KILMURRY, a parish, in the county of LIMERICK, and
province of MUNSTER, 21/4 miles (E.)
from Limerick, on the southern bank of the Shannon;
containing 1803 inhabitants. It comprises 3277 statute
acres, as applotted under the tithe act, besides 141/2 acres
of glebe and about 35 acres of bog. The soil is very
fertile, and the land is mostly meadow or pasture, and
is well planted near the Shannon. Limestone is quarried
at Newcastle and other places in the parish. There
are a paper and an oil mill at Ballyclough, a paper-mill
at Annacotty, and flour-mills at Ballysimon. The principal
seats are Newcastle, the residence of M. O'Brien,
Esq.; Plassy, of R. Harvey, Esq.; Milford, of T. Fitzgerald,
Esq.; Shannon View, of T. Kelly, Esq.; Willow
Bank, of Capt. Hickey; Shannon Cottage, of G. MeKern,
Esq.; Killonan Cottage, of H. Rose, Esq.; and Ballyclough,
of P. Cudmore, Esq. The living is a rectory
and vicarage, in the diocese of Limerick, episcopally
united in 1792 to the rectory of Derrygalvin, and in the
alternate patronage of the Crown and the Bishop: the
tithes amount to £364, and of the union to £492. The
glebe-house was erected in 1790, by aid of a gift of £100
from the late Board of First Fruits: there are three
glebes, comprising together 141/2 acres. The church is
a substantial edifice, with a tower and spire of hewn
stone; for its erection the same Board granted a loan
of £580, in 1812. In the R. C. divisions the parish
forms part of the union or district of St. Patrick's,
Limerick. About 120 children are educated in three
private schools. On the banks of the Shannon, boldly
situated on a basaltic rock, are the ruins of Castle Troy,
which was erected by Derrnot O'Brien in the reign of
Hen. III.; above it is a modern gazebo, and not far
distant are the ruins of the ancient church of Killonan
or Killowen.