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Sixmilebridge () is a small town in County Clare, Ireland. Located midway between Ennis and Limerick city, the town is a short distance away from the main N18 road, being on the old "back road" between the two. The village of Kilmurry () is also part of the Sixmilebridge parish. Sixmilebridge partly serves as a dormitory town for workers in Limerick city, Ennis and Shannon region, with hundreds of modern housing units being built to accommodate demand in recent years. The commercial core of Sixmilebridge has effectively tripled in size in recent years too, with many new retail units and businesses choosing to locate in the village. == History == There is evidence for prehistorical settlement in the area, dating at least back to the bronze age. A number of ringforts, mounds, enclosures and wedge tombs are present in the parish. In antiquity, the name of the village was Cappagh (that name still present in local townlands), chiefly on the west side of the river, and Ballyarilla on the east. The name Cappagh is an anglicized form of an Irish word meaning a cultivated field, while Ballyarilla is named after the castle that once stood before Mount Ievers Court was built. An ancient name of the river appears to be Raite, today anglicised into Ratty; as the river flows past Bunratty Castle into the Shannon Estuary, it is still known as the Ratty. Kilfinaghty seemed to always be the name of the parish of Sixmilebridge. The village was under the Lordship of Thomond, especially the Mcnamaras and the O'Briens. It is assumed that the original local lords were the O'Garneys, but there is little reference to them in the histories.It is possible that the O'Ahernes were also ruling lords at a different time. Coolmeen Lake, located in a valley in the hills east of Sixmilebridge, played an important part in the 13th Century "Wars of Turlough". During the fighting, Lochlainn MacNamara and his nephew were given safe conduct by the Norman DeClares, their rivals, to enter their castle without being harmed. But that was merely a trap, and the Irish were captured, marched from the Bunratty Castle to Coolmeen Lake, and executed there. The Irish got their revenge soon after, when the DeClares were defeated at the Battle of Dysart O'Dea. The lake has since enjoyed a somewhat sinister reputation, with numerous legends of monstrous eels, witch-hares, and bottomless pits associated with the lake. Sixmilebridge played a part in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The following passage is from ''The History and Topography of the County of Clare'', by James Frost:
The account goes on to tell that the garrison at Sixmilebridge were to move to Limerick when a light would be exhibited from "the mountain of Glenagross" e.g, Woodcock Hill, on the 31st of July. When the Cromwellian forces discovered this, they strengthened their garrison at Meelick Pass in response; in that time, the Pass would have been the main road to Limerick. The main English lords of the area were the Ievers of Mount Ievers, the Butlers of Castlecrine, and the D'Esterres of Rossmanagher. All three of their houses (two of which have been demolished) are built on the site of earlier castles. After the Ievers came, building their seat on Ballyarilla Castle, that side of the river became known as Ieverstown, the other O'Brienstown. Sixmilebridge surpassed both these names in the 18th Century. The unusual English name of the village derives, as Thomas Dineley who visited Sixmilebridge in 1681, describes:
The original village grew up around a crossing place on the O'Garney River. By the end of the 17th century development was tied to the industrialisation of the area as people of Dutch origin found the river very suitable for milling. This ended abruptly with the building of a toll bridge on the river by Henry D'Esterre (Ó Dálaigh 2004). D'Esterre's construction gained a profit from people crossing the river but halted the trading done with Holland. According to local tradition,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Clare Library )〕 the famous duel between Daniel O'Connell and a member of the D'Esterre family in February 1815 arose from O'Connell's refusal to pay the toll. This conflicts with the conventional account of the duel. D'Esterre lost his life, but the toll bridge survived and remains standing to this day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sixmilebridge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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