Castlecomer
| Castlecomer Irish: Caisleán an Chomair | |
| County Kilkenny | |
|---|---|
 Businesses on the square in Castlecomer | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | S532731 |
| Location: | 52°48’22"N, 7°12’36"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,502 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Castlecomer |
| Dáil constituency: |
Carlow–Kilkenny |
Castlecomer is a town in the north of County Kilkenny. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about ten miles north of Kilkenny city. Its name is from Caisleán an Chomair,[1] meaning 'castle at the confluence')
The 2016 census recorded Castlecomer's population as 1,502 people. The town is in a townland of the same name.[1]
The town has been associated with the coal mining industry since the 17th century, and is part of a discrete area called the Castlecomer Plateau. It is bounded on the east by the River Barrow, the west by the River Nore and dissected in the centre by the River Dinnin.
History
The earliest record of a settlement at Castlecomer is from around 1200, when the Anglo-Norman knight William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke built a motte and bailey castle east of the existing bridge. The ruins of the castle stand where the rivers Dinin (Dinan), Brokagh and Cloghogue meet. Until the 16th century, Castlecomer was the home of the Ó Braonáins.
Iron mining began in the area during the late Middle Ages; from the 17th century onwards, this was complemented (and later surpassed) by coal mines. From 1637, the town was built, initially by, and as accommodation for, 600 settlers from Yorkshire. These hardy Yorkshiremen had been recruited by Christopher Wandesforde, who originated from Kirklington and had acquired Castlecomer Demesne with the cooperation of the then Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth (later Earl of Strafford).[2][3] The Yorkshire settlers were recruited for their skills in ironwork, weaving, pottery, and forestry. Wandesforde laid out the town and established a forestry plantation on Castlecomer Demesne, before his death in 1640.[4] According to local tradition, Wandesforde modelled the layout and architecture on an area in Italy named "Alsinore" (possibly the island of Asinara, sometimes known as Asinare or Alsinara, off Sardinia). In addition to accommodating the new industries and their employees, Castlecomer was to become the principal market town for North Kilkenny.
Much of Castlecomer and the surrounding area was owned by members of the Wandesforde family until the 21st century.[2] Castlecomer House, the family home of the Wandesfordes, stood on the opposite side of the Athy-Kilkenny road (now the N78). The building was said to have been on a grander scale than the original Wandesforde residence in Yorkshire, and to have been a testament to the fortunes of the Wandesfordes in Ireland. The original house, which was reportedly built in 1638, was burned down during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.[5] The second Castlecomer House was built on the same site in 1802 at the behest of Lady Anne Ormonde.[6] The house itself was described as being more imposing than its predecessor. It was reputedly notable for its castellated, Gothic revival style, including 365 windows (i.e. one for each day of the year), large porchway and the Wandesforde coat of arms displayed prominently on the outside. The approach to the residence included a sweeping avenue, and a bridge over a moat (formed by diverting river waters). By the mid-1970s, the house was no longer occupied and had fallen into disrepair; most of the building was demolished in 1975. However, the property's main entrance and avenue, as a well as a lodge building survived.
Castlecomer railway station opened on 21 February 1921 with a passenger service between Castlecomer and Kilkenny. Funding for the Castlecomer line came from Captain Richard Henry (R.H.) Prior-Wandesforde and a War Office Grant, which was given to ease postwar unemployment. It closed for passenger traffic on 26 January 1931 and closed completely on 1 January 1963.[7] This was largely due to the decline of coal mining in the area. Castlecomer station was the passenger terminus of the last ever proper branch line to be built in Ireland, when the Great Southern & Western Railway opened a line just north of Kilkenny on the Portlaoise via Abbeyleix line to the coal mining town of Castlecomer and Deerpark Mines in 1922. The branch lost its passenger service only ten years after opening, however it remained open for coal and general goods until January 1963, closing along with the Portlaoise to Kilkenny line.
Churches
- Church of Ireland: St Mary's Church, on the Dublin Road on the site of the ancient parish Church of the Holy Cross in Castlecomer.
In 1374, Alexander, Bishop of Ossory, confirmed the Church of Castlecomer to the Prior and Canons of Saint John's Abbey, Kilkenny.[8] In the early 15th century, the Revd Walter Comys was excommunicated by the Bishop of Ossory in 1428 when he held on to the church and refused to hand it over to William Stakboll, Prior of Saint John's Abbey. In 1540, St John's Abbey was suppressed at the Reformation and its possessions granted to the Corporation of Kilkenny.
