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History | Churches | Graveyards | Holy Wells | Grotto | Famous People | Townlands | Priests of the Parish
Brief Parish History & Geographical Location
The three counties of Limerick, Cork and Kerry converge at a point in the parish of Tournafulla/Mountcollins. A plaque has been placed at the river to mark this point. Within a few miles of the parish are the villages of Rockchapel, Co. Cork, and Brosna, Co. Kerry.
Tournafulla/Mountcollins parish was formed in 1838 from part of the parish of Killeedy. Until 1586, Mountcollins had been part of the parish of Monagea. The present day population of the parish is about 1,500 people.
The Irish for Tournafulla is Tuar na Fola that translates as the "Animal Enclosure of the Blood". This is in reference to a battle where blood was spilled. Tournafulla is surrounded by hills to the north and the Mullaghareirk Mountains to the south. Woods covered most of Tournafulla until the 17th century.
Mountcollins was formerly called Knockroedermot. The area used to be called the "Munster Coalfield". A large tract of land was reclaimed here in the middle of the nineteenth century. There are hills to the north and south-east and the land is mainly boggy. In the past, there was little more than a road in Mountcollins and people used to say, "I'm going to the road" in reference to it. During the famine in Mountcollins, a number of new roads were laid as part of the relief works that began nationwide in an effort to alleviate the immense poverty that existed at the time.
Mountcollins got its present name from Fr Luke Collins. Fr Collins served as priest to both Abbeyfeale and Mountcollins from the 1730s until his death in 1775. Fr Collins first said mass in a building on a hill called 'the Mount', which is the site of the present day church. Hence the name Mountcollins.
The O'Coileans ruled Southwest Limerick from the fourth to the thirteenth century. The area was called the Tuath of Corca Oíche, after the clan. The Gaelic lords of the Corca Oíche took the name Ó Macasa that became anglicised as Mackessy. To the east of Corca Oíche lay the lands of the Ó Coileáin called Claonghlais. The name Ó Coileáin was anglicised as Collins.
There used to be a presbytery in Ballycoman where the two priests of the parish lived. The building is still standing and is now owned by the O'Sullivan family. In the 1930s the house was sold off together with the adjoining farm.
The parish records were originally kept in this Old Presbytery.
However, when the new parochial house in Tournafulla was built the transfer
of the records did not go quite as planned. During this process some of the
records were lost. The oldest set of records date back to April 1st 1867.
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The construction of the present day church in Tournafulla began in 1855. However a shortage of funds meant that the roof was not completed until 1859. On receiving a loan from the earl of Devon, the church was roofed. Fr Richard Shanahan said the first mass in the new church on February 1st1859. Shortly after this mass, Fr Shanahan died and was buried in the site of the old church in Tournafulla. Outside the church on the right there is a grotto to Mary. Tournafulla village grew up around the church.
Over the door of the church in Tournafulla there is a small stained glass window of St Patrick who the church is dedicated to. There is a picture of St Bernadette on the left-hand side of the nave of the church. Behind the high altar in the church there is a stained glass window that depicts (from left to right) St Anthony, the Crucifixion of Jesus and St Patrick. To the left of the altar there is a statue to the Virgin Mary while on the right of the altar there is a statue to the Sacred Heart.
Buried within the church is:
Fr P. Corkery
Parish Priest 1869-88
Died 1890
Buried in the grounds of the church are:
Fr John McCarthy
Born 1904
Parish Priest
Died on October 4th 1979.
Fr Richard Shanahan
Parish Priest 1849-59
Died 1859
The church in Mountcollins is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. It
was built in 1859 and the building was extended during 1954/5. The church
in Mountcollins is close to the Kerry border and indeed some of the churchgoers
here are from Co. Kerry. The church bell was installed in 1992 in memory of
Mrs Johanna Bell, who was a benefactress of the parish. In the porch of the
church there is a water font that was erected by Mountcollins D. S. in 1945.
There are stained glass windows on the left side of the church of St Pius X, St Joseph and Blessed Oliver Plunkett. On the right hand side of the church there are stained glass windows to St Anne, St Cecilia and St Maria Goretti. Over the gallery there are stained glass windows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart. Various donors presented the stained glass windows to the church.
There is an altar to St Theresa of Liseux on the left of the nave. To the left of the main altar there is a statue to Mary and to the right of the main altar, there is a statue to the Sacred Heart.
