Farran
{{about|the village in Ireland|people with the name|Farran (surname)}}
{{short description|Village in County Cork, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Farran
|other_name =
|native_name = {{native name|ga|An Fearann}}
|native_name_lang = ga
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = Aglish church and cemetery (geograph 5003852).jpg
|image_caption = Ruins of Aglish church and cemetery near Farran village
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|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
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|population_as_of = 2022
|population_footnotes = {{cite web | title = Census Interactive Map – Towns: Farran | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=54c75cc1-6ec7-430a-b42f-56a0a6a64703 | work = Census 2022 | publisher = Central Statistics Office | access-date = 14 April 2025}}
|population = 326
|timezone1 = WET
|utc_offset1 = +0
| utc_offset1_DST = -1
|coordinates = {{coord|51|52|26|N|08|43|12|W|region:IE|display=inline,title}}
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Farran ({{irish place name|An Fearann}}){{cite web|publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | url = https://www.logainm.ie/1416585.aspx | website = logainm.ie | title = An Fearann / Farran | access-date = 5 May 2020}} is a village in County Cork, Ireland, in the parish of Ovens. It lies on the southside of the River Lee. Farran is {{convert|12|mi|km}} west from Cork City on the N22 road.
The village has a primary school, creche and Montessori school, a church, community hall, and a number of small businesses. Kilcrea Friary and Kilcrea Castle are historical sites in the area. As of the 2022 census, Farran was home to 326 people.
Ecclesiastical history
=Medieval church (Aglish)=
Farran lies within the historical barony of Muskerry East and the ancient parish of Aglish (from {{Irish place name|Eaglais|church}}). The medieval parish church at Aglish is recorded in taxation records of 1199 as 'Magalaid',{{cite journal | journal = Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society | volume = 3 | publisher = Cork Historical and Archaeological Society | date = 1894 | title = Parishes of Muskerry | page = 111 | quote = The parish of Aglish is given in Taxation 1199 as Magalaid [..] its old name was Maal, a corrupt form of the former word }} and by 1482 was recorded as 'Agalasmaschala'.{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/11235.aspx | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | title = An Eaglais / Aglish (see text records) | access-date = 6 May 2020}}
The ruins of this church, which was built of stone and lime, still show the northern and western walls.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} The old graveyard is to the rear of the western gable. A new graveyard was opened in the 1970s, and is still being used for families in the area.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
=19th century church (Farran) =
The current parish church at Farran is in the Roman Catholic parish of Ovens (formed of the ancient parishes of Aglish, Athnowen, and Desertmore).{{cite web|url = http://ovensparish.com/history/ | website = ovensparish.com | title = Ovens/Farran Parish - History | access-date = 6 May 2020 }} It was commissioned by the then parish priest, Fr. John Cotter, in 1860.{{cite web|url = https://ovensparish.com/aglish/ | website = ovensparish.com | title = Ovens/Farran Parish - Aglish | access-date = 6 May 2020 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20907220/farran-roman-catholic-church-farran-co-cork | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Farran Roman Catholic Church, Farran, County Cork | access-date = 6 May 2020 }} Replacing a smaller temporary church which dated from the 1820s, it was built beside the road leading from Farran village to Aglish burial ground. Funded by local subscription,{{cite web|url = https://www.independent.ie/regionals/corkman/news/schoolkids-debunk-farran-myth-27075176.html | publisher = Independent News & Media | work = The Corkman | title = Schoolkids debunk Farran myth | date = 18 February 2010 | access-date = 6 May 2020}} the church was built in a Gothic Revival style by contractor John Crean to designs by ME Hadfield and George Goldie of Sheffield.
Farran Church is unusual in that the entire building (rather than just the altar) is consecrated. In 2010, Farran Church celebrated its 150th year in use.
