Daingean

Daingean (Irish: An Daingean), is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry. The town or townland of Daingean has a population (2002) of 777 ^[1] while the District Electoral Division ( DED) has a total population of 1168 ^[1]. It is the principal town of the Daingean Catholic Parish [2]. The other main poles of this parish are Ballycommon and Kilclonfert.

1 History
2 Tourist Attractions
3 Cultural Events
4 Transport
5 Trivia
6 References

[edit] History

The town was the county town of the King's County, as Offaly was once called, and this privilege remained until the nineteenth century (1833) when it passed to Tullamore. Once the stronghold of the O'Connor Faly dynasty, it was briefly named Philipstown, after Philip II of Spain, during the reign of his wife Mary I of England. Some modern maps still display this name, for example on Microsoft's online map service local.live.com.

[edit] Tourist Attractions

The Grand Canal, which links Dublin and the River Shannon, passes through the village.

The village also has its own 18-hole golf course, Castle Barna Golf Club.

[edit] Cultural Events

The Daingean Homecoming Festival is a week long event hosted at the beginning of each August. One of the most anticipated events at the festival is a raft race on the Grand Canal. Daingean is very proud of it,s many pubs and has a great drinking culture.

[edit] Transport

The regional R402 road forms the principal street of Daingean known as Main Street. This road links Enfield, Edenderry, Daingean, Ballinagar and (through the R420 road) Tullamore.

Daingean is served by a Bus Éireann commuter bus service through Route 120.

The nearest train station is Tullamore train station, approximately 17.5 km (11 miles) or 15 to 20 minutes away.