Macroom

Macroom Maigh Chromtha
—  Town  —
Macroom Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 51°54′16″N 8°57′25″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Cork
Irish Grid Reference	W337729
Website	www.macroom.ie

Macroom (Irish: Maigh Chromtha, meaning "crooked plain") is a market town in Ireland located in a valley on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney. It is one of the key gateways to the tourist region of West Cork. The town recorded a population on 3,553 in the 2006 national census. The name in Irish Gaelic may mean 'meeting place of followers of the god Crom or 'crooked plain', the latter derived from a large oak tree at one time growing in the town-square. Traditionally, it is said that Macroom is "the town that never reared a fool."

The area was once a meeting place for the Druids of Munster, and its first mention in the records comes from the sixth century. The town was the site of a major battle involving Brian Boru in the 10th century and in the following centuries suffered a series of invasions by warring families, including those by Murcheatach Uí Briain and Richard de Cogan. Finally the MacCarthy family took control of the area and led the town towards prosperity through such activities as milling, markets and fairs.

In 1650, Macroom became a centre point of conflict in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. During the Irish War of Independence in the early the 20th Century, the town was a centre of IRA activity. During the late 19th century a number of Anglo-Irish families were prominent in the town, however their estate-houses were burned out during the 1920s troubles, and after they fled their land was redistributed to the former tenants.

History

Evidence of Macroom's pre-history can be found in the many Megaliths located near the town. This standing stone is part of a 3500 year old complex in Knocknakilla near Ballinagree.

The legacy of Macroom's pre-Christian habitation survives in the many standing stones, dolmens, stone circles and fulacht fiadh in the surrounding land. The area was a pre-Christian centre for Bardic conventions and acted as a base for the Druids of Munster. The first recorded historical reference to the town dates to the sixth century when the townland was known as Achad Dorbchon, and held within the kingdom of Muscraighe Mitine. The dominant clan within the province of Munster at this time was the Eóganachta dynasty; they held kingdoms from Muscraighe Mitine to the midlands town of Birr. The tribe of Uí Floinn was most prominent local clan, and at some time in their reign a castle was built in Achad Dorbchon to replace Raithleann as the capital of Muskerry.

View of the Castle Arch, showing the relocated Olive Ardilaun's cannons.

Muscraighe Mitine underwent three invasions during the thirteenth century; from the Murcheatach Uí Briain and Richard de Cogan in 1201 and 1207 respectively, and finally from the MacCarthy family who had become the dominant and most powerful family in what was then known as Muscraighe Uí Fhloinn. The MacCarthy family occupied the castle from this time up until the middle of the seventeenth century. By the fourteenth century Achad Dorbchon was accepted to be the capital of the Barony of Muskerry, and was seen as a growing centre for trade, burial and religious worship.

Macroom was one of the earliest centres in Ireland where milling was carried out. From the end of the sixteenth century the town began to grow from a village settlement to a functionally diverse urban centre. The locality grew outwards from the castle. The MacCarthys established the town as a centre for markets and fairs, and in 1620 a market house was built to the east of and facing the castle. The family introduced a plantation scheme which aimed to attract new agriculture and industrial techniques and methods to the area. By the mid-seventeenth century English families owned approximately one-third of the town in value terms. The Protestant families introduced butter making to the town; an industry that was labour intensive and had a positive effect on local dairy farming.

The battle of Macroom took place near the town in 1650, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Bishop Boetius McEgan, fighting on behalf of the MacCarthys failed to hold the Castle, and he was taken prisoner by the Cromwellian forces and hanged at Carrigadrohid.

ILLA mass meeting of small tenant farmers and agrarian labourers in the Market Square, around 1894.

A 1750 tenement list shows the town at that time to comprised 134 buildings and 300 families, with a population ratio of 6 to 1 between Catholic and Protestants. By now the town had developed from a locality of mud cabins in the early 1660s to a linear shaped urban settlement consisting mainly of thatched cabins, replaced in due course by solid cottages through efforts of the Irish Land and Labour Association (ILLA) founded in 1894.

Macroom was the birth-place of Admiral Sir William Penn, a distinguished British Admiral and father of William Penn, after whom the state of Pennsylvania is named. Penn spent a deal of time in his father's birth-place, particularly during his childhood. The remains of their castle can still be seen today.

