Leixlip

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Leixlip
Léim an Bhradáin

Léim ar Aghaidh
"Leap Ahead"

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53°21′49″N 6°29′11″W / 53.3636, -6.4864

Irish grid reference
O003360

Statistics

46 m

Population (2006)

14,676^[1]

Website: kildare.ie/leixlip/

Coordinates: 53°22′N, 6°29′W Leixlip (/'liks.lɪp/; Léim an Bhradáin in Irish) is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland, east of the midlands of Ireland, situated on the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Rye, on the border of the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega.

[edit] Name

The placename comes from the Viking Lax Hlaup, which means "leap of the salmon". The name in Irish is also a direct reflection of this (Leim An Bhradain).

[edit] History

Leixlip was the site of the famous Battle of Confey, in which the Viking King Sigtrygg Caech of Dublin defeated the Irish King of Leinster around the year 917. The town was also home to Arthur Guinness's first brewery where he brewed ales until he moved to St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin in 1759, where he first brewed Guinness.

[edit] Development

The population of 14,676 (2006 Census^[2]) makes it the fourth largest town in Kildare and the 26th largest in the Republic of Ireland, hosting both local workers, and those commuting to Dublin, which is around 15km distant.

[edit] Industry

Leixlip's leading employer is Intel, who own a complex consisting of Fabs (fabrication plant) 10 & 14 (IFO), 24, and 24-2 of Intel's manufacturing operations. Hewlett-Packard is the other main local employer. Most other employment in Leixlip is in retail and the licence trade (see below for details).

[edit] Politics

Leixlip is governed by a nine member Town Council, headed by a Cathaoirleach (chairperson). This has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority. It also elects four councilors to Kildare County Council in a combined ward with Maynooth.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Road

Leixlip is located just off the M4 motorway, on the R148 (reclassified from N4) road with nearby Lucan located further towards Dublin along the same route. The R148 continues from Leixlip to Maynooth, while the R449 links Leixlip to Celbridge.

[edit] Rail

Leixlip is connected to the Irish railway network on the Dublin – Sligo line, with two stations, Leixlip (Louisa Bridge), opened on 1 September 1848, and Leixlip (Confey), opened on 2 July 1990, ^[3] located at either end of the town. While InterCity services to Sligo do not serve the town, the Maynooth Commuter service does, the frequency of the trains peaking in the mornings and evenings. Some of these services continue outbound to Mullingar and Longford.

[edit] Local attractions

Leixlip Castle. Built on a rock at the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water, the central part of the castle dates from shortly after the Norman Invasion of 1171 and is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited buildings in Ireland, pre-dating Dublin Castle by 30 years. It was used as a hunting base by King John when Lord of Ireland in 1185. It was not of major military importance but withstood a 4-day siege by the army of Edward Bruce in 1316. The property of the Whyte family from the 1500s to 1734, it was then bought by the Conolly family of nearby Castletown House, who sold it in 1914. Various famous tenants of the Conollys included Archbishop Stone, the Protestant Primate (1750s); Viceroy Lord Townshend (1770s); Lord Waterpark; and Baron de Roebuck. In the 1920s it was the residence of the French ambassador to the Irish Free State. In 1945 the castle was sold to William Kavanagh, prior to the purchase in April 1958 by The Hon. Desmond Guinness.

The Wonderful Barn

Leixlip Castle

Castletown House & The Wonderful Barn. Located on the main street of nearby Celbridge, Castletown House is the first grand Palladian House in Ireland - the design of the building led to the construction of Leinster House and from thence to the White House in Washington, D.C. Begun in 1722 by Speaker William Conolly (1662-1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, the lands and the house itself lie in Celbridge, however there is also an entrance from Leixlip hence there are two modern estates bearing the Castletown name, one in each town. To mark the eastern vista of Castletown a conical shaped building - The Wonderful Barn - went up in 1743 with the stairs ascending around the exterior of the building.

Also of note is Leixlip Spa, which is a spa found by workmen working on the construction of the Royal Canal, which runs through Leixlip.

[edit] Schools and Public Library

As with religion and sport, education in Leixlip is divided by the two Catholic parishes of Leixlip (Our Lady's Nativity) and Confey (St. Charles Borrom).

The respective schools in the Confey district are Confey Community College (a community school), Scoil San Carlo (Junior), and San Carlo Senior School (both national schools). The community school of Confey College has approximately 600 pupils in total, and similarly to Colaiste Chiarain is mixed gender and non-denominational. At the moment it is administered by a Mr Travers as school principal, while the position of vice principal is held by a Mr Hare. The name "San Carlo", while used as the Irish names of the national schools in the St Charles Borromeo parish, is actually the Italian rather than actual Irish translation (which would be "Naomh Cathal").

A brand new modern public library opened in Leixlip in May 2006. It is situated in Confey beside the Town Council Office. It is also near both Scoil San Carlo and Confey Train Station. It is open fifty one hours a week, with Sunday being the only day that it is closed. Among the material library members may borrow from the library include books, dvds, cds, and language packs. The library also offers free Internet access to library members. Library membership is free to anyone under 18 years of age, while a small membership charge exists for those over 18.

[edit] Religion

Leixlip is divided into two Roman Catholic Church parishes, Leixlip (Our Lady's Nativity) and Confey (St. Charles Borromeo), each with its own parish church. The Church of Ireland parish of St Mary's also has a church in Leixlip, located in Main Street.

The division of Leixlip into two separate parishes has had an impact, in that, as is often the case, a degree of rivalry exists between the two. People from Confey are known as "Hillers" and people from the other side of the Rye are know as "Farenders". However essentially the inhabitants of the town still share a common identity.

