Conna
{{short description|Village in County Cork, Ireland}}
{{about|the village in Ireland|the town of ancient Phrygia|Conna (Phrygia)}}
{{confused|Cona (disambiguation){{!}}Cona|Konna}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Conna
|other_name =
|native_name = {{lang|ga|Conaithe}}
|native_name_lang = ga
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = Conna_Castle.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption = Conna Castle viewed from the east
|image_map =
|mapsize =
|map_caption =
|pushpin_map = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = top
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Ireland
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Munster
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = County Cork
|subdivision_type3 =
|subdivision_name3 =
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|unit_pref = Metric
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|population_as_of = 2022
|population_footnotes = {{cite web | title = Census Interactive Map – Towns: Conna | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=b7e8d4a1-6640-4864-b2a2-f4bafe06fbf9 | work = Census 2022 | publisher = Central Statistics Office | access-date = 17 March 2025}}
|population = 609
|population_note =
|population_density_km2 =
|timezone1 = WET
|utc_offset1 = +0
|utc_offset1_DST = -1
|coordinates = {{coord|52|05|34|N|08|06|36|W|region:IE|display=inline,title}}
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Conna ({{Irish place name|Conaithe}}){{cite web | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | url = https://www.logainm.ie/1416578.aspx | title = Conaithe / Conna | accessdate = 12 October 2022 }} is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Bride, southeast of the town of Fermoy, on the R628 regional road. The village contains several pubs, a shop, a post office, a Roman Catholic church (built {{circa|1820}}){{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20904509/saint-catherines-church-conna-cork| publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Saint Catherine's Church, Conna, Cork | accessdate = 12 October 2022 }} and a nearby Church of Ireland chapel. The village is dominated by Conna Castle, a five-story tower house situated on a limestone outcrop near the river.
History
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort, standing stone and fulacht fiadh sites in the townlands of Conna, Clashaganniv, Curraheen and Kilclare.{{cite book | title = Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East And South Cork | place = Dublin | publisher = Government Stationery Office | date = 1994}}
During the mid-16th century, the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond, built Conna Castle on a high limestone rock overlooking the River Bride. The castle and its estate was seized by the English and passed into the hands of Walter Raleigh, the English settler. The rightful heir to the castle, James FitzThomas (the Sugán Earl) staged an unsuccessful attempt to capture the castle. The castle then went through a series of different owners before ending up in the hands of the Earl of Cork. It is believed that Oliver Cromwell passed by the castle and fired cannons at it before moving on.{{cite magazine | title = Conna Castle | magazine = The Illustrated Dublin Journal | volume = 1 | issue = 24 | date = 15 February 1862 | url = http://www.libraryireland.com/articles/ConnaCastleIDJ/ | via = libraryireland.com }} In 1653, the castle suffered a fire in which three of the steward's daughters were killed.{{cite web|url=http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=FI_48773|title=Things to see or do - Conna Castle |website=discoverireland.com | archiveurl = https://archive.today/20130408022242/http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=FI_48773| archivedate = 8 April 2013 }} The castle continued to move from owner to owner until Hilary L'Estrange purchased the castle in 1851. He passed it on to his son, Rev A. G. K. L'Estrange, on whose death in 1915, the castle was willed into the care of the state.{{Cite journal |last=Coleman |first=James |date=1915 |title=Conna Castle |url=https://www.corkhist.ie/wp-content/uploads/jfiles/1915/b1915-035.pdf |journal=Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society |volume=21 |issue=107 |pages=129–131 }}
Notable people
- Liam Kearney (born 1983), professional footballer and coach{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40202852.html| publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = Liam Kearney back at Cork City as club's Head of Academy | date = 7 January 2021 | accessdate = 12 October 2022 }}
- Angela Lansbury (1925–2022), actor and producer, moved to the area with her husband Peter Shaw and lived in a 19th-century farmhouse named Knockmourne Glebe.{{cite book |last1=Gottfried |first1=Martin |authorlink1=Martin Gottfried |title=Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury |year=1999 |publisher=Little, Brown & Company |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/balancingactauth00gott/page/205 205–208] |isbn=0-316-32225-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/balancingactauth00gott/page/205 }}
- Bartholomew MacCarthy (1843–1904), Irish historian{{Cite CE1913 | wstitle = Bartholomew MacCarthy | noicon = yes }}