Athenry

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Athenry
Gaelic: Baile Áth na Ríogh
County Galway

Athenry Castle
Location
Grid reference: M500282
Location: 53°18’-0"N, 8°44’46"W
Data
Population: 3,950  (2011[1])
Post town: Athenry
Postcode: H65
Local Government
Council: Galway

Athenry is a town in County Galway, which lies 16 miles east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the mediæval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century Anglo-Norman street-plan. The town is also well known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry".

History

St Mary's Parish Church in Athenry.

Its name derives from the ford ('Áth') crossing the river Clarin just east of the settlement. Though other inaccurate explanations are still given, it was called 'Áth na Ríogh' ('Ford of the Kings') because it was the home area of the Cenél nDéigill, kings of the Soghain, whose leading lineage were the Ó Mainnín.[2] On some mediæval maps of English origin the town is called Kingstown.

The earliest remaining building in the town is Athenry Castle which was built sometime before 1240 by Meyler de Bermingham. In 1241, the Dominican Priory was founded, and became an important centre for learning and teaching. It was ostensibly closed during the Protestant Reformation but survived until being desecrated and burned during the Mac an Iarla wars of the 1560s–80s, and was finally vandalised by Cromwellians in the 1650s. The mediæval walls around Athenry are among the most complete and best preserved in Ireland with 70% of original circuit still standing, along with some of the original towers and the original North gate.[3] The remains of the Lorro Gate were partially unearthed in 2007 during the redevelopment of road works in the area.

In the centre of the town is the 'square'; markets were held from the 17th century onwards and where the town's late-15th-century 'Market Cross' is still located. The monument which is of Tabernacle or Lantern type is the only one of its kind in Ireland and the only mediæval cross still standing in situ in the country.[4] A Heritage centre now occupies the remains of the mid-13th century St Mary's Collegiate Church adjacent to the town Square. The original mediæval church is largely destroyed but in 1828 a Church of Ireland church was built into its chancel.

In 1791, Jean Antoine Coquebert de Montbret visited the town, which he described as:

It covers 50 acres but has not more than 60 houses. [...] There is an abbey of which the ruins are almost all standing. There is a big uninhabited castle called Bermingham's Court [...]. In the middle of Athenry is the stump of a cross destroyed in the wars, on which a crucifix in bas-relief still remains. [...] I noticed at the door of a tavern a large cake decorated with a bouquet. It was a prize for the best dancer. [...] The road from Athenry is very beautiful and there are no barriers.

Moyode Castle is another tall 16th-century fortified tower house of the Dolphin family, which went to the Persse family. The castle is now restored and inhabited and is located 3½ miles from the town of Athenry.

Economy and transport

Athenry Dominican Priory.

Transport

By road, Athenry is served by the M6 motorway which links Galway city to Dublin. By rail, it is served by the Athenry railway station, which opened on 1 August, 1851 and lies on the Galway–Dublin main line.[5] The town is at the junction of the Galway–Dublin line, and the partially complete the Western Railway Corridor (Limerick–Sligo).

Industry

In 2015, Apple Inc. decided to build a €850m data centre near Athenry, and a similar one in Viborg, Denmark.[6]

River Clarin

Sport

Athenry is home to the Gaelic Athletic Association St Mary Club,[7] who have won numerous All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championships.

Athenry Athletics Club has a juvenile and a senior section.[8][9] The club has produced two Olympic sprinters, Martina McCarthy and Paul Hession.[10][11] McCarthy represented Ireland in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Hession competed in the men's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athenry is also home to Athenry F.C., founded in 1971.[12] The club reached the 2006 final of the FAI Junior Cup,[13] and the following year it became the Galway & District League champions for the first time, repeating the same achievement during the 2007–08, 2009–10, and 2014–15 seasons.[14] In 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2016, Athenry also won the Connacht Junior Cup title.[14]

Athenry is also home of the Athenry Golf Club.

