In 1418, Thomas FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Desmond was dispossessed of his lands and deprived of his earldom by his paternal uncle, James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond, after Thomas had concluded a marriage far below his station to Catherine MacCormac of Abbeyfeale; Catherine was the daughter one of Thomas's dependants, William MacCormac, known as "the Monk of Feale." A marriage between a man of Norman blood and a woman of Gaelic ancestry was in violation of the Statutes of Kilkenny.
Town
The main feature in Abbeyfeale's Square is a statue of Father William Casey. Fr. Casey was the parish priest from 1883 to 1907 and helped the tenant farmers fight against their landlords. The local Gaelic football team is named in his honour. Recently the town celebrated the centenary of Fr. Casey's influence by having a Fr. Casey themed Saint Patrick's Day Parade. The May Bank Holiday weekend sees the town host the "Fleadh by the Feale" traditional music festival. The 2009 festival was the thirteenth of these annual events. The International Bone Playing Competition is one of the highlights of the festival and is held on the Bank Holiday Monday evening on the open air stage in the town square. The town is known for its musical traditions, and traditional musicians such as Donal Murphy and Eibhlin Healy have lived in the town. There was a cinema in the town, opened by the Tobin family in the 1930s designed in the classical tradition. Its demise came about with the advent of the multi complex and it closed in the early 1990s. It is now a protected building, and still stands today. The town had a dancehall, "The Abbey Ballroom", also established by the Tobin family in the 1930/1940s. Many big bands of the time played there. With the opening of the dance/pubs it closed in the 1980s. The town previously had an abbey, located in the centre of the town square, but this has since all but disappeared, and the only identifiable remnants are those used in the construction of the Roman Catholic Church in 1847, on the site of the current boys national school on Church street. Church street as it is now know was originally named Chapel street, as can be seen in old period OS maps of the town. The GeraldinePortrinard Castle is situated about 2.5 km northwest of the town, on the north bank of the Feale.
Schools include Coláiste Íde agus Iosef, a secondary school serving Limerick and surrounding counties. The boys school is called St Mary's and the girls school is called Scoil Mhaithair De.
Sports
Abbeyfeale has a number of sporting clubs, including Father Caseys Gaelic football club, Abbeyfeale United FC soccer club, and Abbyefeale RFC.
Notable people
Phil Danaher, Irish Rugby International and Gaelic Footballer, grew up in Abbeyfeale.
