| Ferbane Féar Bán |
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| Location | ||
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Leinster | |
| County: | County Offaly | |
| Elevation: | 128m | |
|
Population () |
785 | |
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1821 | 594 | — |
| 1831 | 501 | −15.7% |
| 1841 | 515 | 2.8% |
| 1851 | 641 | 24.5% |
| 1861 | 445 | −30.6% |
| 1871 | 419 | −5.8% |
| 1881 | 388 | −7.4% |
| 1891 | 370 | −4.6% |
| 1901 | 320 | −13.5% |
| 1911 | 380 | 18.8% |
| 1926 | 307 | −19.2% |
| 1936 | 301 | −2.0% |
| 1946 | 312 | 3.7% |
| 1951 | 272 | −12.8% |
| 1956 | 708 | 160.3% |
| 1961 | 896 | 26.6% |
| 1966 | 1,078 | 20.3% |
| 1971 | 1,064 | −1.3% |
| 1981 | 1,402 | 31.8% |
| 1986 | 1,374 | −2.0% |
| 1991 | 1,285 | −6.5% |
| 1996 | 1,270 | −1.2% |
| 2002 | 1,198 | −5.7% |
| 2006 | 1,164 | −2.8% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Ferbane (Irish: Féar Bán, meaning "white grass") is a small town on the north bank of the River Brosna in County Offaly, Ireland, between Birr and Athlone at the junction of the N62 National secondary road and the R436 regional road. The name of the town is said to come from the white bog cotton which grows abundantly in the surrounding Bog Of Allen.[6]
Ireland's first milled-peat fired power station was commissioned by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) at Ferbane in 1957. Since the station's closure in 2001, the Shannon Development agency and the ESB have invested €1.4 million in the development of a new Business & Technology Park which opened in 2005. A new playschool was also built on the site which opened in September 2006.
Contents |
Business
Business and Technology Park Ltd is a non profit making company with charitable status owned by the community. Phase one was ready in January 2005
Since its establishment, Ferbane Enterprise Group has worked non-stop to develop a unique Business & Technology Park in its region. That work is now bearing fruit in terms of jobs, investment and increased profile for the West Offaly town.
Ferbane Over 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) of office -Industrial units were completed since the park was opened with an additional 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) approved -in planning process.
Community
Bright Beginnings Childcare Centre, Ferbane Bright Beginnings opens from 7.45am until 6.00pm, for 51 weeks per annum. It closes for 1 week over the Christmas period. These hours as may expand as demand for the services increases.
Trivia On October 27, 2007 Ferbane assembled officially 142 area residents to participate in a globally simultaneous dance to the music of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Awaiting the official word from Guinness World Records, this would be the world record; surpassing Toronto's 2006 record of 62.[7][8]
Sport
- Ferbane GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.
- Tony McTague is Ferbane's most famous sportsman. He won two All Irelands with Offaly in 1971 and 1972. He lifted the Sam Maguire Cup as captain in 1972.
- The Lowry Brothers, Sean, Brendan & Michael were part of the 1982 All-Ireland Winning Team.
- Ferbane Senior Footballers won a five in a row 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990.
- Ferbane Senior Footballers took part in 8 Country Finals between 1986-1994 winning 7 of them, a record I believe.
Tourism
Coole Castle Sir John MaCoghlan built Coole Castle on the banks of the Brosna in 1575. It was the last of the MacCoghlan castles to be built. He erected it as a present to his second wife Sabina O’ Dallachain. Formerly there was a mural slab in the castle with a Latin inscription translating as “This tower was built by the energy of Sir John MacCoghlan, K.T. chief of this Sept at the proper cost of Sabina O’ Dallachain on the condition that she should have it for her lifetime and afterwards each of her sons according to their seniority”. The whereabouts of the mural is unknown at present. In his will in 1590 Sir John left Coole Castle to his wife Sabina O’ Dallachain. Over the fireplace, in its original location, in the topmost room of the castle is a plaque written in Middle Irish which reads: “SEAGHA (n) MAC (c) OCHL (ain) DO TINDSCAIN O SEO SUAS 1575” (“Sean Mac Cochlan began (this building) from this (date) 1575”)
Kilcolgan Castle (Court) Terence Coghlan built Kilcolgan Castle in the early 1640’s. In 1646 the Papal Nuncio was sent to Ireland; he stayed for some time in the castle and wrote admiringly of the castle demesne with its beautifully laid out gardens and peacocks strutting on the lawns. The castle continued to be in the possession of the MacCoghlans until the 18th century when it became uninhabited and fell into disrepair. The remains of the castle were demolished in 1954 and the stones used to make foundations for the power station at Lumcloon.
Gallen Priory Less than a kilometre south of the town, on the site of an ancient monastery founded by the Welsh missionary Saint Canoc in 492, stands Gallen Priory (formerly a convent of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny, now a nursing home).
Transport
- The Grand Canal, which links up with the River Shannon, passes through Gallen townland.
- Ferbane railway station opened on 29 May 1884, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1963.[9]
Townlands and places in the Ferbane (Wheery or Fuithre)parish include: Ballyclare Ballylin Boora Curraghdown, The black Boreen, Cages Bridge, Creggan, Skehanagh, Moyclare, Endrim Near, Endrim Far, Coole, Derrica, Ferbane Town Gallen, Reynaun, Ballyvora, Rosfaraghan, Noggus, Gallen, Newtown and Kilcolgan & The Derries
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), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
- ^ (A Land by the River of God - A History of Ferbane Parish , Brendan Ryan (1994))
- ^ Thrill Ferbane
- ^ Thrill The World
- ^ "Ferbane station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
See also
External links
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