People

The following is a list of notable natives of Athenry:

  • Slim Barrett (born in the 1960s) – award-winning jewellery designer and artist;
  • Anthony Richard Blake (1786–1849) – lawyer, administrator and 'backstairs Viceroy of Ireland';
  • Robert Blakeney (1679–1733) – Member of Parliament for Athenry;
  • Dominic Burke (c. 1603–1649) – Dominican priest and political agent;
  • John de Burgh (1590–1667) – Archbishop of Tuam;
  • Oliver Burke (c. 1598–1672) – Bishop of Kilmacduagh;
  • Thomas Burke (c. 1747–1783) – governor of North Carolina;
  • James Patrick Broderick (1891–1973) – Jesuit and religious writer;
  • Conainne (fl. c. 500) – Christian missionary;
  • Ciarán Cannon (born 1965) – Fine Gael TD for the Galway East constituency;
  • Eugene Cloonan (born 1978) – hurler;
  • John Cummings (1828-after 1913) – piper;
  • Owen Cunnigam, (fl. 1850s–after 1888) – piper;
  • Patrick D'Arcy (1598–1668) – writer of the constitution of Confederate Ireland;
  • Vincent Dillon (died 1651) – Dominican martyr;
  • Basilia de Bermingham (fl. c. 1250) – religious patron;
  • Meyler de Bermingham – founder of Athenry;
  • Rickard de Bermingham (died 1322) – lord of Athenry;
  • Liam Deois (fl. early 1800s) – highwayman;
  • Padraic Fallon (1905–1974) – poet and playwright;
  • Julie Feeney (born 1979) – singer and composer;
  • Fearghal Ó Taidg an Teaghlaigh (died 1226) – marshal to the kings of Connaught;
  • Paul Hession (born 1983) – track and field athlete;
  • Kerrill (fl. c. 480) – Christian missionary;
  • Nannie Lambert Power O'Donoghue (1843–12 January 1940) – poet, journalist, equestrian;
  • Larry Lardner (fl. 1920) – IRA commander;
  • Maél Póil (fl. c. 800s–900s) – mediæval abbot of Templemoyle;
  • P. J. Molloy (born 1952) – hurler;
  • Tom O'Connor – local historian;
  • Joe Rabbitte (born 1970) – hurler;
  • Frank Shawe-Taylor (1869–1920) – High Sheriff of County Galway, killed during the Irish War of Independence;
  • Brian Shawe-Taylor (1915–1999) – racing driver;
  • Mary Lavin (1912–1996) – writer and novelist;
  • Noël Browne (1915–1997) – doctor and politician;
  • Bryan Mahon (1862–1930) – general of the British Army and Senator of the Irish Free State;
  • Marcas Ó Callanáin (1784–1836) – poet and balladier;
  • Robert French (1716–1779) – MP and landlord;
  • Tomás Bobhdacing (fl. c. 1300) – founder of the Bodkin family;
  • John O'Heyne (c. 1648–1713) – historian and Dominican,
  • Edward Carson (1854-1935) – unionist politician, barrister and judge.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Settlement Athenry (CSO Area Code ST 27012)". Central Statistics Office. 2011. http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2011/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST&Geog_Code=27012. Retrieved 11 April 2017. 
  2. ↑ "The Mannion Clan". http://www.mannionclan.org/. Retrieved 10 April 2017. 
  3. ↑ Rynne, Etienne (1992). Athenry: A Medieval Irish town. Athenry Historical Society. ISBN 0716524740. 
  4. ↑ Thomas, Avril (1992). The walled towns of Ireland. Irish Academic Press. 
  5. ↑ "Irish railways". Railscot.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070926042407/http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2 May 2017. 
  6. ↑ McLoughin, Gavin (23 February 2015). "Tech giant Apple to invest €850m in new eco Irish data centre". http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/tech-giant-apple-to-invest-850m-in-new-eco-irish-data-centre-31013733.html. Retrieved 7 May 2017. 
  7. ↑ "St Mary GAA Club Athenry official website". http://www.athenrygaa.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017. 
  8. ↑ "Athenry AC Juvenile Contact Information". https://www.athenryac.com/athenry_ac_juvenile_contact_information. Retrieved 7 June 2017. 
  9. ↑ "Athenry AC (Senior) 10th Anniversary - some thoughts and numbers". December 2012. https://www.athenryac.com/athenry-ac-senior-10th-anniversary-some-thoughts-and-numbers. Retrieved 7 June 2017. 
  10. ↑ "Martina Medals at AAI Games". 18 May 2009. https://www.athenryac.com/martina-medals-aai-games. Retrieved 7 May 2017. 
  11. ↑ "Good Luck Paul Hession". 20 August 2007. https://www.athenryac.com/good-luck-paul-hession. Retrieved 7 May 2017. 
  12. ↑ "Athenry FC History". http://www.athenrysoccerclub.ie/history.html. Retrieved 29 May 2017. 
  13. ↑ "FAI Junior Cup 2006". Football Association of Ireland. http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=60. Retrieved 5 October 2006. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Athenry Football Club Roll of Honor". http://www.athenryfootballclub.com/club-honours.html. Retrieved 29 May 2017. 

Further reading

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Athenry)
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