Castlerea
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(September 2013) |
Castlerea
An Caisleán Riabhach | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Main Street, Castelrea | |
  Castlerea Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:53°46′00″N8°30′00″W/ 53.7667°N 8.5°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | Roscommon |
| Elevation | 82 m (269 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,992 |
| Eircoderouting key | F45 |
| Telephone area code | +353(0)94 |
| Irish Grid Reference | M670797 |
Castlerea(/ˌkæsəlˈriː/KASS-əl-REE;Irish:An Caisleán Riabhach,meaning 'brindled castle') is the third largest town inCounty Roscommon,Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the2016 census.[1]Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled castle' (Caisleán Riabhach). An alternative translation is 'castle of the king' (CaisleánRí). The town is built on the banks of theRiver Suckand the River Francis, both of which are tributaries of theRiver Shannon.
History[edit]
Clonalis House,located in the west of Castlerea, is the ancestral home of the ClanO'Conor,the last of theHigh Kings of Ireland.The O'Connordynastyproduced eleven high kings of Ireland and twenty-four kings ofConnacht.
Theophilus Sandford, a member ofOliver Cromwell's army in Ireland, received a large allocation of lands confiscated from the O'Connor family as part of theAct for the Settlement of Ireland 1652.This package included Castlerea.[2]Castlerea developed under the Sandfords, who established a distillery (at its height producing more than 91,000 litres or 20,000 imperial gallons of whiskey annually), a brewery, and a tannery. Sandford's descendants continued in power through the 19th century. The estate was later acquired by theLand Commissionand theCongested Districts Board.Thedemesnein which it was set survives and is now enjoyed as a public park.
On 11 July 1921, Sergeant James King of theRoyal Irish Constabularywas shot in Castlerea on St Patrick Street and died of his wounds shortly afterwards. TheTruce of July 1921was declared later that day, making Sergeant King the last casualty of theIrish War of Independence.[3]
On 17 June 2020,DetectiveGardaColm Horkanwas shot dead by a 43-year-old man in Castlerea when hisfirearmwas snatched from him who then fired fifteen rounds at him.[4]Horkan became the89th garda to be killed in the line of duty.[5]
Sport[edit]
Castlerea hosts soccer club Castlerea Celtic andSt Kevin's,aGaelicfootball club and the Castlerea Cavaliers Basketball Ladies and Men teams. The Castlerea Enterprise Hub located in the town business park is also home to the town's gym and to Castlerea Bo xing Club.
Castlerea is home to bo xing greats Aoife & Lisa O'Rourke. Aoife O'Rourke (born 2 July 1997) is an Irish amateur boxer.[1] She has won two European Championships and represented Ireland at the 2020 Tokoyo Olympics.
Education and industry[edit]
Castlerea's major employers includeSupervalu,Harmac Medical Products, Colour Communications Europe, Finola Foods andLidl.Film production house Round Edge Films is based in Ballingare within Castlerea.
The schools in the town are all located in the same area; they include two primary schools (St Anne's Convent National School and St Paul's Boys National School), St Michael's Special Needs School (which serves all ages), and Castlerea Community School (for second-level students). Castlerea Community School instructs approximately 500 students. It providesLeaving Certificate Appliedclasses as well as theJunior CertificateandLeaving Certificatestate examinations.[6]
Amenities[edit]
Amenities in the town include Castlerea golf club, established in 1905 and moved to its current location in 1907. It is a 9-hole course. There is an outdoor swimming pool open to the public during summers with a modern refurbished playground adjacent, a public library, a soccer pitch and O'Rourke Park which is aGAApitch. The demesne is a large public park accessible off Main Street and home to some trees planted by notable figures, including former US ambassador to IrelandJean Kennedy Smith.The GAA owns a squash court and a handball court in the town. The Neighbourhood Youth Project (NYP) is a social venue for teenagers in the town. St Patrick's Church (built in 1896) is the Catholic Church of the town. The town serves as the trailhead for theSuck Valley Way,with the 105-kilometre long trail beginning and ending in the town. Castlerea also serves as the trailhead for theLung Lough Gara Way.Also, theBeara-Breifne Wayalso passes through the town.