Buried in the grounds of the church is:
Daniel F. Murphy
C.C. 1949-1959
P.P. 1979-1990
The previous church in Tournafulla was built in 1814. Although no trace of
the church remains, the site can be entered by gate from a point just beyond
the parochial house. This church had a thatched roof and was built with ash
and stones. This church was part of the old village of Tournafulla. However,
following the Great Flood of 1839 by the river Allaughan, the village moved
to a higher location. The walk to the old church site is over marshy ground
along a path that once served as a mass path. There were two mass paths, one
for each end of the parish. These paths can still be walked in parts. The
old church was called "the Chapel of the Mountain of the Curse".
Westropp referred to this church as Monte Maledictions.
On the site of the church, there is a plain headstone set
on stone. This headstone marks the original burial place of Fr Shanahan. In
1994, his body was exhumed and reburied in the new cemetery behind Tournafulla
church. The people of the parish erected a headstone to his memory over the
new gravesite.
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There are two graveyards presently in use in the parish of Tournafulla/Mountcollins. Each of the two graveyards is situated beside one of the two churches.
The present day cemetery in Tournafulla opened in 1962. Prior to 1962, most of the people in Tournafulla were buried in one of three places: Templeglantine, Monagea or Abbeyfeale. There are two priests buried in the new cemetery, Fr Shanahan and Fr John McCarthy. A grotto has been erected directly behind the site of Fr Shanahan's grave.
The graveyard in Mountcollins is older than its compatriot in Tournafulla. The oldest headstone that we came across was in memory of Eaneas D. Lane from Knockulcare, who died in June 1875.
There is also an old graveyard in the parish. This graveyard
is situated below the site of the old church in Tournafulla. However, there
are no headstones to mark the graves here, only stone markers. The field in
which this graveyard is located is called the "White Field" and
is owned by Dinny Brown.
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Holy Wells
Tobar an Chrainn well is in Mountcollins on the lands of Mr William Leahy.
In the past, rounds were made at the well. Nowadays the well is covered over
by briars and there are no devotions made there.
According to Danaher, Tobar a' Chrainn well was a small well
in a grove of whitethorn, dedicated to St Ita. Small religious objects were
left here as offerings, rags were left on the bushes and little crosses of
rushes or wild iris blades were dropped into the well. A little girl reputedly
took water from the well in ignorance and tried to boil it. However, the water
would not boil and a little fish was seen in it, so the water and the fish
were returned to the well.
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Grotto
As stated earlier, there is a grotto behind Fr Shanahan's grave in
Tournafulla graveyard. There is a second grotto in the parish, in Mountcollins.
The grotto is dedicated to Mary.
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St Ita
According to legend, St Ita once cursed Tournafulla. Her community
had a dairy farm at Seconglass near Mountcollins. One evening, while Ita was
on her way to the farm, the people of Tournafulla set their dogs on her donkeys.
The donkeys ran away and when St Ita caught up with them, one of the donkeys
was lame. She went on to the river Iskule, which is now known as the Skule.
St Ita ascertained the donkey's lameness to be attributable to a thorn in
its hoof. She removed the thorn and turned the point downwards. She planted
it near her convent and it is supposed to have grown into a thorn bush on
which all the thorns grow down.
It is alleged that her footprint, as well as that of the donkey, was left on some of the rocks located at the river. The donkeys' tracks are on the rocks close to where the Iskule and Allaughan rivers meet in Upper Tournafulla. It is said that if one is sick, placing ones feet in the imprints in the rocks will heal the particular ailment.
Tadhg "Gaelach" O'Suilleabhain
The poet Tadhg "Gaelach" O'Suilleabhain was born in Tournafulla
in 1715. Most of his well-known poems were of a religious nature and he wrote
these poems while he was living in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. Tadhg also lived
in East Cork for a while. From about 1760 on, his life changed and he became
a pilgrim and looked for penance for his sins. It was at this time that Tadhg
began to write his religious poems. He died in Waterford Cathedral in 1795
and is buried in Ballylaneen cemetery. After his death, the first edition
of his poetry was published in Limerick.
