Maynooth
Maynooth (pronounced Ma-nooth) (Maigh Nuad in Irish) is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College. Maynooth is also the seat of the Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland, and holds the headquarters of Ireland's largest development charity, Trocaire.
Location and access
Maynooth is located on the R148 road between Leixlip and Kilcock, with the M4 motorway bypassing the town. Other roads connect the town to Celbridge, Clane, and Dunboyne.
Etymology
The ancient name of Maynooth means the plain of Nuada. Nuada is referred to as the maternal grandfather of the legendary Fionn mac Cumhail in the Annals of the Four Masters.
History
Maynooth was a long-term centre for the Geraldine family, who dominated Irish affairs in varios periods.
In the 1920s, the town was the unofficial home to the King of England's representative in Ireland, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, who declined to take up official residence in the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, and whose family operated a hardware store in the town until 2005, the only store with an Irish language name in the town for many years.
Historical features
The town has, at either end of the main street, Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The castle was overrun in 1535, after the rebellion of the Earl.
The town is just inside the western edge of The Pale.
The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College and some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-Gothic revival style. The "new range" of buildings was erected by A.W.N. Pugin in 1850 under a commission from then college president Laurence F. Renehan, while the highly important College Chapel was designed and completed by J.J. McCarthy during the presidency of Dr. Robert Browne in 1894.
The famed Conolly's Folly is also near the town, although it is arguably in Celbridge, as it is much closer to it, but is covered by Maynooth's very extensive town boundaries. It was known to be the gateway to the west as the main route from Dublin .
Population
The population of 10,715 (2006 Census[1]) makes it the fifth largest town in Kildare and the 35th largest in the Republic of Ireland. Measurement can be difficult as much of the town's population is transient - students at NUI Maynooth or St. Patrick's College, or temporary employees at the nearby Intel and Hewlett Packard facilities (both located in Leixlip).
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1813 | 1,468 | — |
| 1821 | 1,364 | −7.1% |
| 1831 | 2,053 | +50.5% |
| 1841 | 2,129 | +3.7% |
| 1851 | 1,696 | −20.3% |
| 1861 | 1,497 | −11.7% |
| 1871 | 1,414 | −5.5% |
| 1881 | 1,278 | −9.6% |
| 1891 | 958 | −25.0% |
| 1901 | 948 | −1.0% |
| 1911 | 886 | −6.5% |
| 1926 | 846 | −4.5% |
| 1936 | 632 | −25.3% |
| 1946 | 573 | −9.3% |
| 1951 | 581 | +1.4% |
| 1956 | 1,722 | +196.4% |
| 1961 | 1,753 | +1.8% |
| 1966 | 1,254 | −28.5% |
| 1971 | 1,296 | +3.3% |
| 1981 | 3,388 | +161.4% |
| 1986 | 6,893 | +103.5% |
| 1991 | 6,027 | −12.6% |
| 1996 | 8,528 | +41.5% |
| 2002 | 10,845 | +27.2% |
| 2006 | 10,715 | −1.2% |
| [2] | ||
Education
Two third-level educational institutions -- St. Patrick's College, Maynooth founded under King George III in 1795 to educate Ireland's Catholics, and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, separated from St. Patrick's College in 1997 -- are located in the town. They share campus space and many facilities.. NUI Maynooth is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city.
There is one secondary school.
Amenities
The town contains a fire station, in addition to the area's part time Garda station, a health centre, a branch library and a Credit Union. In the mid-1980s the town gained some minor fame for having the first callcard phones in Ireland.
Economy
The town is the main retail and other service centre for North Kildare and South Meath, with branches of SuperValu, Tesco Ireland, Aldi and Lidl, as well as a wide variety of non-chain stores. In October 2005, Dunnes Stores opened a major shopping centre off the town's main street, Manor Mills. This centre contains a number of other high street names, such as Easons, Elvery's Sports and a Halifax branch. Tesco is open 24 hours, Dunnes Stores also formerly did so. On 18 January 2007 Tesco Ireland announced plans to demolish its existing store in Maynooth (the same store having been demolished and rebuilt only seven years previously) and build a larger shopping centre, anchored by a Tesco Extra store, on a neighbouring site [1]. The new centre is known as Carton Park, after nearby Carton House. The Tesco Extra portion of the new shopping centre opened on 3 November 2008, with Heatons opening in October 2009. A number of shops that formed part of the former Maynooth Shopping Centre remain open on the old site.
Transport
Maynooth is on the Royal Canal, navigable from central Dublin to this point, now used mostly for leisure purposes. It provided an important stopping point before Dublin in the period directly before the coming of the railways to Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. The harbour, known locally as Dukes Harbour is roughly triangular in shape and on the north side of the canal, opposite the railway station is a popular fishing area.
Maynooth station is one of the busiest in the Dublin / Kildare region, serving as it does two major educational institutions. The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann Western Commuter, as well as a being served by the Sligo InterCity service. Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann services also serve the town. A number of private operators also serve the town, linking it with nearby towns and cities.
Sport
Rugby
The North Kildare Rugby Club is the local rugby club and is situated about 3km from Maynooth on the Kilcock road.
Its most famous son, Cian Byrne narrowly missed out on a Lions call up last year.[3]
Gaelic games
- Maynooth GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.
Soccer
- Maynooth Town F.C. is the local soccer club.
Horseracing
- Maynooth is home to the thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation, Moyglare Stud Farm.
Athletics
See also
References
- ^ Census 2006 - Table 14A - Towns 10,000 population and over
- ^ [ http://www.cso.ie/census and www.histpop.org for post 1821 figures, 1813 estimate from Mason’s Statistical Survey For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see JJ Lee “On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses Irish Population, Economy and Society edited by JM Goldstrom and LA Clarkson (1981) p54, in and also New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850 by Joel Mokyr and Cormac O Grada in The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 473-488.
- ^ http://www.lionsrugby.com/