Graveyard in the abandoned Protestant church

During the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921), Macroom was the base in Cork for the British Auxiliary Division. At the Kilmichael Ambush in 1920, 17 Auxiliaries were killed on the road between Macroom and Dunmanway by the local Irish Republican Army under Tom Barry. In May 1922, between the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Irish Civil War, 4 British soldiers were kidnapped and executed. Macroom castle was burned out on five separate occasions; the last occasion was on 18 August 1922 following the evacuation of British Auxiliaries from the town. The anti-treaty forces, including Erskine Childers and Frank O'Connor, had retreated from Cork City to Macroom. They burned the castle before retreating west. Michael Collins was killed in 1922 in an ambush near Béal na mBláth.

In 1924 the Castle and estate was gifted to the town by Lady Ardilaun, a descendant of the McCarthy chiefs, who was the widow of Lord Ardilaun.

Geography

The Gearagh, a submerged Oakwood forest located 2km east of the towm

1.5 km south of Macroom is the Gearagh, a national nature reserve which comprises an inland delta, made up of a series of small islands, separated by anastomosing river channels. The area is thought to have been wooded since the end of the last Ice Age (c. 10,000 years ago). The alluvial woodland had extended as far as the Lee Bridge, however in 1954 the Lee hydro-electric scheme was undertaken which led to extensive tree-felling and flooding in the area. The scheme resulted in the loss of sixty per-cent of the former oak woodland. Today, the Gearagh is of great natural importance due to its rich and rare diversity of wildlife, and represents the only extant extensive alluvial woodland in Western Europe.

Tourism

View of the back square, showing the late Gerard Golden's pub; 'the pub that never served a fool'.

Tourist attractions include a colourful town centre, an 18-hole golf course and scenic surroundings. A few kilometres to the north of Macroom is Mushera Mountain, with the family attraction of Millstreet Country Park, a 1.5 km walk to the summit of the mountain, and the ancient Saint John's Well. Also The Castle Grounds located in the town is a popular place for tourists and includes fishing and golfing facilities.

There are many holy wells, churches and other sites in the area associated with ancient visionaries and healers. 6 km west lies the historic Carrigaphooca Castle. In the town itself, the Castle Arch, a remainder of the demolished Macroom Castle, admits walkers to the Castle demesne parklands, held in trust as a gift to, and possession of, the people of Macroom. This large park contains riverside walks among mature oak and beech trees. It is very popular amongst mushroom enthusiasts.

Education

The town has two primary schools and three secondary schools; a De La Salle for boys, St. Mary's Secondary School Convent of Mercy for girls, and McEgan College, a mixed technical college located in the castle grounds.

The Convent of Mercy Secondary School is contained within the Sisters of Mercy's complex attached to St. Colmans church, which also included a convent, a primary school, a graveyard and a grotto. Coláiste De La Salle was opened in 1933 and originally located in the town hall, until a permanent building was completed three years later. By the late 1970s the school was experiencing sever capacity issues and a re-structure and extension of the school was undertaken in 1982. Since its opening the ratio of pupils has remained relatively stable with 40% from coming the town and the rest from surrounding parishes. A new building was built in 2008 for St Colmans Boys National School after years of planning applications and appeals.

Transport

Brightly coloured houses on Castle Street with ruined tower behind.

Macroom is situated on the national primary route N22, approximately 38 km from Cork city and 48 km from Killarney. There is an hourly bus service to and from Cork city. Macroom's nearest airport is Cork Airport. Between 1866 and 1953, a railway ran between the town and Cork city, terminating in the mart grounds. In 1890 there were five services each way on week days and two on Sundays, and the running time was just over an hour. Macroom railway station opened on 12 May 1866, closed for passenger traffic on 1 July 1935, closed for goods traffic on 10 March 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 December 1953.

Sources

• Hart, Peter M. The I.R.A. and Its Enemies: Violence and Community in Cork, 1916-1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999
• Ring, Denis Paul. A Historical Geography of Macroom C.500-1995. Castle House Publications, 1995.

External links

• Official Town Website
• National Parks & Wildlife Service