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ATHLACCA

CO. LIMERICK · IE

Athlacca
An tAth Leacach, Co. Limerick

The Ballyhoura
STOP 06 / 06

An tAth Leacach · Co. Limerick

A ford of flagstones on the Morningstar River, 26 km south of Limerick. Farm country, two pubs, and the bones of an Irish elk in the National Museum.

Athlacca sits 26 kilometres south of Limerick city on the Morningstar River, in the soft farm country between Bruff and Kilmallock. The Irish name, an tAth Leacach, means the ford of the flagstones - a stony crossing of the river that was once visible under the bridge and is now buried beneath St Catherine's Bridge, a four-arch sandstone span built around 1800. The village is small: a Catholic church, a national school, a playschool, and two pubs. Sources confirm the two pubs but do not name them, so this entry will not pretend to know which.

What history the place has is medieval and buried. Athlacca was the residence of the De Lacy family, landlords of the surrounding district, and their name is what the village wears. In the 17th century the parishes of Dromin and Athlacca amalgamated into one, which is why the GAA club and the church both carry the joined name Dromin-Athlacca to this day. There is a ruined 15th-century church called Kilbroney in Athlacca North, on the Irwin land, with De Lacy tombs inside it - and the old Protestant church now stands in ruins, serving as the parish's newer graveyard.

The one fact about Athlacca that travels furthest has nothing to do with castles or churches. In 1824 Archdeacon Wray Maunsell dug a complete skeleton of an Irish elk - the giant extinct deer, antlers and all - out of the bog at Rathcannon. It went to the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, where you can still stand under it. The animal had been in that bog for thousands of years before anyone thought to call the place a village.

Come here for what it is: a quiet south Limerick parish on a river, not a destination. The proper sights are nearby - Lough Gur and Bruff to the north, the medieval walls of Kilmallock to the south, the Ballyhoura hills further on. Athlacca is a place you drive through with the windows down, slow over the bridge, and remember for the name.

Population

A small village; the wider parish held about 1,381 in the 1830s

Founded

Medieval; De Lacy stronghold, parish amalgamated with Dromin in the 17th century

Coords

52.4578° N, 8.6514° W

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At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The name

An tAth Leacach - the ford of the flagstones.

The Irish name describes a stony river crossing once visible under what is now St Catherine's Bridge on the Morningstar. The four-arch sandstone bridge you cross today was built around 1800. The flagstones the village is named for are long gone under it.

Stories & lore → 02 The De Lacys

A medieval landholding family who left their name on the place.

Athlacca was the seat of the De Lacy family, landlords of the surrounding district. A Dromin graveyard headstone still carries the names David, John and Thomas Lacy and the date 1623. The ruined church of Kilbroney, on the Irwin land in Athlacca North, holds De Lacy tombs.

Stories & lore → 03 The crossroads

A working rural parish, not a tourist stop.

Farming, though in decline, is still the biggest employer. There is a national school, a playschool, a Catholic church and two pubs. Athlacca is the kind of place you pass through between Bruff and Kilmallock - quiet, real, and unbothered about visitors.

Getting there →

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

An tAth Leacach, buried under the bridge

The ford of the flagstones

The village takes its name from a crossing of the Morningstar River - an tAth Leacach, the ford of the flagstones, a stony shallow where people and cattle once crossed. The flagstones were said to be visible under the river before the bridge went in. The present Athlacca Bridge, a four-arch road bridge of rubble sandstone with dressed voussoirs, dates from around 1800 and is listed by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as a notable piece of early nineteenth-century engineering. It is also called St Catherine's Bridge locally. The ford is gone; the name is what survived.

A medieval family in the stone

The De Lacys and Kilbroney

Athlacca was the residence of the De Lacy family, the landlords of the surrounding district. Their mark is still legible: a headstone in Dromin graveyard carries the names David, John and Thomas Lacy and the date 1623, and the ruined 15th-century church of Kilbroney, standing on the Irwin land in Athlacca North, holds De Lacy tombs. In the 17th century the parishes of Dromin and Athlacca were amalgamated into the single parish of Dromin-Athlacca, the name the church and the GAA club still use. In 1691, in the wars between James II and William III, a battle was fought at Athlacca that ended in a Williamite victory.

Rathcannon, 1824

The Irish elk in the bog

In 1824, Archdeacon Wray Maunsell made a discovery in the bog of Rathcannon, just outside the village: the complete skeleton of an Irish elk, the giant extinct deer that ranged across Ireland after the last ice age and died out thousands of years ago. The bog had preserved it whole. The skeleton was taken to the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, where it remains on display. It is, by some distance, the most travelled thing ever to come out of Athlacca.

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Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

The bridge and the old graveyard A short wander over Athlacca Bridge across the Morningstar and out to the old Protestant church ruin, now the parish graveyard. Quiet lanes, farm hedgerows, the river underneath. Not a waymarked trail - just a village stroll. Wear boots if it has rained.

1-2 kmdistance

30-45 mintime

Lanes toward Kilbroney The ruined 15th-century Kilbroney church sits on private farmland in Athlacca North with De Lacy tombs inside it. It is not a managed site and access is across private land, so view it from the road unless you have permission. The walk out is flat farm country with the Ballyhoura hills on the southern horizon.

Variesdistance

1 hourtime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The farm country greens up and the river runs clear. The quietest, easiest time to drive the back roads south of Bruff.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings and dry lanes. Useful as a base for Lough Gur and the Ballyhoura trails, which are the real reason to be in this corner of Limerick.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Harvest country at its best. Clear days give Galtee and Ballyhoura views from the higher lanes south.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days, wet bog and muddy lanes. The pubs and the church keep going, but there is little to do outdoors in the rain here.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a village centre

Athlacca is a scatter of houses, a church, a school and two pubs on a river crossing. There is no high street to walk and no heritage attraction with a car park. Treat it as a place to pass through slowly, not to spend a day in.

Hunting for the Irish elk here

The famous Rathcannon elk skeleton has been in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin since 1824. There is nothing to see in the bog now. The story is the draw, not a site.

Driving to Kilbroney church for a close look

It is a ruin on private farmland with no public access or signage. Admire it from the lane. Kilmallock, twenty minutes south, has medieval architecture you can actually walk into.

Getting there.

By car

Limerick city to Athlacca is about 26 km south, roughly 35 minutes. Head down the R512 through Fedamore and Bruff, or come off the N20 Cork road and cut east on the local roads via Bruff. The village sits on minor roads between Bruff, Croom and Kilmallock; the Morningstar bridge is the obvious landmark in the middle of it.

By bus

No direct service to Athlacca itself. The nearest regular routes are at Bruff and Kilmallock, on the Limerick-Cork corridor; from either you would need a car or taxi for the last few kilometres. Local Link covers parts of rural south Limerick on limited timetables - check before relying on it.

By train

No station. The nearest practical rail is Limerick Colbert, about 35 minutes north by car, on the Dublin and Cork lines. Limerick Junction is a similar distance for mainline connections.

By air

Shannon Airport (SNN) is about an hour north. Cork Airport (ORK) is about an hour south down the N20.