[edit] Shopping

The town is not a major retail centre, but there are three supermarkets - a SuperValu, Eurospar, and Lidl. As well as Eurospar, there are also three Spar convenience stores and a Mace in Leixlip. The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is a short drive down the N4, and Leixlip is also within easy reach of Dublin city centre's wide variety of shops, as well as the Blanchardstown shopping centre.

It has been agreed [1] to develop a shopping centre in the Collinstown area of Leixlip (opposite Intel) which will be along the same lines as the Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown centres. This new development is designed to serve the needs of the North-East Kildare area, comprising Leixlip as well as the towns of Celbridge, Maynooth and Kilcock, all located within the Dublin Metropolitan Area. This proposal, currently known as the Collinstown Town Centre, is undergoing planning. The developers of the scheme intend to proceed with planning applications in late 2006, with a view to completion in 2010 [2].

[edit] Arts

There are a number of groups and societies in the town that put on productions and gigs all year round in the town. There are also a number of performing arts schools for young people of the town. Many of these groups joined together and formed PLATFORM, a group focused on obtaining a theatre for the town.

Leixlip Musical & Variety Group (LMVG) are a local amateur group that put on annual musicals and pantomimes in the town.

Bradán Players is an amateur dramatic society that puts on many plays during the year around the town, and further afield. The group has the distinction of winning, and coming 3rd, in the National One-Act Festival in their first year of competing. The group performs a Theatrical Pub Crawl during the Leixlip Festival.

[edit] Festival

The Leixlip Festival (previously known as the Salmon Festival) has taken place every year since 1990 on the June bank holiday weekend. It offers live entertainment in pubs, a number of open-air concerts, and also a street carnival. Most notably, in 1995 a replica Viking ship was burnt. A fireworks display takes place on the Sunday night. Leixlip Salmon Festival Limited also provides a youth training scheme in association with Foras Áiseanna Saothair.

[edit] People

The rock group U2 played at Leixlip Castle on July 27, 1980, during what was titled "The Dublin Festival, 1980", which also featured The Police and Chicago's Skafish Band.[3]. The video for their song "Another time, another place" was made using footage of the band performing the song at this gig.
Pop star Lily Allen lived in the town for a period.
According to his autobiography, soccer star Roy Keane lodged in Leixlip for a period from late 1989 when he first started full time training at a Palmerstown FAS course.
Ireland international rugby star Trevor Brennan grew up in Leixlip, and played for the local rugby team Barnhall RFC.
Jack O' Shea (Kerry footballer)played his football with St. Marys, Leixlip
David Matthews (Track Athlete) Current Irish Record holder for the 800 meters, grew up in Leixlip and ran for the Leixlip athletic club in his early career.
Leixlip was the site of the notorious suicide-by-starvation of 83-year-old Frances Mulrooney and her three nieces, Josephine (46), and twins Catherine and Ruth, (51), discovered July 12, 2001.[4]

[edit] Twinning

Leixlip is twinned with the town of Niles, Illinois, in the United States. Leixlip is also twinned with San Pegis Spain.

[edit] Sports

[edit] Athletics

Le Chéile Athletic Club was founded to offer the youth of Leixlip, Maynooth and Celbridge (aged 7 and over) the opportunity to partake, regardless of their ability, in all athletics disciplines at a club, county and national level. Outside of competing, the club offers its members the opportunity to get fit, stay healthy and have a bit of fun! The club trains every Tuesday and Thursday evening throughout the year at their facility at the Leixlip Amenities Centre, Collinstown, Leixlip

[edit] Canoeing

Salmon Leap Canoe Club founded in 1963 is located on the banks of Leixlip Lake. Members of the club have represented Ireland at every Olympic Games from 1972 to 2004. The club is the most successful sprint and marathon club canoe club in Ireland having won the Riba de Sella trophy more times than any other club. The club has 150 active canoeists.

[edit] Gaelic games

Leixlip has two Gaelic Athletic Association clubs, Leixlip GAA and Confey GAA.

[edit] Football

There are also three amateur football clubs, Confey FC, Leixlip United FC and Leixlip Town FC. Confey FC and Leixlip United FC both participate in Dublin District leagues (or in the case of both clubs' senior teams the Leinster Senior Football League). Leixlip Town FC on the other hand participatem in the ucfl dublin league.

[edit] Rugby

Barnhall Rugby Football Club, a rugby union club, which competes in the All-Ireland League is also located on the outskirts of the town in close proximity to the Wonderful Barn. The Le Cheile Athletics Club trains at its grounds based at the Amenities Centre and the members compete in indoor, outdoor track & field events and cross country competition at county,provincial and national level.

[edit] Basketball

Liffey Celtics Basketball Club is the local girls basketball club for ages 8-18. There are 8 underage basketball teams competing in the Dublin Area Board League and Cup competition. Training and home matches take place at the Amenities Centre and Confey GAA hall.

[edit] Fishing

Leixlip has been the host to many coarse fishing competitions thanks to the permanently pegged stretch of the Royal Canal. The Leixlip stretch consists of 62 marked pegs and there is also the Confey stretch consisting of sixty pegs. These swims as well as the large fish stocks have created a unique fishery. Conditions are suited to both the pleasure and match angler. The Rye river runs through Carton Demesne and through the Intel Ireland site, the fishing on the river is mainly trout with the occasional salmon.The Leixlip stretch is controlled by the Leixlip and District Angling Association and permits to fish are available from the local Amenity centre.Trout up to 2lbs are regularly taken, with fish of 1/2 lb to 1lb being the average.

[edit] Sports Centre

A sports centre, Leixlip Amenities Centre, is located in the town with various facilities, including a children's playground. There is plans for a pool which is expected to be ready for 2023.

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