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Islandeady

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Islandeady
Oileán Éadaígh
Village
St. Patrick's church, Islandeady
St. Patrick's church, Islandeady
Motto: 
Ar Aghaidh Le Chéile
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Mayo
Area
 • Village
42.02 km2 (16.22 sq mi)
Elevation
57 m (187 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Rural
1,008
Irish Grid ReferenceM092879

Islandeady (Irish: Oileán Éadaí) is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, about halfway between the towns of Castlebar and Westport.

The parish of Islandeady meets Castlebar to the east, Westport and Newport to the west, and Aughagower and Killawalla to the south. There is a view of Croagh Patrick to the west and Nephin to the northeast. The main route by road is the N5. The parish has four national schools and a private secondary school.

History

Islandeady parish straddles the baronies of Carra and Burrishoole. Its name was reinterpreted in recent centuries as Oileán Éadaí but ultimately derives in fact from Oileán Éadain, where Éadan is a gaelicised form of the Anglo-Saxon name Aedwine or Haedwine. A person of this name was ordained bishop of Mayo in the late eighth century, according to the medieval chronicler Symeon of Durham. The Islandeady townland of Raheens, is mentioned in an early biography of Saint Patrick by Tírechán (700c). Islandeady townland was historically called Illaneedan.[1] Islandeady belonged to the 'Patrician lands of Connacht'. The date given by historians to St.Patrick's missionary work in Islandeady is 440 A.D., where he preached on the shores of a lake in the peaceful little parish. Today the modern village lies within the townlands of Rinnaseer and Cloonan.

On 2 September 1973, during the Troubles, Royal Ulster Constabulary reservists from Lisnaskea were attacked by gunmen at Kilbree Lower, on the Westport-Castlebar road, as they were on their way home from a fishing holiday in Westport. Three of them were wounded. by machine-gun fire.[2]

Geography

Islandeady boasts many kinds of land, fertile plains, bog, marsh, moor land, mountain rock and stony soil. Lakes and rivers are abound in number and variety. The main lakes are Lough Bilberry and Lough Lannagh, but there are many lesser known ones too.

Sport and famous people

Boxer Ray Moylette, light welterweight gold medallist at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships, is from Islandeady.

GAA

  • Islandeady has a local GAA football team; their home games are played in St Eiden's Park.

Politics

  • Islandeady is the birthplace of current Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

Fishing

  • The McConville Cup trout angling competition is held annually in July on Bilberry Lake and Lough Lannagh.

Education

National Schools:

  • Cloggernagh N.S.
  • Leitir N.S.
  • Cougala N.S.
  • Cornanool N.S.

Secondary Schools:

  • St.Patrick's Academy (Private)

Transport

  • Islandeady is served by the N5 (Westport-Dublin road) National primary road
  • Islandeady railway station opened on 1 May 1914, but finally closed on 17 June 1963.

Business

Islandeady had a shop beside the church, but it closed in the late 1980s/early 1990s. An embroidery and sewing shop, "Celtic Cross Stitch", is running behind the church. There is also a B&B beside the GAA pitch.

See also

References

  1. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland (see archival records)
  2. ^ 'Northern visitors attacked by gunmen', The Mayo News, 8 September 1973
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