A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
Úlla· Irish · main form · validated name
Oola· English · main form
Place & story
The Sacred Heart church
The Church of the Sacred Heart dates from 1838. Its modest barn-like plan has a four-bay nave, a projecting entrance and a separate bell tower. Pointed windows contain stained glass with branching Y-shaped tracery, and a marble altar survives inside. The building's low profile and detached bell tower distinguish it from the large spired churches found in many neighbouring towns.[2]
A club founded in the 1880s
Oola affiliated to the county GAA board in 1888. In 1900 its footballers defeated Abbeyfeale to win the Limerick senior championship, with John Moloney as captain. Further senior county titles followed in 1918, 1922, 1925, 1961 and 1979. The parish crosses a county sporting boundary: Oola is associated with East Limerick, while neighbouring Solohead belongs to West Tipperary.[3]
Folklore & tradition
The pilgrimage to Ballylahiff
Our Lady's Well at Ballylahiff has been a local pilgrimage place on 15 August. A 2021 report recorded beliefs that its water helped ailments of the eyes, throat and teeth. A shrine, incorporating a round millstone and a statue of Mary, had been built in 1920. Residents later restored the neglected site, rebuilding its surrounding wall and replacing the old canopy with a steel one. The report documents a continuing local devotional custom and its community care.[4]
People & connections
Neil O'Dwyer's railway mural
In 2023 artist Neil O'Dwyer painted a railway scene on the former O'Sullivan's shop for Oola Tidy Towns. It includes children waving to a steam train, Oola Castle, cows and milk churns. In his account of the commission, O'Dwyer linked the subject to local families' work on the railway and at nearby Limerick Junction. He had also painted a village mural featuring four local All-Ireland hurling winners: Darragh O'Donovan, Pat Ryan, Richie English and Barry Murphy.[5]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Oola — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Oola, Limerick — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Oola, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Oola, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Oola, Limerick
Published census settlement populations
324people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames