Adare

Adare Áth Dara
—  Village  —
Main Street, Adare
Adare Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°33′50″N 8°47′24″W / 52.564°N 8.790°W / 52.564; -8.790Coordinates: 52°33′50″N 8°47′24″W / 52.564°N 8.790°W / 52.564; -8.790
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Limerick
Dáil Éireann	Limerick West
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population (2006)[1]
• Village	2,454
• Urban	982
• Environs	1,471
Dialing code	061-39****
Irish Grid Reference	R460460

Adare (Irish: Áth Dara, meaning "ford of [the] oak"^[2]) (Population 2,454 (CSO, 2006)^[1] is a village in County Limerick, Ireland.

General information

"Welcome to Adare" in Irish

Adare's origin is as a settlement by a crossing point on the river Maigue. It is situated 16 km (10 mi) from Limerick City. Renowned as one of Ireland's prettiest villages,^[3] Adare is designated as a Heritage Town by the Irish government. Due to its origin as village of the Dunraven estate, Adare has a more planned appearance than many Irish villages and towns.

Economy

Adare is a tourist destination and the local heritage centre, which gives insight into the history of the village, also hosts a number of craft shops. The town is also a popular wedding and conference venue.^{[citation needed]} Adare has two 18-hole courses - the Adare Golf Club, which incorporates a driving range and which was the site of the 2007 and 2008 Irish Open, the Adare Manor Golf Club and a pitch and putt course. Adare also has an equestrian centre: Clonshire.

Accommodation

The village offers three Hotels: The Adare Manor, The Dunraven Arms and Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel.^[4]

Architecture

Photo of thatched cottages.

The main street combines typical Irish architecture with the English styled buildings and infrastructure purpose-built for the Dunraven estate.^{[citation needed]} Examples of the latter architectural forms include the thatched cottages near the entrance to Adare Manor.

Schools

Scoil Naomh Iosaf (boys),^[5] Our Lady's Abbey National School (girls),^[6] St Nicholas' National School (mixed)^[7] and Scoil Seán tSraide (mixed).

Transport

The planned route of the Adare bypass (click for larger image)

The main Limerick-Tralee road, the N21 goes through the village. The Adare Bypass is at an early planning stage.^{[citation needed]} Adare is a stop on the hourly Limerick-Tralee/Killarney bus service. A railway line to Foynes passes through the town,^[8] but Adare railway station, which opened on 12 July 1856, was closed to passengers on 4 February 1963 and to freight on 2 December 1974. The line to Foynes continued to carry freight traffic until it was mothballed in 2001 and has seen no trains since 7 May 2002 when the annual Irish Rail weedspray train visited the line. The line is still officially open for traffic.^[9]

History

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The ancient town lay upon the eastern bank of the Maigue near a ford (crossing point) in the region known as Ardshanbally (derived from Ard an tSeanbhaile - 'high ground of the old town'), about half-a mile from the modern town on the western side. Historically a market town, in the Middle Ages, Adare was a major settlement^{[citation needed]} and boasted three monasteries and a castle (Desmond Castle).

Augustinian Priory

"Augustinian Abbey, Adare
(with the castle of the Fitzgeralds and the Francescan Abbey)", 1842

The Augustinian Priory was founded in 1316 by John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare. The Priory was suppressed in the reign of Henry VIII. In 1807, the church of the Priory was given to the local Church of Ireland congregation as the parish church. In 1814, the refectory was roofed and converted into a schoolhouse. Between 1852 and 1854, a second restoration of the church was undertaken by Caroline, Countess of Dunraven.

Franciscan Abbey

The Franciscan friary was founded in 1464 by Thomas Fitz-Maurice, 7th Earl of Kildare and his wife Joan, and completed two years later. It is currently a ruin and is located inside the Adare Manor Golf Club. Every Easter Sunday a dawn mass is celebrated in the Abbey.^{[citation needed]}

Trinitarian Abbey

Trinitarian Monastery

The Trinitarian Order established their only monastery in Ireland in Adare in 1230.^{[citation needed]} The Abbey was restored in 1811 by the first Earl of Dunraven as the Catholic Parish church.