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| English Name | Irish Name | Meaning |
| Acres | Na hAcraí | |
| Caherlevoy | Cathair Leathmhaoil | Partially derelict stone fort |
| Clenglass North | An Chlaonghlais | The bent, diverted stream |
| Clenglass South | as above | |
| Glengort South | Gleann an Ghoirt | The glen of the field |
| Glengort North | as above | |
| Glenmore East | An Gleann Mór | The big glen |
| Glenmore West | as above | |
| Gortnaskehy | Gort na Sceiche | The field of the hawthorns |
| Killaculleen | Cill an Choillín | The church of the small wood |
| Knockcoolkeare | Cnoc Cúile Caor | Hill of the corner of the berries |
| Knocknadiha | Cnoc na Daibhche | The hill of the tub |
| Mauricetown | Baile Mhuirisín | The town of Muirisín |
| Mountcollins | Cnoc Uí Choileáin | The hill of Ó Coileáin |
| Reanagiliee | Ré na nGiollaí | The level ground of the youths |
| Seeconglas | Suí Conghlais | The seat of Conghlas |
| Tooreennagreana | Tuairín na Gréine | The small animal enclosure of the sun |
| Tournafulla Lower | Tuar na Fola | The animal enclosure of the blood |
| Tournafulla Upper | as above |
| Year | Parish Priest | Curate(s) |
| 1840 | Michael McMahon | |
| 1841 | Michael McMahon | |
| 1842 | Thomas O’Carroll | |
| 1843 | Thomas O’Carroll | James McNamara |
| 1844 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1845 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1846 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1847 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1848 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1849 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1850 | Thomas O’Carroll | James Hogan |
| 1851 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1852 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1853 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1854 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1855 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1856 | R. Shanahan | John Hogan |
| 1857 | R. Shanahan | Michael Walsh |
| 1858 | R. Shanahan | Michael Walsh |
| 1859 | R. Shanahan | Michael Walsh |
| 1860 | Tim Corkery | Michael Walsh |
| 1861 | Tim Corkery | John Kenny |
| 1862 | Tim Corkery | C. P. Kenny |
| 1863 | Tim Corkery | M. Cregan |
| 1864 | Tim Corkery | Michael Irwin |
| 1865 | Tim Corkery | Patrick Carroll |
| 1866 | Tim Corkery | Charles McDonnell |
| 1867 | Tim Corkery | John Kelly |
| 1868 | Pat Corkery | L. Power |
| 1869 | Pat Corkery | Daniel Ryan |
| 1870 | Pat Corkery | Daniel Ryan |
| 1871 | Pat Corkery | Daniel Ryan |
| 1872 | Pat Corkery | Michael Byrne |
| 1873 | Pat Corkery | Robert Kirby |
| 1874 | Pat Corkery | Robert Kirby |
| 1875 | Pat Corkery | John Hurley |
| 1876 | Pat Corkery | John Hurley |
| 1877 | Pat Corkery | John Hurley |
| 1878 | Pat Corkery | Pat O’Donnell |
| 1879 | Pat Corkery | John Conway |
| 1880 | Pat Corkery | John Conway |
| 1881 | Pat Corkery | Michael McNamara |
| 1882 | Pat Corkery | Daniel Crotty |
| 1883 | Pat Corkery | Daniel Crotty |
| 1884 | Pat Corkery | Jeremiah Murphy |
| 1885 | Pat Corkery | Jeremiah Murphy |
| 1886 | Pat Corkery | James O’Shea |
| 1887 | Pat Corkery | James O’Shea |
| Michael Byrne (Adm.) | ||
| 1888 | Pat Corkery | James O’Shea |
| Michael Byrne (Adm.) | ||
| 1889 | Michael Byrne (Adm.) | James O’Shea |
| 1890 | Michael Byrne (Adm.) | Bernard O’Mahony |
| 1891 | Michael Byrne (Adm.) | James Carroll |
| 1892 | Michael Byrne (Adm.) | James Carroll |
| 1893 | Michael Byrne | James Carroll |
| 1894 | Michael Byrne | John Begley |
| 1895 | Michael Byrne | John Begley |
| 1896 | Michael Byrne | John Begley |
| 1897 | Michael Byrne | John Begley |
| 1898 | Michael Byrne | John Begley |
| 1899 | Michael Byrne | John Conway |
| 1900 | Michael Byrne | John Conway |
| 1901 | Michael Byrne | John Conway |
| 1902 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1903 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1904 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1905 | John Reeves | Ed. Fitzgerald |
| 1906 | John Reeves | Ed. Fitzgerald |
| 1907 | John Reeves | Ed. Fitzgerald |
| 1908 | John Reeves | Michael Hayes |
| 1909 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1910 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1911 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1912 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1913 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1914 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1915 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| 1916 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| Maurice Fitzpatrick | ||
| 1917 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| Maurice Fitzpatrick | ||
| 1918 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| Maurice Fitzpatrick | ||
| 1919 | John Reeves | John Conway |
| Maurice Fitzpatrick | ||
| 1920 | Patrick Hartigan | Michael Toomey |
| 1921 | Patrick Hartigan | Michael Ryan |
