Athboy
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(Baile Átha Buí) Meath. ‘Town of the yellow ford’.
| Atcham, Atch Lench, Aswardby | |
| Athcarne, Athea, Athelhampton |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Athboy
| Athboy Baile Átha Buí
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|---|---|
| — Town — | |
 Athboy
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| Coordinates: 53°37′00″N 6°55′00″W / 53.616667°N 6.916667°WCoordinates: 53°37′00″N 6°55′00″W / 53.616667°N 6.916667°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Meath |
| Elevation | 61 m (200 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Urban | 6,447 |
| • Rural | 5,447 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | N800567 |
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1821 | 1,569 | — |
| 1831 | 1,959 | +24.9% |
| 1841 | 1,826 | −6.8% |
| 1851 | 1,204 | −34.1% |
| 1861 | 982 | −18.4% |
| 1871 | 861 | −12.3% |
| 1881 | 748 | −13.1% |
| 1891 | 633 | −15.4% |
| 1901 | 610 | −3.6% |
| 1911 | 575 | −5.7% |
| 1926 | 510 | −11.3% |
| 1936 | 520 | +2.0% |
| 1946 | 402 | −22.7% |
| 1951 | 418 | +4.0% |
| 1956 | 717 | +71.5% |
| 1961 | 680 | −5.2% |
| 1966 | 678 | −0.3% |
| 1971 | 705 | +4.0% |
| 1981 | 909 | +28.9% |
| 1986 | 1,055 | +16.1% |
| 1991 | 1,083 | +2.7% |
| 1996 | 1,172 | +8.2% |
| 2002 | 1,538 | +31.2% |
| 2006 | 2,213 | +43.9% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Athboy (Irish: Baile Átha Buí, meaning "Town of the Yellow Ford"), is a small agricultural town in County Meath in Ireland. It is located on the junction of the N51 and R154 roads. The town is located on the Yellow Ford River, in wooded country near the County Westmeath border.
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History
- In medieval times it was a walled stronghold of the Pale. Owen Roe O'Neill took it in 1643, and six years later Oliver Cromwell camped his army on the Hill of Ward nearby. Also known as Tlachtga, the Hill of Ward was the location for the pagan feast of Samhain, the precursor of modern day Halloween.
- The tower of St James, Church of Ireland is a remnant of a 14th century Carmelite priory. Behind the church are the remains of the town walls. The church boasts an interesting medieval table top.[6]
- In 1694, the town's 'lands and commons' and several other denominations of land were erected into a manor and granted to Thomas Bligh, MP for Athboy, who had earlier purchased almost 12 km² (3000 acres) in the area of Athboy. His son, John, was created "Earl of Darnley" in 1725 and the Blighs (Earls of Darnley) were landlords of all but six of the 27 townlands in the parish of Athboy throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Today the Darnley homestead on the Main Street is the 'Old Darnley Lodge Hotel'.
Transport
Athboy railway station opened on 26 February 1864, but was closed to passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed on 1 September 1954.[7] Today the town has regular bus services to Dublin.
Education
As well as rural primary schools in Rathmore and Rathcairn, O' Growney National School had provided education for the Athboy population since 1949.[8]
In terms of secondary education, the former St. Joseph's Convent of Mercy amalgamated with Athboy Vocational School in 2004 to form Athboy Community School.[9] The school is currently located on the site of St. Josephs, but is expected to move all facilities to a new state-of-the-art building in November 2011.
Popular Culture
On 4 May 2011, Athboy featured on RTÉ's Dirty Old Towns programme, in which the local community came together to convert an old piggery into a thriving Farmers' Market.
Every June Bank Holiday, the County Macra Macra na Feirme clubs host the "Blue Jean Country Queen Festival", in which the "Queens" representing Macra clubs from all over Ireland and abroad come to the town for a fun-filled weekend before one is crowned the winner. The Festival was created in 1987 by Patrick Farrelly from Carnaross Macra after hearing the song "I'm A Blue Jean Country Queen". 2012 shall be the 25th year of the Festival as the Foot and Mouth Diease forced most Festivals to be cancelled in 2001. The Festival is music based which incorporates community development with free family fun while promoting local tourism and attractions nationally as well as internationally.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
- ^ http://www.histpop.org
- ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review. Volume 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract.
- ^ Meath Heritage information brochure
- ^ "Athboy station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
- ^ "O' Growney NS, Athboy". O' Growney NS, Athboy. http://www.ogrowneyns.ie/. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
- ^ "Athboy CS". Athboy CS. http://www.athboycs.ie/. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
Sources
- Noel E. French, A short history of Rathmore and Athboy (1995)
- Beryl F.E. Moore, "Tombs in Athboy Graveyard", Irish Ancestor, volume 13 (1981), pp. 123–4
External links
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