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Feakle An Fhiacail | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Feakle village centre | |
  Feakle Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:52°55′33″N8°38′59″W / 52.92589°N 8.649763°W /52.92589; -8.649763 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Clare |
Feakle (historicallyFeakell andFiakil, fromIrish:an Fhiacail, meaning 'the tooth')[1] is a village inCounty Clare, Ireland, in theRoman Catholic parish of the same name. The village is in atownland andcivil parish of the same name.[1]
"Paroiste na fiacaile" means parish of the tooth. A legend says that the tooth of Mochonna, the patron saint, fell out in this place, where he built his church.Other theories are that the place is named after a church that was roofed with "fiathgail", a rough local grass, or that the name comes from "Fia-Choill", the wood of the deer.[2]
The village is in theTulla Upper barony, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northwest ofScarriff on the road toGort.In 1837 it contained 8,844 inhabitants and covered about 30,000 acres (12,000 ha).[3]An 1845 description said "the surface consists of the loftiest, wildest, and most northerly of the western uplands of the county; and includes the southern declivities of the Slieve-Baghta mountains, and those offshoot ranges and masses which embosomLough Graney, and stretch toward Lough O’Grady. The highest ground is on the west, and has an altitude of 1,312 feet."[4]
The parish of Feakle is in theRoman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. Parish churches are St Joseph's in Kilclaren and St Mary's in Feakle.[5]The village population in 2006 was 122.[6] It neighboursLough Derg and the towns ofTulla andScarriff. Feakle is famous for its traditional music festival.
St.Mochonna is venerated as thepatron saint of Feakle. The ancient ruins of his church were destroyed in the early 19th century.[7]
Under thereligious persecution of theCatholic Church in Ireland imposed by thePenal Laws, the Catholics of Feakle would travel in secret to aMass rock located at amegalithic tomb in the nearby Ballycroum bog.[8]
On 12 December 1974Irish Republican Army andSinn Féin leaders met at Smith's Hotel, Feakle, with the leaders of the main IrishProtestantChristian denominations (Church of Ireland,Methodist, andPresbyterian) to discuss ways of resolving theNorthern Ireland crisis. TheGardaí (Irish police) broke up the meeting. Although any wanted IRA men had already departed, the churchmen did pass on the list of Republican demands to theBritish government. Methodist leaderEric Gallagher was in attendance and later became the subject of the bookPeacemaker by author Dennis Cooke.[citation needed]
