placenamesBrittas
An Briotás
Brittas combines a medieval castle site with nineteenth-century farming records and a carefully dated crossing of the Mulkear.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Briotás · Irish · main form · validated name
- Brittas · English · main form
Place & story
The castle in the survey records
The Ordnance Survey Name Books describe Brittas Castle on the bank of the Mulkear, in the eastern part of Brittas townland. The surveyors measured the surviving ruins at about 140 feet by thirty, with walls standing ten feet high in places and features resembling corner towers. The account is valuable as a nineteenth-century record of what remained. It distinguishes the castle from other nearby houses and lodges carrying the Brittas name. [2]
Farming in the townland
The same survey records 274 acres at Brittas, described as arable land producing potatoes, corn and flax. Lord Cloncurry was named as proprietor, with William Lewis acting as his agent. Six tenants held farms ranging from five to sixty acres. These details show the cultivated landscape around the castle, giving a view of everyday landholding alongside the district’s more conspicuous medieval remains. [2]
Fosbery and Walsh’s bridge
Brittas Bridge carries the road over the Mulkear in a single limestone arch. Its inscription records construction in 1874 under the supervision of civil engineer Thomas Fosbery, with Michael Walsh of Foynes as contractor. Dressed masonry, cut arch stones, a stringcourse and carved coping give the structure a carefully finished appearance. The named builders and date make this river crossing a particularly clear record of nineteenth-century engineering and craftsmanship. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Limerick
- Barony
- Clanwilliam
- Civil parish
- Caherconlish
- Coordinates
- 52.60961, -8.41338 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414030 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Brittas. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ordnance Survey Field Name Books, Caherconlish: Brittas and Brittas Castle · Ordnance Survey, hosted by Limerick Local Studies
- Brittas Bridge, NIAH 21901445 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2018-08-07. How this page was prepared.