Kilmoon


Kilmoon is a civil parish of County Clare, Ireland, north of Ennistymon. The parish contains the town of Lisdoonvarna.

History

The patron saint of the Roman Catholic parish is St Muadanus; very little is known about him and he's not even mentioned in either the Acta Sanctorum of Colgan nor in the Martyrology of Donegal. The parish was listed as "Kilmugoun" in the Papal taxation of 1302. There is a Romanesque standing stone in the area on the site of a ruined church, St Mogua.
Kilmoon fell under the poor law union of Ennistymon in the barony of Burren, and ecclesiastically belonged to the Diocese of Kilfenora in the Province of Cashel as of 1810.

Geography

The civil parish of Kilmoon is in the northwestern part of the county and is bordered by Rathborney to the northeast, Killeany to the east, Kilfenora to the southeast, Killilagh to the southwest, and Killonaghan to the northwest. It is divided into 22 townlands, including Kilmoon East, Kilmoon West, Knockaskeheen, and Caherbarnagh.

Antiquities

The townland of Cahercloggaun contains a cashel and Cahercloggaun Castle. The latter is a ruined 15th-century castle originally owned by the O'Loghlens and built in the southern corner of the ringfort. The property is mentioned several times in 16th-century documents, when inhabitants of the castle were pardoned for committed crimes.