Castlerea

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Template:Ie citytown infoboxCastlerea (An Caisleán Riabhach in Irish) is located in the west of County Roscommon, Ireland. It is the second largest town in the county with a population of 2842 (as of 2006). Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea can mean Brindled Castle (Caisleán Riabhach) or King's Castle (Caisleán Rí). The town is built on the River Suck and the River Francis (aka River Cloonard), both tributaries of the River Shannon. Clonalis House, just west of the town, is the ancestral home of the Clan O'Conor: the last High Kings of Ireland. The dynasty gave eleven high kings to Ireland and twenty four kings to Connacht. The family traces back to Feredach the Just in 75 A.D. and is Europe's oldest recorded family. The 45 room mansion was built in 1878 and contains a priceless collection of archival material, illustrating a tradition going back 60 generations. The first president of Ireland and founder of the Gaelic League, Dr. Douglas Hyde was born in Castlerea on 17th January 1860. Castlerea was also the birthplace in 1815 of Sir William Wilde, educated in the diocesan school in Elphin and father of the celebrated dramatist and wit, Oscar Wilde. Dr. Matthew Young, Bishop of Clonfert ca. 1798, an eminent natural philosopher and mathematician, was a native of Castlerea. On the 11th of July 1921 an RIC man (Sgt. James King) was shot in Patrick St., Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and died of his wounds shortly afterwards. It was the last shot fired in the Irish War of Independence. (Source). Detective Garda John Francis Morley and Garda Henry Gerrard Byrne were shot dead while in pursuit of INLA bank robbers at Aghaderry near Castlerea on the 7th of July 1980. (Source) (Source2). The town is the home and birthplace of Irish Times columnist, John Waters and cannabis legalisation advocate, Cllr. Luke 'Ming' Flanagan. The town also has a prison and "Hell's Kitchen" the only pub in Ireland with a train inside. Hell's Kitchen also contains a Railway Museum, probably the most unusual museum building in Ireland. Sean Browne’s railway museum includes a 1955 A55 diesel locomotive. It is open 7 days a week and is a treasure trove for railway enthusiasts. On display are bells, lamps, shunting poles, signal equipment etc. In soccer, Castlerea Celtic are the 2006 Ruby Oil Roscommon and district Premier league and cup champions, having achieved the double for the first time since 1979. There has been a big increase in the popularity of soccer in the town in recent years. A fine new clubhouse and Astroturf facility has recently been built by Castlerea Celtic.


The Sandfords

Theophilus Sandford in the 17th century was the first Sandford to obtain extensive lands in Castlerea. This was for his services during the civil wars in England. These lands had been taken from the O'Conors. He built Castlerea House c.1640 on the old O'Conor Castle site. Castlerea developed under the Sandfords, and they established a distillery (at its height producing more than 20,000 of gallons of whiskey annually), a brewery and a tannery. His descendants continued to hold their power through the troublesome 19th century, but in the early years of the 20th century they lost ground. The estate was acquired by the Land Commission and the Congested Districts Board. The Demesne in which it was set survives and the people of Castlerea now enjoy it as a public park.

Castlerea Poor Law Union

Castlerea Poor Law Union was formally declared on the 14th September 1839 and covered an area of 374 square miles. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 27 in number, representing its 18 electoral divisions as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):

Co. Roscommon: Artagh, Ballinlough, Ballintober, Ballinagar, Castleplunket, Castlerea (3), Frenchpark (2), Killullagh, Loughglynn (2). Co. Mayo: Ballaghaderreen (2), Ballyhaunis (2), Bekan (2), Castlemore. Co. Galway: Ballymoe, Ballynakill, Glenamaddy (2), Kilkerrin (2), Tampultogher.

The Board also included 9 ex-officio Guardians, making a total of 36. The Guardians met each week on Saturday at 11am.

The population falling within the Union at the 1831 census had been 85,895 with divisions ranging in size from Ballymoe (population 2,855) to Castlerea itself (9,113).

The new Castlerea Union workhouse was erected in 1840-2 on a six-acre site half a mile to the south-east of Castlerea. Designed by the Poor Law Commissioners' architect George Wilkinson, the building was based on one of his standard plans to accommodate 1,000 inmates. Its construction cost £8,485 plus £1,815 for fittings etc. The workhouse was declared fit for the reception of paupers on 6th October 1842. However, because of difficulties in collecting the poor rate needed to operate the workhouse, it did not receive its first admissions until 30th May 1846, and only then after the Poor Law Commissioners had issued the Guardians with a writ of mandamus.

The buildings followed Wilkinson's typical layout. An entrance and administrative block at the north-east contained a porter's room and waiting room at the centre with the Guardians' board room on the first floor above.

The main accommodation block had the Master's quarters at the centre, with male and female wings to each side. At the rear, a range of single-storey utility rooms such as bakehouse and washhouse connected through to the infirmary and idiots' wards via a central spine containing the chapel and dining-hall. A mortuary lay at the rear.

During the famine in the mid-1840s, probationary wards were adapted to accommodate 24 fever patients. A fever hospital was subsequently erected at the south of the site.

In 1850, the southern part of the Castlerea Union went to become part of the new Glenamaddy Union.

The workhouse remained in operation until 1920 when, under a scheme to reduce the number of workhouses in the area, the Strokestown and Roscommon unions were re-amalgamated, and the Castlerea and Strokestown workhouses closed, to the consternation of local traders who were heavily dependent on Union Contracts. Shortly afterwards the buildings were demolished and the site is now used for residential purposes.

Climate

Climate Table
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average daily maximum temperature (°C) 10 11 12 14 18 20 23 23 19 16 12 11 15.75
Average daily minimum temperature (°C) -3 -2 0 1 4 7 9 8 6 3 0 0 2.75
Mean total rainfall (mm) 80 50 60 50 60 60 60 80 70 80 70 80 800
Source: Yahoo! Weather

Education and Industry

Castlerea's major employers include Harmac Medical Products, Colour Communications Europe, Finola Foods and J. Murphy (light engineering). A Film Production House, Round Edge Films is based in Ballingare in Castlerea.

The schools in the town are all located in one central 'block'. The area includes two primary schools, St. Annes and St. Pauls and one secondary school, Castlerea Community School. St. Michael’s Special National School is also located within the central educational 'block'.

Post Leaving Certificate courses are held in Castlerea Community School for school leavers or adults wishing to return to education.

Amenities

Amenities in the town include a nine hole golf course, an outdoor swimming pool (open to public every June, July and August), a soccer pitch, a GAA pitch and a large public park. The GAA owns a squash court, a handball court, a tennis court and a bowling alley in the town. St. Kevin's is the local Gaelic Football club.

Castlerea also has a nite club known as 'River Island', not to be confused with the clotheswear chain of the same name. The town also maintains a stock of between fifteen and twenty public houses.

Public houses and licensed premises in Castlerea include the Golf Course Club House, the GAA Centre Bar, Hell's Kitchen, Caulfield's, The Stagger Inn, Carthy's, Silke's, Murray's, The Halfway House, Sissy McGinty's, The Cosy Bar, The Golden Eagle, Mulvihill's, Tully's, The Horse and Jockey, The Forge, Major Tom's(aka Kate's), The Westbury and Doherty's.

St. Patrick's Church (estd.1896) is the Roman Catholic church of the town, adminstered by Canon Joe Fitzgearld and Fr. Michael McManus.

Castlerea is twinned with Newark, New York.

Castlerea is not to be confused with Castlereagh, a borough of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

See also

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