It is unknown when the parish came into existence. For a long period it was ministered together with the parish of Kilfarboy (Milltown Malbay).[4] The "Register of Priests" in 1704 mentioned Fr. Teige and Fr. Francis Shannon as priests in respectively Kilfarboy and Kilmurry Ibrickane, but according to Ó Murchadha, there is little doubt that they in fact acted as priest and curate for both parishes.[5]
In the 1830s, the population of the combined parishes had risen to about 20,000 people, so a split became necessary. The priest and his curate, the brothers Anthony and Patrick McGuane, built two identical church buildings in Milltown Malbay and Mullagh. The Night of the Big Wind prevented completion of the church in Mullagh. The planned tower and spire were never built. When Fr. Anthony McGuane died in 1839, his brother Fr. Patrick became the first parish priest of Kilfarboy. Their cousin, Fr. Edmund Barry, became the first parish priest of Kilmurry Ibrickane.[6]
Fr. Thomas Moloney, then curate at Kilmurry Ibrickane, was a supporter of the Young Ireland movement. During the Great Famine he worked tirelessly to get the word out of the disaster happening in Ireland, through newspapers and political contacts.[7]
Parishes
In 1837, there were also a Church of Ireland parish and a civil parish of the same name.[8][9]
Under the Civil Registration Act 2004, the records kept by the parish about baptisms, marriages and deaths, are official records. This makes the parish part of the Civil Registration Service.[10]
^Ó Murchadha, Ciarán (2008). The Diocese of Killaloe : An illustrated History. Booklink. p. 180.
^Ó Murchadha, Ciarán (2008). The Diocese of Killaloe : An illustrated History. Booklink. p. 180.
^Ó Murchadha, Ciarán (2008). The Diocese of Killaloe : An illustrated History. Booklink. p. 182.
^Lewis, Samuel (1837). County Clare, A History and Topography. Ennis: CLASP Press. ISBN1-900545-00-4. reissue 1995, pg. 37
^The civil parish was replaced as an administrative unit by the Poor Law Union with the "Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898". Mitchell, Brian (1986). A new genealogical atlas of Ireland. Baltimore, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN0-8063-1152-5. pg. 6