Desmond Castle

Desmond Castle

A castle or fortress is said to have first been built by the O'Donovans, rulers of the region into the late 12th century, and afterwards to have passed into the possession of the Kildare branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, who may be responsible for the majority of the remains of the present fortress (which occurred with Croom Castle, also on the Maigue). Desmond Castle, as it is popularly known, stands on the north bank of the Maigue. An extensive renovation has been in progress on the castle since 1996 and supervised tours are offered in the summer months. This is one of a series of significant Desmond properties, which also include the banqueting hall in Newcastle West, County Limerick.

Sports

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Gaelic games, particularly hurling, are popular in Adare. The Adare GAA club was founded in 1929. The senior hurling team has won the county championship in 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2008. In football, Adare have been less successful, although in 2002 Adare only narrowly lost out on the county title in the Limerick Senior Football Championship.

• The local soccer team is known as Adare United AFC. They currently play at Deer Park Field, situated just off the Blackabbey Road in the village. Founded in 1937, Adare has one of the oldest soccer clubs outside Limerick City. Adare United participate in the Limerick Desmond Schoolboys/Girls League at Under 8, U10, U12, U14 and U16 age groups and in the Limerick Desmond League at Junior (adult) and Youth level. The 2006/07 Season saw the club form its first ladies team, who compete in the Limerick Desmond Ladies League. In the 2009/10 Season, the ladies were runners up in the League Cup, losing on penalties to Glin Rovers F.C. The team were also cup finalists the following year, this time in the Desmond Cup but were beaten by Murroe FC. The Under 10 team were Division 3 Champions in the 2008/09 season and Division 4 winners in 2010/11. The Under 8 team completed a league and cup double in 2010/11. The Junior team won promotion from Division Two in the 08/09 season and immediately gained promotion to the premier league, the following year.

• The Irish Open golf championship was staged there in 2007 and 2008. There are two 18-hole golf courses in the village: The Adare Golf Club which is on the grounds of the Adare Manor Hotel, and the Adare Manor Golf Club, which is a separate entity.

Interesting facts

• Adare was national winner of the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1976.^{[citation needed]}

• Cape Adare (Antarctica) was named in honour of Viscount Adare by his friend Captain Ross in January 1841.^[10]

Common surnames in Adare

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

According to Irish Census 1901 & 1911.

Fitzgerald, Hickey, McNamara, Kelly, McMahon, Ryan, Smith, Carmody, Collins, Hogan, Lyons, O'Donnell, O'Regan, Switzer, Walsh.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Knockpatrick Gardens, an award winning 3 acre garden overlooking the scenic Shannon Estuary near Foynes is located 15 km from Adare.

References

External links

• Adare in Wikitravel
• Adare Heritage Centre
• Shannon Region Tourism's page on Adare
• General Information on Adare
• Adare local area plan (Limerick County Council)(2002)
• The Tidy Towns of Ireland "Celebrating 50 years"

v t e Places in County Limerick County town: Limerick Towns Abbeyfeale Annacotty Kilmallock Limerick Newcastle West Rathkeale Villages and Townlands Adare Ardpatrick Askeaton Athea Athlacca Ballingarry Ballylanders Broadford Bruff Bruree Cappamore Castleconnell Castlemahon Clarina Crecora Croagh Croom Dromcolliher Doon Effin Feenagh Feohanagh Foynes Galbally Garryspillane Glin Herbertstown Hospital Kilbeheny Kilcornan Kildimo Killeedy Kilfinane Kilmeedy Kilteely-Dromkeen Knockaderry Knocklong Mountcollins Murroe Oola Pallasgreen Pallaskenry Patrickswell Raheen Shanagolden Templeglantine Tournafulla List of townlands in County Limerick Category:Mountains and hills of County Limerick Category:Rivers of County Limerick Category:Geography of County Limerick