Kilfinny

{{Short description|Parish and townland in County Limerick, Ireland}}

File:Castles of Munster, Kilfinny, Limerick - geograph.org.uk - 3037371.jpg ]]

Kilfinny ({{irish place name|Cill na Fíonaí|church of the wood}}){{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/1560.aspx | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | title = Cill na Fíonaí / Kilfinny | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }} is a civil parish and townland in County Limerick, Ireland.{{cite web|url = https://www.townlands.ie/limerick/kilfinny1/ | website = townlands.ie | title = Civil Parish of Kilfinny, Co. Limerick | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }} It is close to Adare and Croom in the historical barony of Connello Upper.{{cite book | title = A History and Topography of Limerick City and County | series = A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) | publisher = Mercier Press | place = Dublin | date = 1980 | isbn = 0853425663 | editor-first = Samuel | editor-last = Lewis | quote = Kilfinny, a parish, is in the eastern division of the barony of Upper Connell[o], four miles south west from Adare, on the road from Croom }}

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of fulacht fiadh, holy well and ringfort sites in the townlands of Commons, Ballynakill and Kilfinny.{{cite book | title = Record of Monuments and Places - County Limerick | date = 1997 | publisher = National Monuments and Historic Properties Service | place = Dublin }} Kilfinny Castle, an Elizabethan-era fortified house built on the site of an earlier tower house, was besieged during the Irish Rebellion of 1641.{{citation |url = http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/vilac2.pdf | title = Bicentenary of Kilfinny Church, a local history | date = 1990 | via = limerickcity.ie | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }} The coordination of the castle's defence, during the siege, is historically attributed to Elizabeth Dowdall.{{Cite journal|last=Westropp |first=Thomas Johnson |date=1907 |title=The Principal Ancient Castles of the County Limerick: Part II Tudor Period |journal=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=162–163 |jstor=25507604 }}{{cite book |url = http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/0001%20Round%20About%20the%20County%20of%20Limerick%20ocr.pdf | chapter = Lady Dowdall's Defence of Kilfinny Castle, 1642 (Chapter XIV) | page = 240-252| title = Round about the County of Limerick | date = 1896 | place = Limerick | publisher = McKern & Sons | first = Rev. James | last = Dowd | via = limerickcity.ie }}

The area's national (primary) school, known as Scoil Náisiúnta Ciarain or Kilfinny National School, had an enrollment of 53 pupils as of January 2024.{{cite web|url = https://www.gov.ie/en/directory/page/twu3k9-bclgah-/ | publisher = Department of Education | website = gov.ie | title = Directory Page - S N Ciarain | date = 22 January 2024 | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }} St Kieran's church is in the Roman Catholic parish of Croagh-Kilfinny in the Diocese of Limerick.{{cite web|url = https://www.limerickdiocese.org/pastoral-units-and-parishes/pastoral-unit-11/croagh-kilfinny/ | publisher = Diocese of Limerick | website = limerickdiocese.org | title = Croagh-Kilfinny Parish | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }} The current church is built on the site of an earlier late 18th-century chapel. The local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club, Croagh-Kilfinny GAA, was founded in 1903.{{cite web|url = https://croaghkilfinnygaa.com/ | website = croaghkilfinnygaa.com| title = Croagh/Kilfinny GAA {{!}} Founded 1903 | accessdate = 12 April 2024 }}