Athlone

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Athlone
Baile Átha Luain
Coat of arms of Athlone
Location
centerMap highlighting Athlone
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53.4333° N 7.9500° W
Irish Grid Reference
N033420
Statistics
Province: Leinster & Connaught
County: County Westmeath & County Roscommon
Dáil Éireann: Westmeath
European Parliament: East
County Town: Mullingar
Dialling Code: 090, +353 90
Elevation: 56 m
Population (2006)
 - Town:
 - Rural:		  
6,970 
9,918
Website: www.athlone.ie
For other uses, see Athlone (disambiguation).

Athlone (Irish: Baile Átha Luain, meaning "town of the ford of Luan", or according to local historians, "The Ford of the Moon") lies on the River Shannon near the southern extremity of Lough Ree, Republic of Ireland.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

Athlone is the largest inland town in Ireland, and is close to the geographical centre of Ireland, upon the borders of two counties, Roscommon and Westmeath, which are in the provinces of Connaught and Leinster respectively. It is governed by a town council with an elected Mayor.

Although the River Shannon which runs through the town forms the historic border between County Roscommon and County Westmeath, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 included much of the town entirely in Westmeath, including areas west of the river. Much recent growth has been outside the official town boundaries. Monksland, a suburb on the west side of the town is not within the town boundaries, yet is the most populous area of County Roscommon.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Athlone

At the heart of Athlone, both geographically and historically, is the castle. The ford of Athlone was strategically important, as south of Athlone the Shannon is impassable until Clonmacnoise (where the Esker Riada meets the Shannon), and north is Lough Ree. In 1001 Brian Bóru led his army from Kincora into the town, his fleet sailing up the river via Lough Derg to attend a gathering.

A bridge was built across the river in the 12th century, approximately 100 metres south of the current bridge. To protect this a fort was constructed on the west bank in the town by Turloch Mór Ó Conor. On a number of occasions both the fort and bridge were subject to attacks, and towards the end of the 12th century the Anglo-Normans constructed a motte-and-bailey fortification here. This was superseded by a stone structure built in 1210 by Justiciar John Gray. The 12-sided donjon dates from this time. The rest of the castle was largely destroyed during the Siege of Athlone and subsequently rebuilt and enlarged.

During the wars that racked Ireland in the seventeenth century, Athlone held a vital position, holding the main bridge over the River Shannon into Connacht. In the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1653), the town was held by Irish Confederate troops until it was taken late in 1650 by Charles Cooote, who attacked the town from the west, having crossed into Connacht at Sligo.


Forty years later, during the Williamite war in Ireland, the town was again of central strategic importance, being one of the Jacobite strongholds on the defending their position after they had retreated west after the battle of the Boyne. At the first battle of Athlone in 1690 the Jacobite forces of Colonel Richard Grace repelled an attack by 10,000 men lead by Commander Douglas. The following year the Siege of Athlone saw a further assault in which the troops of King William III eventually prevailed against the outnumbered defenders.

The noted tenor John McCormack was born in Athlone in 1884 at the Bawn.

It was proposed in the Éire Nua programme to make Athlone the capital city of the Ireland.

Remains of the abbey at Athlone.
Remains of the abbey at Athlone.

[edit] 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

[edit] Education & Industry

The State Examinations Commission, a branch of the Department of Education & Science and the Athlone Institute of Technology are located on the east side of town. The State Examinations Commission is responsible for the preparation and marking of the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate examinations. The Dept. of Education and Science deals with policy issues for education in Ireland. The Athlone Institute of Technology is a third-level institution which currently provides National Certificates, National Diplomas and degree level studies.

A new library was opened in the town with modern and state-of-the-art facilities and services in October 2004. The town's tourist office is located in the castle on the west side of town.

Athlone's major employers include many global companies, such as Ericsson, as well as successful local firms, including Elán. The town is notable for having a number of plastics (in particular polymer) based industries. These tie into the sort of courses offered at the Institute of Technology which offers the only polymer studies courses in the Republic of Ireland.

Athlone forms part of the Midlands Gateway, along with Mullingar and Tullamore.

[edit] Music, Theatre and Culture

There are two theatres in Athlone, The Dean Crowe Theatre and Arts Centre, and the Athlone Little Theatre, and planning permission has been granted to the Passionfruit Theatre Company for a third theatre, on Northgate Street, which is due to be completed sometime in 2007.

The RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival takes place annually in Athlone, and brings together 9 amateur drama groups from across Ireland. The festival is supported by an active fringe which involves street theatre, art exhibitions, workshops and events for young people.

Count John McCormack was born in Athlone and an annual festival celebrates this world-renowned tenor.

The Athlone School of Music opened in October 2005, and is a grant aided project aimed at developing music education and services in the Midlands region.

[edit] Tourism and Amenities

St Peter and Paul's Church (Roman Catholic) on the west bank of the River Shannon
St Peter and Paul's Church (Roman Catholic) on the west bank of the River Shannon

The River Shannon runs through Athlone and the town is a popular spot for people passing through on pleasure craft, many of whom stop off at the Marinas. Lough Ree, the largest lake on the Shannon, is a short distance upstream from Athlone to the North of the town, and is popular amongst anglers, birdwatchers, and swimmers. The lake shore is easily accessed from Coosan Point, and Hodson Bay. The town is also home to Lough Ree Yacht Club, whose clubhouse is located on the promenade. The promenade is also a popular spot for anglers.

Athlone is one of the main retail centres in the Midlands, and Golden Island Shopping Centre attracts shoppers from a wide radius. There is also the smaller Texas Shopping Centre (formerly known as Athlone Shopping Centre, prior to being acquired by the Texas department store chain), and another, large scale development is currently under construction in the town centre, and is due for completion in late 2007. Athlone Town Centre will comprise two internal streets, with 54 shops and a hotel, and will be the largest shopping and leisure centre in Ireland, outside Dublin.

Athlone Regional Sports Centre is a facility (established May 2002) developed by the Town Council.

Sean's Bar, located on the west bank of the river, is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as Ireland's oldest pub.

Other popular attractions for visitors are the award winning Glendeer Open Farm and the Viking Cruise of the Shannon.

[edit] Broadcasting

Between 1931 and 1975 the main radio transmission centre for Irish radio was located at Moydrum, Athlone. The original call-sign was 2RN (a wordplay on the song "Come back to Erin"). It subsequently became known as "Radio Athlone" and could clearly be heard throughout Europe, and as far as Moscow. This changed as bandwidth allocations were accorded at the Treaty of Helsinki.

It operated at a power of 60Kw (further increased to 100 Kw in the 1950s). Many old radio sets in Europe had the "Athlone" dial position marked near the end of their tuning scales.

In the late 1970s the station reopened on a new dial position of 612 kHz for "Radio 2" (later known as RTÉ 2fm).

Moydrum was also the location of Ireland's short lived Shortwave international radio service that was closed down in 1948 due to lack of money.

Today, RTÉ's Midlands studios are located in Athlone, at St. Mary's Square. The local radio station is Midlands 103.

[edit] Sporting Organisations

[edit] Twin City

Chateaubriant, France

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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