Athenry

Coordinates: 53°18′00″N 8°44′46″W / 53.300°N 8.746°W / 53.300; -8.746
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Athenry
Baile Átha an Rí
Town
Eircode routing key
H65
Telephone area code+353(0)91
Irish Grid ReferenceM500282

Athenry (/æθənˈraɪ/;[a] Irish: Baile Átha an Rí, meaning "Town of the Ford of the King") is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry".

History

St. Mary's Parish Church in Athenry.

Athenry's name derives from the ford ('Áth') crossing the river Clarin just east of the settlement. It was originally called 'Áth na Ríogh' ('Ford of the Kings') because it was the home area of the Cenél nDéigill kings of Soghan, whose leading lineage were the Ó Mainnín.[5] On some medieval maps of English origin the town is called Kingstown.

Originally, Soghan was surrounded by

Maigh Seola to the west. However, after 1135, and by 1152, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair forcibly incorporated it into the newly created trícha cét of Clann Taidg, ruled by lords such as Fearghal Ó Taidg an Teaghlaigh, who expelled the Ó Mainnín family. In the 1230s the Ó Taidg an Teaghlaigh family were in turn displaced by Meyler de Bermingham.[5]

The earliest remaining building in the town is

Protestant Reformation but survived until being desecrated and burned during the Mac an Iarla wars of the 1560s–80s, and was finally vandalised by Cromwellians in the 1650s. The medieval walls around Athenry are among the most complete and best preserved in Ireland with 70% of original circuit still standing, along with some of the original towers and the original North gate.[6]
The remains of the Lorro Gate were partially unearthed in 2007 during the redevelopment of road works in the area.

In the centre of the town is the 'square'; markets were held from the 17th century onwards and where the town's late 15th century '

Collegiate Church adjacent to the town Square. The original medieval church is largely destroyed but in 1828 a Church of Ireland
church was built into its chancel.

A late Bronze Age shield, found near Athenry, is now in the British Museum

In 1791, Jean Antoine Coquebert de Montbret visited the town, which he described as:

It covers 50 acres but has not more than 60 houses. [...] There is

bas-relief still remains. [...] I noticed at the door of a tavern a large cake decorated with a bouquet. It was a prize for the best dancer. [...] The road from Athenry is very beautiful and there are no barriers.

— Jean Antoine Coquebert de Montbret, [8]

Moyode Castle is another tall 16th-century fortified tower house of the Dolphin family, which went to the Persse family. The castle is now restored and inhabited and is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from the town of Athenry.

In 1863, a late Bronze Age shield was found in the vicinity of Athenry, and is now held in the British Museum's collection.[9]

Economy and transport

Athenry Dominican Priory

Transport

By road, Athenry is served by the M6 motorway which links Galway city to Dublin. By rail, it is served by the Athenry railway station, which opened on 1 August 1851 and lies on the Galway–Dublin main line of the Irish rail network. The town is at the junction of the Galway–Dublin line, and the partially complete the Western Railway Corridor (Limerick–Sligo).

Industry

In December 2017, funding was announced for a "Food Innovation Hub" in Athenry, projected by its promoters to create 360 jobs within 3 years, and to cost in the region of €3.9m.[10]

River Clarin

Sport

Athenry is home to the Gaelic Athletic Association St. Mary Club,[11] which has won three All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship titles.

Athenry Athletics Club has a juvenile and a senior section.[12][13] The club has produced two Olympic sprinters, Martina McCarthy and Paul Hession.[14][15] McCarthy represented Ireland in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Hession competed in the men's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athenry is also home to Athenry F.C., founded in 1971.[16] The club reached the 2006 final of the FAI Junior Cup,[17] and the following year it became the Galway & District League champions for the first time, repeating the same achievement during the 2007–08, 2009–10, and 2014–15 seasons.[18] In 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2016, Athenry also won the Connacht Junior Cup title.[18]

Athenry is also home of the Athenry Golf Club and Athenry Judo Club.[19][20]

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Ireland

Twin towns – Sister cities

Athenry is

twinned with the town of Quimperlé in Brittany (France) and, since 2013, Renews-Cappahayden, Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada).[21][22]

People

See also: Category:People from Athenry

The following is a list of notable natives of Athenry:

See also

Note

  1. ^ Athenry is pronounced like Athens without the s, followed by rye; the accent is on the last syllable.

References

  1. ^ a b "Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement F1015 - Population: Athenry, Co. Galway". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Histpop — The Online Historical Population Reports Project". HistPop.org. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. ^ Lee, John Joseph (1981). "On the accuracy of the pre-famine Irish censuses". In Connell, Kenneth Hugh; Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, Leslie A. (eds.). Irish population, economy, and society: Essays in honour of the late K.H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. pp. 37–56.
  4. hdl:10197/1406
    .
  5. ^ a b "The Mannion Clan". MannionClan.org. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  6. ISBN 978-0716524748
    .
  7. ASIN B00382S42I
    .
  8. OCLC 5557175705
    .
  9. ^ "Museum number 1888,0719.1 - Shield". British Museum Collection. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  10. ^ Siggins, Lorna; Hamilton, Peter (11 December 2017). "Athenry gets €4.5m food innovation campus as Apple 'in limbo'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  11. ^ "St. Mary GAA Club Athenry official website". Athenrygaa.it. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Athenry AC Juvenile Contact Information". AthenryAC.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Athenry AC (Senior) 10th Anniversary - some thoughts and numbers". AthenryAC.com. December 2012. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Martina Medals at AAI Games". AthenryAC.com. 18 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  15. ^ "Good Luck Paul Hession". AthenryAC.com. 20 August 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  16. ^ "Athenry FC History". AthenrySoccerClub.ie. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  17. ^ "FAI Junior Cup 2006". FAI.it. Football Association of Ireland. Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
  18. ^ a b "Athenry Football Club Roll of Honor". AthenrySoccerClub.ie. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  19. ^ "History of Athenry Golf Club". AthenryGolfClub.net. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Athenry Judo Club". AthenryJudoClub.com. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  21. ^ "Jumelage Quimperlé-Athenry: Pâques en Irlande". Le Télégramme (in French). 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Athenry twinned with Newfoundland town". Galway Advertiser. 5 September 2013. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

Further reading

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Athenry.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Athenry.
Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Athenry.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Athenry&oldid=1216849329"