Maynooth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Canadian town, see Maynooth, Ontario.
| Maynooth Maigh Nuad |
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| Crom Abu | ||
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| Location | ||
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| Irish Grid Reference N935378 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Leinster | |
| County: | County Kildare | |
| Elevation: | 48 m | |
| Population (2002) - Town: - Rural: |
10,151 10,837 |
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| Website: www.maynooth.ie | ||
Maynooth (Maigh Nuad in Irish) is a town located in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is located on the R148 road between Leixlip and Kilcock, with the M4 motorway bypassing the town. Other roads connect the town to Celbridge, Clane, and Dunboyne. The ancient name of Maynooth means the plain of Nuada. Nuada is referred to as the maternal grandfather of the legendary Fionn mac Cumhail in the Annals of the Four Masters.
Two third-level educational institutions -- St. Patrick's College, Maynooth founded by King George III in 1795 and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth founded in 1997 -- are located in the town. NUI Maynooth is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city.
Despite the lower figures quoted by census results, the true population of the town is anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000. The difficulty in measurement is due to the fact that much of the town's population is transient - students at NUI Maynooth or temporary employees at the nearby Intel and Hewlett Packard facilities (both located in Leixlip).
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[edit] History
The town is a major historical centre, with Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The castle was taken by force in 1535, after the rebellion of the Earl. The town is just inside the western edge of The Pale.
The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-gothic revival style. The new range of buildings was erected by A.W.N. Pugin in 1850 while the highly important College Chapel was designed and completed by J.J. McCarthy during the presidency of Dr. Robert Browne in 1894.
In the 1920s, the town was the unofficial home to the King's representative in Ireland, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, who declined to take up official residence in the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, and whose family operated a hardware store in the town until 2005, the only store with an Irish language name in the town for many years.
The famed Connolly's Folly is also near the town, although it is arguably in Celbridge, as it is much closer to it, but is covered by Maynooth's very large town boundaries.
[edit] Economy & Amenities
The town is the main retail and other service centre for North Kildare and South Meath, with branches of SuperValu, Tesco Ireland, Aldi and Lidl, as well as a wide variety of non-chain stores. In October 2005, Dunnes Stores opened a major shopping centre off the town's main street, Manor Mills. This centre contains a number of other high street names, such as Easons, Elvery's Sports and a Bank of Scotland (Ireland) branch due to open soon. Both Tesco and Dunnes Stores are open 24 hours.
The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann western commuter rail services, as well as a being served by the Sligo InterCity service. Dublin Bus services also serve the town.
It contains a fire station, in addition to the area's Garda station, a health centre, a branch library and a Credit Union.
In the mid-1980s the town gained some minor fame for having the first callcard phones in Ireland.
[edit] Bond Bridge Redevelopment
The historic Bond Bridge, built in 1798, on the road to Rathcoffey is currently under demolition and replacement (November 2005). There has been a long campaign by some local residents for its replacement due to claims that it could cause a road traffic accident. There has additionally been some objection to the demolition of the existing bridge due to its historical significance, the costs to Kildare County Council and the fact that there have been no road traffic accident related fatalities. It is expected to cost at least €5.6 million to complete. It was estimated that the work will take forty weeks to complete and is due to re-open in September 2006. It reopened to pedestrian traffic only at this stage, with vehicular traffic still unable to cross it as of December 2006.
The opening of a relief road linking the housing estates on the Rathcoffey road to the Straffan road allowed the start of the demolition. This relief road has removed some of the traffic that would normally cross the bridge.
