|
|
The official spelling of the name is Dromcolliher, although locals use Dromcollogher. The placename is also spelt Drumcollogher. The name is derived from the Irish Drom Collachair which means "the ridge of the hazel wood". Dromcollogher grew in the 1640s when the Courtenay family came to the area to plant the lands they had received following the defeat of the Munster Geraldines by the English in 1583. The diamond in the town centre serves as a reminder of the plantation origins of this town. Today the town is renowned as the home of a world famous Dresden porcelain factory, established here in 1962. Broadford was formerly known as the parish of Killaliathan or Killagholehane. Broadford was originally called Béal an Átha which means "the ford mouth". The Ó Coileáins once ruled all the lands that encompass Broadford and the parish of Kilkeedy. After the Norman invasion, the land came under the control of the Fitzgerald family, the Earls of Desmond. The seat of power in the area was at Springfield Castle. It was historically referred to as Gort na Tiobraid Castle. It is now under the ownership of Lord Muskerry whose forefather; Sir Robert Tilson Deane became the first Lord Muskerry in 1781. A local tradition surrounds Glenacopple Wood. According to the tale, a woman was thirsty during the saving of a crop of hay. She went into the nearby church in Killagholehane and drank some of the consecrated wine. For this, she was ordered to plough out the glen with two white horses. It is claimed that she stills haunts the glen, which is called Gleann na gCapall (the Glen of the Horse). Percy French wrote a song called 'There's only one house in Dromcollogher'. A plaque erected on a wall of a house in the Town Square where Percy French stayed commemorates this.
|
