Doora, County Clare
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Doora Dúire |
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| Civil parish | |
Castlefergus or Ballyhannon Castle
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 Doora
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| Coordinates: 52°49′56″N 8°55′09″W / 52.832331°N 8.919067°WCoordinates: 52°49′56″N 8°55′09″W / 52.832331°N 8.919067°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Clare |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
Doora (Irish: Dúire) is a civil parish and village in County Clare, Ireland, just to the east of the town of Ennis. It is part of the Catholic parish of Doora Barefield. Parts of Doora are contained in the town of Ennis.
In Irish the word Dúr means "water", and Dúire means "of water", so the name means the parish of the water or bog.
The parish is on the western border of the barony of Bunratty Upper, just east of the town of Ennis. It is 3.75 by 3 miles (6.04 by 4.83 km) and covers 5,927 acres (2,399 ha). The land includes bog, upland pasture and farmland. It is drained by the River Quin, which runs southwest into the River Fergus. The population in 1841 was 2,365 in 370 houses. While the original eponymous hamlet decayed, there are still clusters of houses in the general area of the townlands of Ballaghboy and Bunnow.
The history of Saint Brecan of Arran says he founded a church in Daclais that is named after him. According to James Frost the townland of Kilbreckan holds the ruined church of Carrantemple, a very old building, which may be this church. In fact Carntemple lies in the adjacent townland of Noughaval.Doora Church may have been founded by Saint Brecan around 500 AD. If Brecan was the founder, as tradition states, it would have been one of the first central mission churches in Clare. An 1842 map notes that the church was in ruins and shows it about 200 metres (660 ft) southwest of what was then the hamlet of Doora, in the west of the townland of Ballaghboy. It was about 300 metres (980 ft) east of the River Fergus, opposite the town of Ennis. There is also a ruined church named Kellavella. Two holy wells in the parish are dedicated to Saint Breccan.
The parish has the remains of two castles. Ballyhannon Castle was the property of William Neylan in 1580. Renamed Castlefergus, it was still well preserved in 1893. The castle has since been restored and may be rented. The other castle, Clonmore, was completely ruined by the end of the 19th century. As of 1845 the principal hamlets were Dowry and Ballaghboy. The parish name at that time was variously spelled Doora, Dowry, or Dowrie.
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Wikipedia