School: Birr (Mercy Convent)
- Location:
- Birr or Parsonstown, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: Sr. Flannan
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0821, Page 216
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- (continued from previous page)Brendanshill. It was also known by the name of Birr, Birra, or Buree, from the Irish word Birra., a standing water or marshy field, as Mr. O'Reilly testifies in his Dictionary. Others say that the appellation Bire arose from a crooked stick that formerly lay across the River here, resembling a spit, which in the Irish language is denominated Bir. Upon the grant of the town and surrounding lands to the family of Parsons in the reign of King James the First, it acquired the name of Parsonstown, having been then erected into a manor by that name. It was sometimes called Biorra to give it a Latin termination.
- Leap Castle. It is in the Townland of Leap in the Parish of Aghancon. It is said to have formerly belonged to O'Carroll; it was later occupied by --- Darby Esq.Liam O'Bhanain signifies O'Banan's Leap, "Saltas Obanani. This Leap was the name of some feature about the place previously to the erection of a castle there, but the spot so called is pointed out by no-one in the country, nor is the circumstance that gave origin to the name remembered. O'Banan was one of the eight septs of Ely under O'Carroll who was the sovereign and we learn from O'Huidhrin's poem, that he was(continues on next page)
