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"AGHAVALLIN, or AGHAVALAH, a parish, in the barony of IRAGHTICONNOR, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER, 4½ miles (W. S. W.) from Tarbert; containing with the town of Ballylongford and the island of Carrigue, 5688 inhabitants. This place anciently belonged to the O'Connors of Kerry, whose principal seat, Castle Carrig-a-foile, signifying in the Irish language the rock of the chasm, was situated on the south-west side of the inlet between the mainland and the small island of Carrigue, which is encircled by the river Shannon.
The parish is situated on the river Shannon, and within a mile and a half of the high road from Tralee to Limerick, and comprises 15,152 statute acres, as apploted under the tithe act."
[From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis (1837)]
The two old burial grounds of the parish are located at Aghavallen, around the ruins of the old parish church, and at Lislaughtin at the site of the old abbey.
Note: The Civil Parish of Aghavallen ceased to be used for census purposes in the mid nineteenth century when District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) were introduced.
Aghavallen comprises the entire DEDs of:
In the Church of Ireland, the parish of Aghavallen has been united with other parishes since the seventeenth century. The old church continued in use into the nineteenth century, and was rebuilt in 1840, but is now in ruins. In 1878 the parish was merged with Listowel. The nearest Church of Ireland church is now in Tarbert (Kilnaughtin Church), administered from Rathkeale in County Limerick.
In the Roman Catholic chuch, Aghavallen was united to
Kilnaughten from at least the beginning of the eighteenth
century. In 1859, the parishes were again seperated, but under
the modern names of Ballylongford and Tarbert. The Roman Catholic
parish of Ballylongford is identical with the old parish of
Aghavallen.
A second church in the parish has been built at Asdee.
The Church of Ireland Parish registers for Aghavallen record
baptisms from 1872 and marriages from 1811.
The Roman Catholic parish registers for Aghavallen and
Kilnaughten have their earliest records from 1823 (baptisms) and
1826 (marriages). Births from 1838 to 1869 are missing. From 1859
the parish became known as Ballylongford.
The registers remain in the custody of the parish priest,
although microfilm copies are at the National Archives of
Ireland. Written permission from the Bishop of Kerry is required
to view these records.
From 1863 Aghavallen was part of the Listowel Registration
District. See the Registration
Districts page.
The District Electoral Divisions listed above are used for
Registration purposes.