Athboy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Athboy Baile Atha Bui |
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WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
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| Irish grid reference N800567 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Leinster | |
| County: | County Meath | |
| Elevation: | 61 m (200 ft) | |
| Population (2006) - Town: - Environs: |
6,447 5,447 |
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Athboy (Irish: Baile Átha Buí), is a small agricultural town in County Meath in Ireland. It is located on the junction of the N51 and R154 roads. The town is located on the Yellow Ford River, in wooded country near the County Westmeath border.
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[edit] History
- In medieval times it was a walled stronghold of the Pale. Owen Roe O'Neill took it in 1643, and six years later Oliver Cromwell camped his army on the Hill of Ward nearby. Also known as Tlachtga, the Hill of Ward was the location for the pagan feast of Samhain, the precursor of modern day Halloween.
- The tower of the Protestant church is a remnant of a 14th century Carmelite priory. Behind the church are the remains of the town walls.
- In 1694, the town's 'lands and commons' and several other denominations of land were erected into a manor and granted to Thomas Bligh, MP for Athboy, who had earlier purchased almost 12 km² (3000 acres) in the area of Athboy. His son, John, was created "Earl of Darnley" in 1725 and the Blighs (Earls of Darnley) were landlords of all but six of the 27 townlands in the parish of Athboy throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
[edit] Transport
Athboy railway station opened on 26 February 1864, but was closed to passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed on 1 September 1954.[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Athboy station. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
Noel E French, A short history of Rathmore and Athboy (1995). Beryl F E Moore, 'Tombs in Athboy Graveyard', Irish Ancestor, vol 13 (1981), pp.123-24.
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