Moate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mote
An Móta

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53.3936° N 7.6985° W

Statistics

Population (2006)
- Town:
- Rural:

1941
included above

Moate (Irish: An Móta) is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland.

The name An Móta is derived directly from the term motte-and-bailey as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here (date TBC). The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the main street.

The town later became an important marketplace and Quaker village. There are several extant examples of Quaker houses on the main street and the wide Main street is typical of an Irish marketplace (another example would be Ballymahon).

The town is situated near the Bellair bog and Athlone, along the N6 route between Dublin and Galway. It is a notorious bottleneck on this route and is scheduled to be bypassed when the Kilbeggan-Athlone section of the upgraded N6 opens in 2008. A disused railway runs through the town, built by the Midland Great Western Railway to connect Dublin and Galway (now served by another route). Moate has a great tradition of Gaelic football and a decent Intermediate football team.

Moate is a growing town with many new businesses being attracted to it; for example, it has a supermarket, a hardware store, an Internet Cafe / Computer Store and over twelve pubs. It has been the site of many new building ventures in recent years, for example at the site of where the old convent stood there now stands a complex of apartments and retail.

Mount Temple, Moate is the birth place of model and artist Nuala Holloway. She is the only woman from the county to become Miss Ireland. She represented Ireland at the Miss International beauty pageant in Okinawa, Japan in 1975. Nuala became a well known fashion and photographic model, appearing in numerous magazines and newspapers. As an actress she appeared in TV commercials and films such as The First Great Train Robbery with actor Sean Connery. She has since moved from modelling to focus on her talents as an artist. In 2006 she returned to her home town of Moate for her first solo exhibition of art-work.

The town has a strong musical tradition with many young bands coming out of the town. it is the home of country 'legends' Tony Allen (of Foster & Allen Fame) TR Dallas and Ray Lynam. It also hosts a thriving Recording Studio that caters for all types of Music. Recent Bands doing the Pub Scene are Merge, Filmore East & Lesser Self - all good rock bands.

It also hosts a theatre called 'Tuar Ard' which was once the site of the old St. Patricks hall. It is the venue for Plays, seminars and classical concerts, as well as rock gigs and Presentations.

The Main School is Moate Community School, renowned for producing good academic results, and has a strong emphasis on discipline. Its sister is Moate Business College, which is a PLC college providing courses from everything form performance arts to information technology.

On the western side of the town is the heritage centre Dun na Si, which includes a genealogy centre, recreations of various types of indigenous dwellings and preserved farm machinery.

The former gaol, part of the old Courthouse, contains a small but interesting museum containing artifacts found in the area dating from the Stone Age through to the modern era.