A visit to Feakle, Co. Clare in 2020

A slideshow of photos I took during my first visit to Feakle in County Clare on Monday 24th August 2020.
Feakle (historically Feakell and Fiakil, from Irish: an Fhiacail, meaning "the tooth") is a village in the east of County Clare. It is located near the junction of the R461 Scarriff-Gort road and R468 Ennis-Feakle road.
"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.
In 1837 Samuel Lewis states that Feakle is a civil parish in the Tulla Upper barony, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northwest of Scariff on the road to Gort and that it contained 8,844 inhabitants and covered about 30,000 acres (12,000 ha). 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 embosom Lough Graney, and stretch toward Lough O’Grady. The highest ground is on the west, and has an altitude of 1,312 feet."
The parish of Feakle is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. St. Mary's Church in Feakle was built in 1826. It was re-dedicated in 1984 after it was renovated. The other church in Feakle Parish is St Joseph's Church in Kilclaren along the road to Gort.
The village had a population of 105 in the 2016 Census. This is in contrast to 1991 when it had a population of 161 and its population has been in decline since then. Larger villages nearby are Scarriff and Tulla.
Feakle is famous for its traditional music festival.
St. Mochonna is venerated as the patron saint of Feakle. The ancient ruins of his church were destroyed in the early 19th century.
On 12 December 1974 Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin leaders met at Smith's Hotel, Feakle, with the leaders of the main Irish Protestant Christian denominations (Church of Ireland, Methodist, and Presbyterian) to discuss ways of resolving the Northern Ireland crisis. The Gardaí broke up the meeting. Although any wanted IRA men had already departed, the churchmen did pass on the list of Republican demands to the British government. Methodist leader Eric Gallagher was in attendance and later became the subject of the book Peacemaker by author Dennis Cooke.
The former Clare hurler and hurling manager Ger Loughnane grew up in Feakle.
Feakle GAA Club won the Clare Senior Hurling Championship in 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1944 and 1988.
Brian Merriman is associated with Feakle. Although neither born, nor did he die, in Feakle, he chose to be buried here where he had spent many years of his life. Feakle was the location and background of his only major work, a long poem in Irish, entitled Cúirt an Mheán Oíche (The Midnight Court). A monument to his memory has been erected by An Cumman Merriman (the Merriman Society) and may be seen in the local graveyard.
The Herbalist Biddy Early (1798 - 1874) is associated with Feakle. Local folklore says that if you leave a coin at her house you will have good health, but take a coin and you will have bad luck. Biddy Early was accused of witchcraft in 1865.
Johnny Patterson (1840-1889) singer and composer was born in Kilbarron near Feakle.
The world famous fiddler Martin Hayes came from Feakle.

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Thank you for making this video. My mother was from Feakle.