Rosscarbery (Irish: Ros Ó gCairbre, meaning 'Cairbre's wood')[2] is a village and census town in County Cork, Ireland. The village is on a shallow estuary, which opens onto Rosscarbery Bay. Rosscarbery is in the Cork South-West (Dáil Éireann) constituency, which has three seats.
History
The area has been occupied since at least the Neolithic period, as evidenced by several Neolithic sites such as portal dolmens. The area is also home to a number of Bronze Age remains, including a number of stone circles and ring forts. There are two inscribed stones in Burgatia, and several (later) holy wells nearby.[citation needed]
Rosscarbery was home to the School of Ross, a major centre of learning, at one time being a university town, and one of the major cities in Europe, around the 6th century. Due to its popularity as a centre of pilgrimage it was also known as Ros Ailithir ("Wood of the Pilgrims").[3] The hereditary chieftains of the area, or tuath, were the O'Learys, known as Uí Laoghaire Ruis Ó gCairbre, until it passed to Norman control in the early thirteenth century.[4] The entire region had belonged to the ancient Corcu Loígde, of whom the O'Learys were one of the leading septs.[citation needed]
In March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, Tom Barry's 3rd Cork (IRA) Brigade attacked and destroyed the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in Rosscarbery. Two RIC officers were killed in the attack, and nine others were injured.[5][6] There is a plaque on the site of the former barracks, beside the current Garda station, commemorating the event.[7]
Demographics
In the 20 years between the 1991 and 2011 census, the population of Rosscarbery grew by approximately 17%, from 455 to 534 people.[8] As of the 2016 census, the population was 490.[8]
As a tourist area, there are a number of holiday homes around Rosscarbery,[1] which results in an annual swell in population during summer months.[citation needed]
Religion
Rosscarbery Cathedral
The Church of Ireland's dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross were effectively merged during rationalisation in the 1860s. The bishop of this tridiocese, Paul Colton, is based in Cork.
There is a cathedral in Rosscarbery, an unusual feature for what is now a relatively small settlement. It is a Church of Ireland cathedral - St. Fachtna's Cathedral. St Fachtna's is the smallest cathedral in Ireland, and is the size of a typical parish church.
The Catholic church, in the diocese of Cork and Ross, is also called St. Fachtna's and dates from 1820.[9]
Places of interest
Collins' shop on Chapel Street in Rosscarbery at the turn of the 20th century
Square
An annual horse fair is held in Rosscarbery's square every year in August.[10]
Beaches
Rosscarbery is a tourist destination in the summertime, being in proximity to at least three beaches. The nearest of these, the "Warren Beach", is about a mile from the village, and is designated a blue flag beach, along with the nearby Owenahincha beach. Extensive coastal erosion at Warren Beach resulted in remedial works being undertaken throughout 2004 and 2005.[citation needed] Rosscarbery Pitch & Putt Club is located at the beach.
Estuary
Rosscarbery has a tidal estuary and mudflat on the south side of the main road and causeway (N71) and a large brackish lagoon on the north side. At the west end of the causeway, south of the main road is a small lagoon with reed beds.[11]
Castle Salem is also near the village, and was the home to the Morris family from around 1660 until the early 1800s. The castle is now a guest house and run by the family who bought the castle in 1895.
Transport
Holiday cottages at Rosscarbery
Rosscarbery is on the N71 road that runs through counties Cork and Kerry. The nearest town is Clonakilty (10 kilometres (6 mi) to the north-east).Cork city is 53 kilometres (33 mi) to the north-east.
There are bus routes serving Rosscarbery that operate along the N71.
Tom Barry (1897–1980), a leader of the Irish War of Independence, is also associated with the area. Born in Kerry to Cork parents, as of the 1901 census records his family were living in Killorglin,[14] where Barry's father [also Thomas] was posted to Killorglin barracks as an RIC constable.[15] Tom Barry had moved to Rosscarbery with his family by 1911,[16] and a Rosscarbery house bears a plaque to this effect. In his memoir, Guerrilla Days in Ireland, Barry recalls riding a cow through the main street to amuse other boys.
AI924.1 Kl. Gothbraid, grandson of Ímar, went by sea westwards and took the hostages of the south of Ireland by sea to Ros Ailithir.
AI933.2 Repose of Ólchobar, abbot of Ros Ailithir.
AI954.2 Repose of Dub Inse, learned bishop of Ireland, and of Cellachán, king of Caisel, and of Éladach the learned, abbot of Ros Ailithir, and of Uarach, bishop of Imlech Ibuir, and of Célechair, abbot of Cluain Moccu Nóis and Cluain Iraird, and of Cormac Ua Maíl Shluaig, learned sage of Mumu, and of Lugaid Ua Maíl Shempail, abbot of Domnach Pátraic, and of Cenn Faelad son of Suibne, anchorite of Cluain Ferta Brénainn.
^O'Flanagan, P.; Buttimer, C.G. (1993). Cork History and Society. Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County. Dublin: Geography Publications. p. 216.
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