Transport[edit]
The main road through the town is the national secondary roadN60,fromRoscommontown onward toCounty Mayo.Other roads include theR361toBoyleand theR377toCastleplunket.
TheCastlerea railway stationopened on 15 November 1860.[7]The railway station resides on the Westport-Dublin main line and connects toDublin Heuston,BallinaandWestport.
People[edit]
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(October 2021) |
- John F. Cryan,U.S. politician, was born in Castlerea.[8]
- Thomas Finnegan,former Catholic Bishop of Killala, was born in the village of Cloonfellive near Castlerea.[9]
- Luke 'Ming' Flanagan,formerTD,and now anMEP,comes from Castlerea.[10]
- Gerry Gannon,the builder and property developer, is a native of Castlerea.
- John Gunning,sports journalist working in Japan[11]
- Aidan Heaveyarrived in England from Castlerea in 1993 and became chief executive ofTullow Oiland one of Britain's most influential Irish businessmen.[12]
- Dr Douglas Hyde,the firstPresident of Irelandand founder of theGaelic League,was born in Castlerea on 17 January 1860.
- Michael McGovern,poet
- Andrew McDermot,fur trader
- Aoife O'Rourke,boxer,2019 European Championshipgold medalist, competed 2020 Olympics, Castlerea native.[13]
- Lisa O'Rourke,boxer,2022 World Championshipgold medalist, Castlerea native.[14]
- Stephen Rochford,GAA player and manager
- John Waters,Former journalist and author of several books including 'Jiving at the Crossroads', was born and raised on Main Street in Castlerea.[15]
- SirWilliam Wilde,a noted surgeon and historian and father ofOscar Wilde,was born in Castlerea in 1815.
- Dr Matthew Young,aBishop of Clonfertca. 1798, a natural philosopher, and a mathematician was a native of Castlerea.
Other photos[edit]
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Castlerea Demesne -
Castlerea Train Station bilingual sign -
Plaque at Hells Kitchen Bar and Restaurant, Castlerea -
Plaque in honour of John F. Cryan, Castlerea
Twinning[edit]
Castlerea istwinnedwith:
Newark, New Jersey,United States.
Soulac-sur-Mer,France.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ab"Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Castlerea".Central Statistics Office (Ireland).Archived fromthe originalon 12 December 2017.Retrieved12 January2020.
- ^"Captain Theophilus Sandford".sandfordfamily.org.uk.
- ^Chronology of Irish History 1919 – 1923Archived11 March 2007 at theWayback Machine,Dublin City University
- ^Brady, Tom; Murray, Eavan (19 June 2020)."Suspect fired 15 shots, hitting Det Garda Colm Horkan at least five times, before bullets ran out".Irish Independent.Retrieved10 July2020.
- ^"Garda Colm Horkan is 89th member of force killed in line of duty".The Irish Times.18 June 2020.Retrieved10 July2020.
- ^"Programmes – Castlerea Community School".
- ^"Castlerea station"(PDF).Railscot – Irish Railways.Retrieved7 September2007.
- ^Barrett, Tom (5 February 2019)."Remembrance of Things Past: A Tribute to John F. Cryan 1929-2005".Insider NJ.
- ^"Bishop Thomas Anthony Finnegan [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
- ^"From Ming the Merciless to Ming the Mayor".The Irish Times.26 June 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 4 February 2011.Retrieved28 September2010.
- ^Loughran, Neil (28 March 2020)."'It's probably a bit like the Jamaican bobsleigh team... maybe they'll make a Cool Runnings of Irish sumo film one day'".The Irish News.Retrieved25 December2020.
- ^Irish stars make it big in Britain[permanent dead link]
- ^"Aoife O'Rourke".Olympic Federation of Ireland.Retrieved14 June2022.
- ^"Hundreds gather in Castlerea to welcome home the O'Rourke sisters".Roscommon Herald.22 May 2022.Retrieved14 June2022.
- ^BiographyArchived23 October 2018 at theWayback Machinejohnwaters.ie
External links[edit]
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