Inniscarra Historical Society
History of the Society
The Society has been formed to gather and record historical information related to the Parish of Inniscarra, to create and manage media in which the data can be published, all in a manner which will inform and entertain the people of Inniscarra, wherever they may be.
We hope that local people will join us in telling the story of Inniscarra down the years with family-related tales and pictures which will capture the true heart of the parish.
Please come along to our meetings, which will be advertised here and on Facebook and find out how you can help.
Committee Members
All members of the committee are volunteers who work to preserve to history of Inniscarra and it's townlands.
Chairperson: Patrick O'Callaghan
Vice Chairperson: Sinead McSweeney
Secretary: John Lane
Assistant Secretary & Journal Editor: David O'Brien
Treasurer: Joseph Ambrose
Assistant Treasurer: Frank Donaldson
Grants & Heritage Officer: Kathleen Flynn
Please click on the PDF document below to view the Constitution and Rules of the Inniscarra Historical Society
What's in a Name
Extract from "Sweet Inniscarra" by Tim Sheehan
History of Inniscarra:
“Sweet Inniscarra by the banks of the Lee, where it winds itself gracefully, down to the sea” are lines of a popular lyric which readily suggest that Inniscarra is a Leeside parish in a setting of natural beauty and with roots deep in the history and culture of the past.
The name Inniscarra dates from the 6th century and is traceable to the arrival of St. Senan, the patron saint of the parish. When St. Senan followed the course of the river Lee from Cork harbour he arrived at a place which was then known as Tuaim n-Aba, an inch or an island with three channels of the river Lee. He settled close to the largest channel at the confluence of the rivers Lee and Bride where he founded a monastery. The place is now known as Inniscarra graveyard.
The inhabitants of the area at that time were of the Eoghanacht race, the dominant power in Munster, made up of a rather loose federation of dynastic groups that descended from Eoghan, a great king who ruled Munster a century before the dawn of Christianity. We learn from the metric life of St. Senan that the Eoghanacht Rathlind, a leading dynasty of the race, with headquarters at Templemartin and from whom the name O’Mahony sprung, had some control over the area in which St. Senan settled in Inniscarra.
From an incident in the metric life of St. Senan, which gives the origin of the name of Inniscarra, it is understood that the ethos of the originators of the O’Mahonys was to stamp their identity on every challenge to their power. On hearing of the arrival of St. Senan, the king of Raithlind, a prince of the tribe, Lugaid the Breasted, sent a messenger to Inniscarra demanding taxes from Senan who refused to pay. Lugaid, asserting his authority, sent his racehorse to Senan to be fed on corn. Sometime afterwards the horse got drowned in a deep pool at the confluence of the rivers Lee and Bride. The horse’s leg showing above the surface of the water gave rise to the name Cara, which when joined with the name Inis, the inch or island where the incident occurred, gave the name Inniscarra.