- Roman Catholic: The Church of the Immaculate Conception[9]
About the village
To the east of the town is Castlecomer Golf Club and Sawney's Woods. The courthouse is located in Market Square. The town square has Georgian houses surrounded by the Lime trees. Approximately 100 buildings of architectural or historical relevance within Castlecomer are listed for preservation.
Castlecomer Bridge, locally known as 'the Dublin bridge' or 'the Big bridge', dates from 1763 and spans the River Dinin (Deen). It was built to designs prepared by George Smith and is a five-arch rubble limestone Classical-style road bridge It is one of a number of bridges rebuilt by Smith following the "Great Flood" of 1763 (others include Green's Bridge, Graiguenamanagh Bridge and Inistioge Bridge). Robust details exhibiting high-quality stone masonry enhance the Classical quality of the composition. Marking a crossing over the Dinin (Deen) River the bridge forms an appealing landmark on the road leading into the town from the east.[10]
Castlecomer Discovery Park
In June 2007, Castlecomer Discovery Park opened to the public. It is a non-profit community enterprise located in the grounds of the 18th century Wandesforde Estate. The enterprise was conceived to rejuvenate the town following the closure of the coal mines in 1969. Comprising 80 acres of woodland and lakes, the park initially included the 'Footprints in Coal' exhibition, a visitor centre and design craft studios. The stables and other buildings were restored and now house craft units and education facilities. The original walled garden is home to a small herd of fallow and sika deer and to a flock of Jacob sheep. In 2012 the "Tree Top Adventure Walk", "Leap of Faith" experience and a climbing wall were added. The Discovery Park operates a "Leave No Trace" policy.[11]
Sport and recreation
- Cycling: Deenside Wheelers[12]
- Football: Deen Celtic A.F.C., formed in 1984
- Gaelic sports: Erin's Own GAA, founded in 1885
- Golf: Castlecomer Golf Club, with an 18-hole golf course[13]
There is also an athletics club and basketball club. Castlecomer Community Hall hosts a range of sport, recreation, drama and other events throughout the year.
Events
On New Year's Day, the annual Castlecomer Wellie Race takes place. Originally started in 1978, the Powley (an area in the hills surrounding Castlecomer) men decided, while playing cards, on St Stephen's Day to run off the Christmas excess by having a race over a cross country circuit, uniquely wearing a pair of wellingtons. Later, in 1981, the first Castlecomer Wellie Race took place over a three-mile cross-country circuit around Kiltown on New Years Day. All race participants must wear appropriate foot attire—wellies. From here the event grew, and the following year 1982 saw the first float parade.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Castlecomer) |
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 Caisleán an Chomair / Castlecomer: Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 "Castlecomer Locality". http://homepage.eircom.net/~prescomerns/castlecomer/locality3.htm.
- ↑ Scahill, Rachel (June 2000), Prior-Wandesforde Collection - Prior-Wandesforde Papers, National Library of Ireland, p. 27, https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/prior-wandesforde.pd
- ↑ "Castlecomer Plan". http://www.kilkennycoco.ie/cdp/cdpvol2/vol2/castlecomerplan.htm.
- ↑ An inventory was drawn up accounting for the losses following the attack. This is given in transcript in Murdoch (ed): Great Irish Households: Inventories from the Long Eighteenth Century, pp. 189–99.
- ↑ Built to drawings by John Johnston, d. 1812. Illustrated as frontispiece to McCall's book Story of the Family of Wandesforde of Kirklington & Castlecomer, 1904.
- ↑ "Castlecomer station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf.
- ↑ "St Mary's Church". https://www.castlecomer.ie/points-of-interest/st-marys-church/.
- ↑ "Our Parish". https://www.castlecomerparish.ie/.
- ↑ "Castlecomer Bridge". http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=KK®no=12301001.
- ↑ "Castlecomer Discovery Park". Discovery Park. http://www.discoverypark.ie/.
- ↑ "Deenside Wheelers". http://www.deensidewheelers.com/.
- ↑ "Castlecomer Golf". http://www.castlecomergolf.ie/.
- Walpole, Horace; Thomas Park (1806). A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland: With Lists of Their Works. Original from the New York Public Library: J. Scott. p. 180. https://archive.org/details/acatalogueroyal04parkgoog. "Castlecomer."
- 2006 Census of Ireland, Central Statistics Office (Ireland), 2006, http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/pr_pop.htm
- Knight, Charles (1839), The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Original from the Complutense University of Madrid: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, https://books.google.com/books?id=g9cCMcvp8qsC
- Lewis, Samuel (1837). A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. LEWIS & Co. 87, Aldergate Street.. http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/index.php.