Pallas Grean

The historic town of Pallas Grean was described in the Urban Survey of Limerick as following; 'Pallas Grean (old) is situated in the east of the county about thirteen miles from Limerick city on the Tipperary road. The name is derived from Palis Greine, "the mansion of Grian", which is probably an allusion to the sun and to pre-Christian sun worship. It is referred to as Grian in the Vita Tripartita, written c. 900, and an annalistic entry for 914 (AFM). After the coming of the Normans Pallas Grean was for a time a manor of the bishops of Emly (Sweetman 1875-86, i, no. 715) before being granted in 1233 to Maurice FitzGerald (ibid., no. 2045). The following year FitzGerald was granted the right to hold an annual fair at his manor of "Gren" (ibid., no. 2182). An extent of the manor was made in 1331 and this sheds some interesting light on the nature of the Anglo-Norman settlement there. It states that the earl of Kildare held twenty burgages at Gren which were normally worth £4 4d per annum but which were now wasted and destroyed by the Irish (Mac Niocaill 1964b, p.120). The extent adds that there were no buildings left at that time except for the motte (ibid.). From these references it is clear that a borough had existed at Pallas Grean in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries but since its existence is not documented after 1331 it may be assumed that it was abandoned about this time. There is no surface evidence for settlement here but it is likely that the medieval borough was centred on the motte [LI024-072002-], castle [LI024-072003-] and church [LI024-072004-]' (Bradley et. al. 1989, 212-3). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 04 January 2019