Bruree

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Village in County Limerick, Ireland

title: "Bruree" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-and-villages-in-county-limerick", "townlands-of-county-limerick", "civil-parishes-of-county-limerick", "royal-sites-of-ireland"] description: "Village in County Limerick, Ireland" topic_path: "geography/ireland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruree" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in County Limerick, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Bruree
native_name	Brú Rí
native_name_lang	ga
settlement_type	Village
image_skyline	The River Maigue at Bruree - geograph.org.uk - 1543488.jpg
image_caption	River Maigue at Bruree
pushpin_map	Ireland
pushpin_label_position	right
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Ireland
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Ireland
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Munster
subdivision_type3	County
subdivision_name3	County Limerick
leader_title1	Dáil Éireann
leader_name1	Limerick County
unit_pref	Metric
population_as_of	2022
population_footnotes
population_total	641
population_density_km2	auto
timezone1	WET
utc_offset1	+0
timezone1_DST	IST (WEST)
utc_offset1_DST	-1
coordinates
area_code	063
blank_name	Irish Grid Reference
blank_info
::

Bruree () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland, on the River Maigue. It takes its name from the nearby ancient royal fortress, the alternative name of which from the earliest times into the High Middle Ages was Dún Eochair Maigue or the "fortress on the brink of the maigue". Other very old spellings and names include Brugh Righ, and Brugh Ri. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.

Location

The village of Bruree is located on the Maigue river two kilometres off the main N20 Limerick-Cork road in south County Limerick. It forms one half of the parish of Rockhill-Bruree in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick. Rockhill and Bruree are electoral divisions in the Cappamore-Kilmallock local electoral area.

Bruree is six kilometres north-west of Kilmallock, eight kilometres north of Charleville and twenty-seven kilometres south of Limerick city. Neighbouring towns and villages include Kilmallock, Charleville, Effin, Athlacca, Banogue and Ballyagran.

History

Bruree was once a seat and alternative capital of the ancient Kings of Munster. At some point later it came into the possession of the Uí Fidgenti and was their capital until the late 12th century. Before them it may have belonged to the Dáirine or Érainn, being named by Geoffrey Keating as a fortress built by Cú Roí mac Dáire. An early king and semi-mythological ancestor of the Eóganachta and Uí Fidgenti, Ailill Aulom, is then found at the fortress in the Cath Maige Mucrama cycle. The historical Eóganacht king Óengus mac Nad Froích is also found here in one legend.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Bruree_Workers_Soviet_Mills.jpg" caption="Bruree Workers Soviet Mills, pictured in 1921"] ::

On the 26 August, a month after the 1919 - 1921 Irish War of Independence ended, workers in Bruree seized the mill they worked in and hoisted the red flag over the building & hung a banner over the building proclaiming "Bruree Workers Soviet Mills – We Make Bread Not Profits". The soviet lasted until 3 September 1921. This was one of over 100 soviets that popped up in Ireland during the War of Independence and the Civil War, the most notable of which was the Limerick Soviet

The village also played a role in the Irish Civil War during the Battle of Kilmallock.

Sport

As in much of County Limerick, the main sport in Bruree is hurling, but Gaelic and association football are also played.

The Gaelic Athletic Association club in the parish is Bruree GAA which is a member of the south division of Limerick GAA. The club concentrates on hurling, but Gaelic football is also played. Bruree have won the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship on two occasions in 1893 and 2006 when they beat Patrickswell in the final.

The footballers of Bruree won the County Junior Football Championship in 2010 and reached the Munster final where they were beaten by St. Mary's Cahirciveen of County Kerry. They were relegated from the intermediate grade in 2012 and play at the junior grade.

People

Catherine Coll, the mother of President of Ireland Éamon de Valera, was from Bruree, and he was taken by her family to be raised here. De Valera's Cottage is a National Monument in the Knockmore townland.
Very Reverend Eugene Sheehy was parish priest here in the early 1890s and had a huge influence on De Valera, who served as an altar boy in Bruree Church, during that period.

References

"Interactive Data Visualisations {{!}} CSO Ireland".
"Brú Rí / Bruree". Irish Placenames Commission.
"Pastoral units and parishes > Rockhill-Bruree Parish".
"Rockhill-Bruree Parish".
"S.I. No. 624 of 2018 - City and County of Limerick Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2018".
O'Keeffe, Tadhg. (Spring 2020). "Ireland's Oldest Stone Castle". Wordwell Ltd..
(8 October 2012). "Irish Soviets 1919-23".
"Sheehy, Eugene {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography".

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