Boyle, County Roscommon

Boyle Mainistir na Búille
Town
Market Square, Boyle
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Roscommon
Elevation	83 m (272 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Town	2,522
• Urban	1,599
• Environs	923
Irish Grid Reference	G797019

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1813	2,272	—
1821	3,407	+50.0%
1831	3,433	+0.8%
1841	3,235	−5.8%
1851	2,727	−15.7%
1861	3,098	+13.6%
1871	3,347	+8.0%
1881	2,994	−10.5%
1891	2,464	−17.7%
1901	2,477	+0.5%
1911	2,691	+8.6%
1926	2,323	−13.7%
1936	1,727	−25.7%
1946	2,071	+19.9%
1951	1,934	−6.6%
1956	1,835	−5.1%
1961	1,739	−5.2%
1966	1,789	+2.9%
1971	1,939	+8.4%
1981	2,252	+16.1%
1986	2,383	+5.8%
1991	2,197	−7.8%
1996	2,222	+1.1%
2002	2,205	−0.8%
2006	2,522	+14.4%

King House - viewing from Pleasure Grounds (Town Park), Boyle

Boyle (Irish: Mainistir na Búille) is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located at the foot of the Curlew Mountains near Lough Key in the north of the county. Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery, the Drumanone Dolmen and the popular fishing lakes of Lough Arrow and Lough Gara are also close by. The population of the town was 3000 in 2010.

History

On 15 August 1599, the Battle of Curlew Pass between English and Irish forces was fought in the Curlew mountains during the Nine Years' War, between an English force under Sir Conyers Clifford and a native Irish force led by Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill. The English were ambushed and routed while marching through a pass in the Curlew Mountains, The English forces suffered heavy casualties. Losses by allied Irish forces were not recorded but were probably minimal. The Queen's principal secretary, Sir Robert Cecil, rated this defeat (and the simultaneous defeat of Harrington in Wicklow) as the two heaviest blows ever suffered by the English in Ireland.

Boyle suffered considerable hardship during the famine years (1847–49). The following quote from the novel Woodbrook is one example: A retired herd, Mick Maxwell, speaking to Thompson about his grandfather during the famine, related the following: 'when his grandfather, the only man strong enough, brought fifty and sixty corpses on a barrow, one by one, two miles from Cootehall near his home to the graveyard at Ardcarne.

By 1881 Slater's directory reported the town had a dispensary, three banks, three hotels and two newspapers, Boyle also had a post office, 40 grocery shops, 25 pubs (sixteen of which were also groceries), 12 bakeries and an assortment of businesses including fire insurance companies, booksellers, ironmongers and hardware stores, butchers, an auctioneer and churches for both Protestants and Catholics.

In 1917, Sinn Féin won their first ever seat in parliament for the constituency of Roscommon North, centred on Boyle, with the election of George Noble Plunkett. Plunkett's son, Joseph Mary Plunkett, had been executed by the British in May 1916 for his part in the 1916 Rising. Michael Collins campaigned on the candidate's behalf, as did Father O' Flanagan, later to become President of Sinn Féin. A plaque on the Courthouse, on The Crescent in Boyle, commemorates this occasion. This was the first by-election following the Easter Rising of 1916 and it was crucial that the democratic mandate be obtained by Sinn Féin. The election was held during a period of inclement January weather but sufficient supporters turned out to deliver the party a breakthrough into parliamentary politics.

King House

King House is a restored Georgian Mansion located in Boyle. It was built in the early 1700s for Sir Henry King, whose family were one of the most powerful and wealthy in Ireland. Roscommon County Council, recognising the historical, architectural and cultural importance of King House, began the restoration project in 1989. Using skilled artisans and local craftsmen employing traditional techniques and materials, all three floors and the basement have been restored. Of particular note are the main entrance gallery with its tripate windows and original fireplace, the extensive vaulted ceilings on all floors and the main salon which is in use once again as a venue for recitals and banquets. Since 1788, when the King Family moved to Rockingham, the house has been used as a military barracks - recently by the Irish Army but originally by the Connaught Rangers who, while in India, they heard of the atrocities being committed back in Ireland by the 'Black and Tans' and mutinied. The other rooms in the house are used for temporary exhibitions and these are open to visitors, usually at no extra charge. In The Kings of Connaught exhibition visitors are led through a series of tableaux and encouraged, with interactive pieces, to experience life as it was in the house and in the locality. The displays, ranging all over the floors, cover four main themes: The Kingdom of Connaught (from the earliest recorded times showing the importance of the clans and their kings), The King Family (meet the families who lived in the house from Sir John King who came to Boyle in 1603 to the fascinating accounts of life, both for the family and the staff, at Rockingham Estate, now Lough Key Forest Park), the Restoration (a room has been left partially restored so that visitors can see the fabric of the house and with the aid of photographs and models see the skill and craft employed in the building and restoration), and The Military Usage (from 1788 to recent times).