Farran Wood and the Clarke estate
File:Taiscumar Reservoir from Farran Forest (geograph 5163146).jpg (reservoir) from Farran Wood]]
Farran Forrest Park (commonly called Farran Wood) is a {{convert|44|hectare}} woodland area just north of Farran village. It is a public park operated by Coillte, and is located on the southern bank of the River Lee at Inniscarra Lake.{{cite web|url = https://www.coillte.ie/site/farran-forest-park/ | publisher = Coillte | website = coillte.ie | title = Farran Forest Park | access-date = 6 May 2020 }}{{cite web|url = http://www.corko.net/calendar/farran-forest-park | publisher = Cork Orienteering Club | website = corko.net | title = Farran Forest Park | access-date = 6 May 2020 }} It is the home of the National Rowing Centre.{{cite web|url = https://www.rowingireland.ie/national-rowing-centre-4/ | publisher = Rowing Ireland | website = rowingireland.ie| title = National Rowing Centre, Farran Wood, Co. Cork |access-date = 6 May 2020 }}
Farran Wood was originally part of a larger estate, formerly associated with the Matthews and previously the Clarke families.{{cite book | url = https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/generations-memories-of-the-lee-hydroelectric-scheme-county-cork.pdf | title = Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork |author1=K McCarthy |author2=S O'Donoghue | page = 92 | date = 2008 | publisher = Lilliput Press | quote = the Matthews leased [Nadrid House] back from the ESB. Part of the deal encompassed the giving of Farran Wood to the Irish State }} The Clarke family had been local landlords who came to Farran in the mid-19th century.{{cite web|url = http://www.landedestates.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=2854 | publisher = National University of Ireland | work = Landed Estates Database | title = Estate: Clarke (Farran) | access-date = 6 May 2020 }} Originally from Liverpool in England, the Clarke family first settled in Trabolgan near Midleton and later in Farran, where they extended a Georgian house which had formerly been owned by the Penrose family.{{cite web | url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20907222/farran-house-farran-co-cork | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Farran House, Farran, County Cork | access-date = 6 May 2020 }} The Clarke family were involved in the tobacco industry and opened a cigar company, William Clarke & Son, in Cork in the mid-19th century.{{cite book|author=B. W. E. Alford|title=W.D. & H.O. Wills and the Development of the UK Tobacco Industry: 1786-1965|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iS78AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA387|date=5 November 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-58419-0|page=387}}
Neighbouring townlands
= Ballineadig =
Ballineadig townland borders Farran, and contains a "cill" site within a circular mound. This ecclesiastical enclosure, locally known as An Teampall (the temple) is traditionally associated with Saint Finbarr.{{cite book| title = Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork | place = Dublin | publisher = Government Stationery Office| date = 1997 | quote = CO072-110---- [..] Class: Ecclesiastical enclosure [..] Townland: Ballineadig }} There are also a number of fulacht fiadh and ringfort sites within the townland.{{cite web|url = https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Cork-Manual-1-(1998)-0007.pdf | publisher = Dúchas, The Heritage Service | title = Recorded Monuments Protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994 - County Cork - Volume 1 | date = 1996 | pages = 363–364 | quote = CO072-104--- [thru] CO072-110--- Ballineadig }}
The name of the townland in English, Ballineadig, derives from the Irish Baile an Éadaigh ("town of the clothes"), reputedly referring to a former clothes producer in the area.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} The River Lee represents the northern boundary of Ballineadig. In 1957, the Electricity Supply Board constructed a dam to generate electricity at Inniscarra. This dramatically raised the water level of the river, and thus, several sections of land in Ballineadig were subject to compulsory purchase.
= Kilcrea =
File:Kilcrea Castle, Farran, Co. Cork - geograph.org.uk - 1243394.jpg
{{main|Kilcrea Abbey|Kilcrea Castle}}
Kilcrea Abbey and Kilcrea Castle were both built in the 1460s by Cormac Láidir McCarthy. The ruins of the two structures lie in the townland of Kilcrea on the southern bank of the River Bride, approximately {{convert|1.5|km}} from Farran village.
Among the people buried at Kilcrea Abbey are several generations of the MacCarthys of Muskerry, the writer Art Ó Laoghaire and Thomas O'Herlahy the Catholic Bishop of Ross. The abbey was pillaged several times, and though restored to the Franciscans in the early 17th century, was abandoned before being occupied during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.{{cite web|url = https://www.franciscans.ie/friaries/kilcrea-co-cork/ | website = franciscans.ie | title = Kilcrea (Co. Cork) | quote = the [Kilcrea] friars had to withdraw for a while, but had returned by 1603. They were finally expelled in 1614 | access-date = 6 May 2020}}{{cite web|url = http://www.irishstones.org/place.aspx?p=655&i=17 | website = irishstones.org | title = Kilcrea Friary | access-date = 6 May 2020 }}
Kilcrea railway station, located about {{convert|1|km}} south of Farran Cross, was formerly a stop on the Cork-Macroom line, and accommodated cargo and passenger trains. The Farran community depended largely on the station until the widespread introduction of cars, after which the necessity of passenger trains decreased and haulage lorries reduced the need for cargo trains. Kilcrea station closed to passenger traffic in the 1930s and to goods traffic in the 1940s.{{cite web | title=Kilcrea station | publisher=Railscot - Irish Railways | website = railscot.co.uk | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=6 May 2020 }} The station house can still be seen today and is still occupied. The road which runs alongside the station became known as Station House Road, which runs from the N22 towards Aherla.
= Rooves Beg =
Within Aglish parish, in the townland of Rooves Beg, is a holy well known in Irish as Tobar Riogh an Domhnaigh (King of Sunday). It is also called Tobareen an Aifrinn (well of the mass) as mass was reputedly celebrated nearby in Penal times.{{cite journal |url = https://www.corkhist.ie/wp-content/uploads/jfiles/1947/b1947-002.pdf | journal = Journal of the Cork Historical & Archaeological Society | publisher = Cork Historical & Archaeological Society | title = Holy wells of East Muskerry, Co. Cork | volume = 52 | issue = 175 | page = 11 | date = 1947 }}
The well is on a section of road, which was once the main Cork to Kerry road (known as the butter road). The well is covered with a hood shaped construction. People traditionally visit the well on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and mid-August.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
Notable people
- Liam Miller (1981–2018), association footballer with Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland national team{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
- Máire Ní Chéileachair, traditional sean-nós Irish singer{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
- Ciarán Sheehan (b.1990), All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer and later Australian rules footballer{{cite web|url = https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/1117/920944-ciaran-sheehan-i-was/ | publisher = RTÉ | website = rte.ie | title = Ciaran Sheehan: 'I was lucky enough to get four years' | date = 17 November 2017 | access-date = 5 May 2020 }}