| 1922 | Patrick Hartigan | Michael Ryan |
| 1923 | Patrick Hartigan | Michael Quinn |
| 1924 | Patrick Hartigan | Michael Quinn |
| 1925 | Patrick Hartigan | T. O’Sullivan |
| 1926 | Patrick Hartigan | T. O’Sullivan |
| 1927 | Patrick Hartigan | Philip Enright |
| 1928 | Patrick Hartigan | Ed. McCarthy |
| 1929 | Patrick Hartigan | Ed. McCarthy |
| 1930 | Patrick V. Higgins | J. Leonard |
| 1931 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1932 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1933 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1934 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1935 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1936 | Patrick V. Higgins | Thomas Cussen |
| 1937 | Patrick Ruddle | David Rea |
| 1938 | Patrick Ruddle | David Rea |
| 1939 | Patrick Ruddle | David Rea |
| 1940 | Patrick Ruddle | David Rea |
| 1941 | Patrick Ruddle | David Rea |
| 1942 | Patrick Ruddle | David Crowley |
| 1943 | Patrick Ruddle | David Crowley |
| 1944 | Patrick Ruddle | Dermot McCarthy |
| 1945 | Patrick Ruddle | Dermot McCarthy |
| 1946 | Patrick Ruddle | Dermot McCarthy |
| 1947 | Charles Moriarty | John Browne |
| 1948 | Charles Moriarty | John Fitzgibbon |
| 1949 | Charles Moriarty | John Fitzgibbon |
| 1950 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1951 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1952 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1953 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1954 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1955 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1956 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1957 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1958 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1959 | Joseph Leonard | Daniel Murphy |
| 1960 | Joseph Leonard | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1961 | Joseph Leonard | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1962 | Joseph Leonard | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1963 | Joseph Leonard | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1964 | John McCarthy | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1965 | John McCarthy | Eamonn Dillane |
| 1966 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1967 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1968 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1969 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1970 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1971 | John McCarthy | Thomas Coughlan |
| 1972 | John McCarthy | Daniel Lane |
| 1973 | John McCarthy | Daniel Lane |
| 1974 | John McCarthy | Daniel Lane |
| 1975 | John McCarthy | Thomas Carroll |
| 1976 | John McCarthy | Thomas Carroll |
| 1977 | John McCarthy | Thomas Carroll |
| 1978 | John McCarthy | Thomas Carroll |
| 1979 | John McCarthy | Thomas Carroll |
| 1980 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1981 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1982 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1983 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1984 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1985 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick McMahon |
| 1986 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Walsh |
| 1987 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Walsh |
| 1988 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Walsh |
| 1989 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Walsh |
| 1990 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Walsh |
| 1991 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1992 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1993 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1994 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1995 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1996 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1997 | Liam Kelly | Michael Walsh |
| 1998 | William O’Gorman | Michael Walsh |
| 1999 | William O’Gorman | Michael Walsh |
| 2000 | William O’Gorman | Michael Walsh |
| 2001 | William O’Gorman | Michael Walsh |
| 2002 | William O’Gorman | Michael Walsh |
| 2003 | William O’Gorman | |
| 2004 | William O’Gorman | |
| 2005 | William O’Gorman | |
| 2006 | William O’Gorman | |
| 2007 | William O’Gorman |
The list of Priests from 1704 to 1836 is compiled from information gained in Begley's History of the Diocese of Limerick Vol. III page 598. The remaining years are compiled from the Catholic Directories. Information contained in a directory of any given year refers to what happened the previous year. For example if a priest is recorded in the 1954 directory as being in a particular parish, this would mean that he was actually there in 1953.
History | Churches | Graveyards | Holy Wells | Grotto | Famous People | Townlands | Priests of the Parish
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