OOLLA

OOLLA, or ULLOE, a parish, in the barony of COONAGH, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 7 ½ miles (N. W.) from Tipperary, on the new line of road to Limerick; containing 2735 inhabitants, of which number, 192 are in the village. James, Earl of Kildare, Deputy Governor of Ireland, in 1497, took Ballyneety castle, and destroyed the fortress. In 1691, General Sarsfield surprised this castle in the night, blew it up, and destroyed all the cannon destined for the siege of Limerick, together with the ammunition, stores, &c., which had been brought hither, at an enormous expense, by William III.; who afterwards partially repaired the castle. The parish is situated on the borders of the counties of Tipperary and Limerick: the land is tolerably good, and is chiefly meadow and pasture, about a fifth only being under tillage. The substratum is limestone of very superior quality, though not in much use for manure. The village consists of 35 houses, mostly small, but well built; it has much improved since the formation of the new road: there is a constabulary police station. Newtown-Ellard is the ancient seat of the Lloyd family; and Castle Lloyd is the handsome residence of T. Lloyd, Esq.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Emly, and in the patronage of the Crown, during the legal incapacity of the Earl of Kenmare; the rectory is impropriate in Edward Deane Freeman, Esq. There are two excellent glebes, comprising together 35 ¾ acres. The parishioners attend the church of Cullen, the curate of which performs the occasional duties of the parish: divine service is also performed in Castle Lloyd, and in the spacious parochial school-house, which is principally supported by the Lloyd family and others, and in which are about 50 children. Near it stands the R. C. chapel, a large old edifice. The remains of Ballyneety castle present a stately heap of ruins, with here and there a wall nearly entire. The ruins of the church, and of Oolla castle, stand close to the R. C. chapel. In 1825, some large and perfect antlers of the elk were discovered; and, in 1828, a brazen trumpet, and spear and arrow heads of bronze were found, which are now in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin.