradition,[2] the famous duel between Daniel O'Connell and a member of the D'Esterre family in February 1815 arose from O'Connell's refusal to pay the toll. This conflicts with the conventional account of the duel. D'Esterre lost his life, but the toll bridge survived and remains standing to this day.

Parishes and churches

Former Anglican parish church

In 1837, the town was split between the Church of Ireland parishes of Kilfentinan and Kilfinaghty while the Roman Catholic parish of Sixmilebridge was a union of the Kilmurry-Negaul, Kilfinaghta and Feenagh parishes.[14][15]

The church of St. Finnachta was built in 1812 in Sixmilebridge, a thatched building with a mud floor. In 1980 the building was reconstructed and considerably enlarged.[16] This is the only church in use in the Catholic parish of Sixmilebridge, which is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe.[17] The Little Church, of Cratloe Parish, on the Limerick Road, is part of the Diocese of Limerick. It is less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) away from St. Finnachta's.

The former Church of Ireland (Anglican) building on Church Street, Kilfinaghty Church, is now used as the local branch of Clare County Library.

Arguably the oldest church in the parish is that of Ballysheen, reputedly built in the 12th century by Saint Finaghta. It is in a poor state, with two of the four walls still standing. Its surrounding graveyard is still a popular burial place for people of the parish.

Feenagh church, southwest of Sixmilebridge, is also a very old church. Feenagh was once a separate parish to Kilfinaghta.

A flock of geese in Sixmilebridge

The Sixmilebridge Winter Music Weekend is an annual festival, held in January, which has run since 2000. It was established by the Sixmilebridge Folk Club. It hosts a range of singers, instrumentalists, dancers and storytellers in a variety of musical styles.

A decorated 'duck inn' on the O'Garney River is occupied by a thriving population of ducks. The 'duck inn' is a floating raft with glass windows and painted walls. It houses the ducks during winter and is also where their locally consumed eggs are hatched and collected. It forms part of the tourist trail of Sixmilebridge.

Clubs and groups in Sixmilebridge include the local Tidy Towns committee, a youth club, the Sixmilebridge Variety Group, and the Bridge Complex.

There are two primary schools in the Sixmilebridge Parish, namely Sixmilebridge National School and Kilmurry National School. For secondary education, students go to schools in Limerick, Shannon, Ennis and Tulla.

The Limerick–Athenry railway line passes through the village. Sixmilebridge railway station opened on 17 January 1859 and finally closed on 17 June 1963. It was reopened on 29 March 2010 as part of the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor.[18]

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

• Haugh, D., Massacre at Sixmilebridge, in: The Other Clare, Vol. 35, p. 50-5, August 2011, ISSN 0332-088X.
• Ó Dálaigh, Brian (2004). "A History of Sixmilebridge, County Clare, 1603–1911". Irish Villages: Studies in Local History. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 243–280. ISBN 1-85182-766-8.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sixmilebridge.

• Sixmilebridge GAA website