Edenderry

Town in County Offaly, Ireland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edenderry

Edenderry (/ˌdənˈdɛri/; Irish: Éadan Doire, meaning 'hill-brow of the oak wood'[4]) is a town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. The Grand Canal runs along the south of Edenderry, through the Bog of Allen, and there is a short spur to the town centre.

Quick Facts Éadan Doire, Country ...
Edenderry
Éadan Doire
Town
JKL Street in Edenderry is named for James Warren Doyle (a.k.a. James Kildare & Leighlin)
JKL Street in Edenderry is named for James Warren Doyle (a.k.a. James Kildare & Leighlin)
Coat of arms of Edenderry
Motto: 
Esto Fideles - The Faithful
Edenderry is located in Ireland
Edenderry
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53.345°N 7.05116°W / 53.345; -7.05116
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Offaly
Elevation
84 m (276 ft)
Population
  Total
7,888
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode
R45
Telephone area code046
Irish Grid ReferenceN633328
Close
More information Year, Pop. ...
Close

The R401 road from Kinnegad to the north and the R402 from Enfield to the east meet at the northeastern end of the Main Street. At the Grand Canal they split, with the R402 continuing westwards towards Tullamore and the R401 heads south to Rathangan and Kildare Town.[5]

History

Thumb
Edenderry Town Hall
Thumb
Blundell Castle Ruins

In the 16th century, Edenderry was known as Coolestown, after the family of Cooley or Cowley, who had a castle here. It was defended in 1599 against the Confederates, during the Nine Years' War. This subsequently passed by marriage to the Blundell family and was sacked in 1691 by the army of James II.[6]

The Blundells' land passed subsequently to the Marquess of Downshire who reversed the earlier opposition of the Blundell sisters to the establishment of a branch to the Grand Canal to Edenderry and paid for the £692 cost of the project,[7] which was completed in 1802.

By 1716 there was thriving woollen cloth manufacturing, established by Quakers, which employed around 1,000 people.[8] By 1911 the town had grown to 2,204 people. Other industries included the factory of Daniel Alesbury who made a variety of woodwork as well as the first car manufactured in Ireland, the Alesbury, in 1907. Edenderry Town Hall was completed in 1830.[9]

Demographics

The population of Edenderry doubled in the period between the census of 1996 (when it had a population of 3,825 people)[10] and the 2022 census (which recorded a population of 7,888 people).[1]

Education

There are two secondary schools in the town, St. Mary's Secondary School and Oaklands Community College, as well as five primaries, Gaelscoil Éadan Doire, St. Mary's Primary School, Scoil Bhríde Primary School, Saint Patrick's Primary School and Monasteroris National School.[11]

Local organisations

Organisations and businesses operating in the area include the Offaly Express newspaper, Edenderry Chamber of Commerce [12] and Eden FM Community Radio

Local sports clubs include Edenderry Rugby Club,[13] Edenderry GAA club,[14] Edenderry Town AFC,[15] and Highfield Golf Club.[16]

Notable people

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.