Smallcounty or Small County () is a historical barony in eastern County Limerick, Ireland. Settlements in the barony include Hospital, Herbertstown, Fedamore and Knockainy.
Location Located in County Limerick, the barony of Smallcounty is bordered by six other baronies: Clanwilliam (County Limerick), to the north, Coonagh, to the north-east, Clanwilliam (County Tipperary), to the east, Coshlea, to the south Coshma, to the west, the ancient territory of the Uí Fidgenti clan Pubblebrien, to the north-west
Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as subdivisions of counties and were used for administration. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and specification such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.
History ‘’An Déis Bheag’’ was the name of a tribe from late Antiquity. The English form of the barony’s name may have been based on this nameMac Spealáin, Uí Chairbre Aobhdha 31: "An Déis Bheag ... is to-day the Irish name of the barony on the eastern side of the Barony of Coshma. The Earls of Desmond took control of this territory long ago and established what was essentially a small independent ‘county’. This is how it obtained the English name Smallcounty ... It must be remembered that the area called An Déis Bheag long ago was not precisely coterminous with the modern-day barony of the same name (i.e. Smallcounty)." [translation from the original Irish]F.J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings (1973) 180-1 This barony lay partly in the Poor law union of Kilmallock, and partly in that of Limerick. In 1846, the total number of tenements valued was 2942.The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland (1846) Volume XXX
Rateable ValueNo. of TenementsUnder £51557 Under £10291 Under £10173 Under £20141 Under £25127 Under £3092 Under £40164 Under £50103 Above £50294
Some officers of the Regiment of the Lord President of Connaught, Sir Charles Coote, were rewarded for their services in the Cromwellian wars with land in the barony. They are listed as Col. Chidley Coote, Col. Richard Coote, Major Ormsby, Major King and Captain St. George. The land was rated at £800 per 1000 acres - the second highest in the county. In 1831, the population was 22,674; in 1841 it was 21,527. The 1841 census shows how families in the barony were employed.
Chief employmentNo. of Families on agriculture 2,776 on manufactures and trade 48 on other pursuits 210 Families dependent chiefly on property and professions 52 on the directing of labour 1,114 on their own manual labour 2,211 on means not specified 94
Civil parishes There are 18 civil parishes in the barony.
The following civil parishes are wholly contained within the barony: Ballinard Ballinlough Ballynamona Cahircorney Glenogra Hospital A house of the Knights Hospitaller gave its name to this place. The house had been established by 1215.Gwynn, Medieval Religious Houses (Ireland) 336 Kilcullane Kilfrush Knockainy (i.e. the hill of Áine).
The barony also contains parts of the following civil parishes: Athneasy Ballycahane Fedamore Kilbreedymajor (or Kilbreedy Major) Kilpeacon Kilteely (This parish is one half of the ecclesiastical parish of Kilteely-Dromkeen. The Dromkeen part is a civil parish in its own right in the neighbouring barony of Clanwilliam.) Monasternenagh Tullabracky Uregare.
External links Source given is "Ordnance survey".
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