Central 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) 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).
Education
St Patick's College
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
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
[65070]. 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
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.
It's most famous son, Cian Byrne narrowly missed out on a Lions
call up last year.
Gaelic games
Soccer
Horseracing
Athletics
Le Chéile Athletic
Club
See also
References
External links
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