Boyle Abbey

Boyle Abbey - restored gatehouse, centre

The Cistercian abbey was founded in the 12th century under the patronage of the local ruling family, the MacDermotts and is one of the best preserved in Ireland. It was colonised from Mellifont in 1161. The building of the chancel and the transepts with their side-chapels probably began shortly after this date, though the lancet windows in the east gable were inserted in the 13th century. There is a combination of rounded and pointed arches in the transepts and crossing. The existing large square tower formed part of the church from the beginning, though it was raised in height at a later stage. The five eastern arches of the nave and their supporting pillars were built at the end of the 12th century, and have well-preserved capitals typical of the period. Although built at the same time, the arches of the northern side of the nave are different in type, and have differently shaped columns and capitals. The three westernmost arches in the south arcade which have leafed and figured capitals, were built after 1205, as was the west wall, before the church was finally consecrated in 1218. Nothing remains of the cloister, but on the eastern side there are two doorways of c.1200, now blocked up. On the west side there is a two-storey gatehouse, which acts as an interpretative centre. The rest of the buildings surrounding the cloister are largely 16th or 17th century. The Abbey was one of the most important in Connacht, and was invaded by Richard de Burgo, Maurice Fitzgerald, and Justiciar, in 1235. In 1659, the Cromwellians occupied the monastery and did a great deal of destruction. Though mutilated during the 17th and 18th centuries when it was used to accommodate a military garrison, Boyle Abbey is one of the best preserved structures of its type, and attracts many thousands of visitors per year. A restored gatehouse 16th/17th century vintage houses an exhibition. The Abbey is now a national monument in state care and admission is currently free while restoration work is being carried out. There is a Sile na Gig hidden above one of the central Romanesque arches in Boyle Abbey. It can be seen from ground level, just at the top of the column, where the arch begins.

Lough Key Forest Park

First Arch Entrance to Rockingham Estate

Situated just off the N4 is Lough Key Forest Park, a parkland area that has been revitalised by an addition of a Visitor Center and Activity Facilities, including Boda Borg, a puzzle solving activity centre which is a Swedish concept originally unique to Ireland but now has locations in Sweden and plans to expand Worldwide. The park covers 800 acres (3.2 km²), and was formerly part of the Rockingham estate. This was the seat of the Stafford-King-Harman family who at the end of the nineteenth century "owned" over 30,000 acres (120 km²) in north County Roscommon and County Sligo. Rockingham House was designed by Nash in the early eighteen hundreds for the English landlord John King. It was remarkable due to its dome front and 365 windows. Rockingham House was suspiciously destroyed by fire in 1957, after which it was taken over by the Irish Land Commission. Declared as unsafe in 1970, it was demolished. We can still see the remnants of the house in the park to this day such as its two 'tunnels' (which allowed the staff to unload provisions from boats and bring them to the house unseen). These tunnels are still accessible to this day. The Moylurg Tower which will give you a spectacular view of the lake, was built on the original foundations of Rockingham House. In the town park, known locally as the Pleasure Grounds behind King House stood a statue of William of Orange, this was pulled down and destroyed by locals in 1945 with the base of the statue remaining there to this day, reflecting the turmoil of that era of Irish History.

There are many interesting islands on Lough Key. Castle Island is a well-known visual icon of this area. Trinity Island contains the ruins of a chapel, linked to the Cistercian monastery in the town. There are two trees growing on the island with interlinked branches, said to mark the graves of Una Bhan Mac Diarmid and Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaigh, two ill-fated lovers, celebrated in the poem Una Bhan.

Boyle Arts Festival

This renowned Festival is a highly regarded event, considered the best small-town arts festival in Ireland. The Summer event has been held since c. 1990 and has established an impressive reputation for excellence. The festival has been the winner of several national awards and welcomes new and innovative contributions. Events include a major art exhibition of works by contemporary Irish Artists, Classical and Traditional Music, Poetry, Drama, Lectures and Children's events.

