Kirkby Ireleth

Kirkby Ireleth was an ancient parish in the Lonsdale Hundred of Lancashire. The parish was subdivided into three townships: Broughton West (also known as a Broughton-in-Furness), Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite, and a Kirkby Ireleth township covering the southern and eastern parts of the parish. The latter township was further subdivided into sections called Heathwaite, Kirkby Moor, Low Quarter, Middle Quarter, and Woodland.{{cite web |title=Kirkby Ireleth |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/10572 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=12 April 2025}}{{cite web |title=Kirkby Ireleth Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10368972 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=12 April 2025}}

File:St Cuthbert's Church, Beckside.jpg

The parish church, dedicated to St Cuthbert, was in the Low Quarter, at Beck Side.{{cite web |title=Lancashire Sheet XI |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102343727 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=12 April 2025 |date=1850}} The building dates back to the 12th century.{{NHLE|num=1086792|desc=Church of St Cuthbert|grade=II*}}

From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the poor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Kirkby Ireleth, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so the three townships also became separate civil parishes.{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}

The civil parish today retains the name Kirkby Ireleth, but it was historically also known as Kirkby-in-Furness.{{cite book |title=Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society: Volume 13 |date=1895 |page=269 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Transactions_of_the_Cumberland_Westmorla/jp9UAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA269&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 April 2025}} The latter version of the name was adopted by the General Post Office as the name for the post town covering the area.{{cite book |title=Edinburgh and Leith Directory |date=1885–1886 |publisher=Post Office |pages=717 |chapter=Postal Directory - England}}

There are two tiers of local government covering Kirkby Ireleth, at parish and unitary authority level: Kirkby Ireleth Parish Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.{{cite web |title=Kirkby Ireleth Parish Council |url=https://kirkbyirelethpc.org.uk/ |access-date=12 April 2025}}

When elected parish and district councils were created under the Local Government Act 1894, Kirkby Ireleth was included in the Ulverston Rural District, which was renamed North Lonsdale Rural District in 1960. North Lonsdale Rural District was abolished in 1974, and Kirkby Ireleth became part of the South Lakeland district in the new county of Cumbria.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|accessdate=3 March 2023}}{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|accessdate=3 March 2023}} South Lakeland was abolished in 2023 when the new Westmorland and Furness Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=331|access-date=24 January 2024}}

At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,201. The population was 1,247 at the 2001 census.[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790350 Office for National Statistics: Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : South Lakeland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205102055/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790350 |date=5 December 2014 }} Retrieved 26 October 2010

• Denny Dennis - born Ronald Dennis Pountain, (1913-1993), romantic vocalist during the 1930s to the 1950s.{{Cite web |title=Furness Stories Behind the Stones - Denny Dennis |url=

https://furnessstoriesbehindthestones.co.uk/stories/dennis-denny/ |access-date=July 2, 2024 |website=Furness Stories Behind the Stones}}

• Margaret Fell (1614–1702), theologian and co-founder of Quakerism
• Henry 'Harry' Gifford (1884 - 1952), professional rugby league footballer who played for Barrow, Lancashire, England and Great Britain.1891 United Kingdom Census, Administrative County of Lancaster, Civil Parish of Ulverston, Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Mary's, page 37, schedule number 212.1901 United Kingdom Census, Administrative County of Lancaster, Civil Parish of Ulverston, Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Mary's, page 26, schedule number 152.1911 United Kingdom Census, Registration District Barrow-in-Furness, schedule number 97.
• Alfred Basil 'Woody' Woodhall {{postnominals|country=GB|size=100%|sep=,|OBE}}, CzWC, LOM (1897–1968), senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.{{Cite web |title=The Airmen's Stories - W/Cdr. A B Woodhall |url=http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Woodhall.htm |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=The Battle of Britain London Monument}}

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• Listed buildings in Kirkby Ireleth

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/kirkby-ireleth Cumbria County History Trust: Kirkby Ireleth] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)

{{Cumbria}}

Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria

Category:Westmorland and Furness

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