Historic town

The National Monuments Service's description

The Urban Survey of Limerick recorded the following details about the historic town of Rathkeale; 'Rathkeale is situated on the river Deel fourteen miles south-west of Limerick city on the Tralee road. The placename appears to be derived from Rath Caola or Rath Gaela, Coala's or Gaela's fort. The name indicates that there was a pre-Norman settlement here, probably to be equated with the ringfort immediately south of the town.
After the coming of the Normans Rathkeale formed part of the lands granted by John to Hamo de Valognes in 1199 (Empey 1981, 10) but the exact descent of the property is unclear. It appears to have been held by the Waspayl family during the first half of the thirteenth century and subsequently by the Mautravers (Westropp 1906-7, 213). By the middle of the fourteenth century, however, it seems to have come into the hands of the Desmond Geraldines. The settlement is only occasionally mentioned in medieval documents. In 1300 the community of the town paid 40s towards the subsidy for the war in Scotland (Mills 1905, 304; cf Berry 1914, 57).
The history of the town in the later middle ages is largely unknown. The town came to prominence again during the Desmond rebellion and it is likely that much of the present linear town plan is actually of post-medieval origin. The street plan is linear and consists of a long street running from north-east to south-west called Main St. on the north side of the river and Church St. on the south side. A number of smaller streets branch off to the east and west. There is little in the way of documentary evidence to indicate what the houses of the town formerly looked like.
The Civil Survey notes the existence of a "stone house of Morrish Casey" but it is not clear if it was actually inside the town or not (Simington 1938, 297). It is to be presumed that the weekly market occurred in Main Street but the square in front of the Court House may have been used at a later date. There is a Fair Green to the north of the town and the O.S. map notes a market place immediately east of the abbey. The latter is now gone and is a roadway leading to a new estate of houses. In the early seventeenth century Sir John Dowdall was granted a weekly market on Thursdays at "the high cross of Rathkeale" (Westropp 1906-7, 214). In the absence of a major cross-roads cutting through the town itself it must be assumed that this refers to a freestanding market cross.' (Bradley et. al. 1989, 217-19)

Compiled by: Denis Power

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 14 January 2019

References

Berry, H. F. (ed.) 1914 Statute rolls of the parliament of Ireland 1-12 Edward IV. Dublin.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1938 The civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IV: county of Limerick, with a section of Clanmaurice barony Co. Kerry. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Bradley, J., Halpin, A., and King, H.A. 1989 Urban archaeological survey - county Limerick (3 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Westropp, T.J. 1906-7 The ancient castles of the county of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26, 54-264.

Empey, C.A. 1981 The settlement of the Kingdom of Limerick. In J. Lydon (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages 1-25. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Mills, J. (ed.) 1905 Calendar of the justiciary rolls, or proceedings in the court of the justiciar of Ireland preserved in the Public Record Office of Ireland. Edward I, 1295-1307. Dublin. HMSO.