Places of interest

Abbeytown bridge, Boyle, built in the 12th Century

The 5-arch bridge across the Boyle river close to the Abbey, known as Abbeytown Bridge. Also built in the late 12th Century, it could well be the oldest surviving stone bridge in Ireland. It has been widened but still carries a 5-ton load.

The Drumanone Dolmen is just west of the town. It is a site of Irish and European historic archaeological significance. This Dolmen located outside Boyle, is a fine example of a portal dolmen, and was built before 2000BC. The word "dolmen" is Celtic in origin and means "stone table".

The great capstone, 4.5m x 3m wide, is one of the largest to be seen in Ireland. Drumanone Dolmen has portal stones more than 2m high and a doorstone about 2m high. The capstone is about 4m square and has slipped back to cover the polygonal chamber. The sides of the chamber are each composed of a single stone. It is located in pasture land about 300m north of the Boyle River. This is an excellent example of a Portal Tomb, the chamber structure is fully exposed due to the usual robbing away of the covering cairn. There are two large portal stones, each over 2m high, these are set longitudinally and parallel to the NE-SW long axis of the tomb. There are two side stones, the one to the south has been re-erected, and the western slab has been tilted over by the mass of the slipped capstone, and it is now supported by a steel girder. A small stone sits between the side slabs at the SW, and this may be a remnant of a broken back slab. The capstone is huge, measuring roughly 4.5m x 3.8m, it has slipped back quite a distance from its original position, and has distorted the rear end of the tomb considerably.

Transport

Boyle railway station opened on 3 December 1862. Boyle lies on the railway line from Dublin to Sligo, and the N4 Dublin-Sligo main road skirts the town. The town is linked to the River Shannon navigation system via the Boyle canal, the River Boyle and Lough Key. The town was once on the N4 national primary road from Dublin to Sligo but was bypassed in 1999. It is connected to the N4 by the R294 regional road (which also connects it to Ballina, County Mayo) and the N61 national secondary road which links Boyle to Athlone via Roscommon.

Boyle River Bridge(Town)

People

Boyle is the birthplace of actress Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane in the original 'Tarzan, movies), writer Patrick Chapman, Suffragette and women's rights campaigner Margaret Cousins, physician Robert Cryan, and hometown of actor and comedian Chris O'Dowd. O'Dowd filmed segments of his six-part comedy Moone Boy in the town in January 2012, to be shown on Sky 1 in September. Neville Knott, interior designer and television presenter of RTE's Beyond the Hall Door and Showhouse.

The writer John McGahern grew up near Boyle and Boyle is mentioned in several of his books. In his novel The Dark, a scene is played out in the dining room of the Royal Hotel, overlooking the river.

The UFO society of Ireland was founded in Boyle by the late Betty Meyler. Considered a UFO hotspot, Boyle hosts an annual conference on the subject.

Noted singer John Reilly lived in Boyle. He is credited by Christy Moore as a source of several well-known folk standards, such as 'The Well Below The Valley' (uniquely attributed to Reilly), and 'The Raggle Taggle Gypsy' (not a local song). Cited as an influence by Sinead O Connor and John Hoban, John Reilly features on three albums on the Topic Records label. The John Reilly Music Room was a local music venue for many years. Other local recording artists include the Grehan Sisters, who released two albums on the Transatlantic Records label and have featured on countless Irish music compilations. Christy Moore's first broadcast was as a guest performer on the Grehan Sisters BBC radio series. London-born John Carty is an Irish traditional musician and has lived in Boyle since 2003. He plays fiddle, tenor banjo, tenor guitar and, occasionally, the flute. He is very interested in the North Connacht traditional music style and was declared Irish television station TG4’s 'Traditional Musician of the Year'.

Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has a holiday home near Boyle, as does Emmy-winning actor Brendan Gleeson.

Shops and services

Boyle offers a wide variety of shops and services to its inhabitants. With many of Ireland's leading supermarket chains, including SuperValu, Centra, Mace and Gala, having stores within the town, Boyle serves as a commercial center for surrounding villages, such as Ballinameen and Corrigeenroe. The town is also home to numerous smaller, yet still very prominent, businesses. These include butchers, newsagents, grocery stores, florists and clothes shops, amongst others.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Market Houses in Ireland

External links

• 4 star Failte Ireland approved accommodation in Boyle
• Town Centre Accommodation
• Town Website
• Blog Boyle
• Green St website - Historical data on town
• Irish UFO Society, based in Boyle
• Boyle Arts Festival is a highly regarded event, considered the best small-town arts festival in Ireland
• Boyle Methodist Church
• Fair day in Boyle, circa 1950