Banagher

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Banagher Beannchar na Sionna
Esto Fideles - Be thee Faithful
Location
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53°10′00″N 7°58′00″W / 53.183333, -7.983333
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	Offaly
Elevation:	47m[1]
Population (2006)	1,636[2]

Banagher (Beannchar na Sionna in Irish) is a town in the Republic of Ireland, located on the western edge of County Offaly in the midlands of Ireland. The name Banagher comes from its Irish name which translates to English as 'the place of the pointed rocks on the Shannon'.^[3] Banagher was once a town of 3,000 people at the height of its economic growth in the mid 19th century. The current population is just over half of that figure, at about 1,600.^[2] Banagher held an important strategic position, and so became a natural focus for many great historical buildings, including a 17th Century Martello Tower and a number of important castles around the town, which were built in the 14th and 15th centuries. A modern marina provides support for river cruisers and watersports facilities and the town is an important angling centre, with particular attraction for pike anglers.^[4]

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Wildlife 4 History 4.1 Origins 4.2 Military History 4.3 Economic Growth 4.4 Decline 5 Banagher Fair 6 Architecture and Buildings 6.1 Cuba Court 6.2 Martello Tower 7 Literature & The Arts 7.1 Anthony Trollope 7.2 Charlotte Brontë 7.3 James Pope Hennessy 7.4 Sir Jonah Barrington 8 Famous Residents 9 Transport 10 External Links 11 References

[edit] Geography

Banagher is situated in the north-western corner of County Offaly and on the east bank of the River Shannon. It is 66 miles to the south west of Dublin, 14 miles south east of Ballinasloe, 17 miles south of Athlone and 40 miles north east of Limerick. It provides a crossing point between Leinster and Connacht and between Offaly and Galway. Although, Banagher is located in the flood-plain of the River Shannon, the town itself was developed on high ground and remains virtually flood-free all year round. North of Lough Derg, the River Shannon has a very shallow gradient and in parts regularly floods its banks. The restultant wet grassland area, known as the Shannon Callows, is an internationally renowned area for wild birds and wildlife in general.

The country on either side of the Shannon in the Offaly-Galway area has been described "as reminiscent of the Fens, cut off and intersected by waterways, by the wide meandering Shannon itself, by its tributaries, the Suck, the Brosna and the Little Brosna and by the Grand Canal; traversed by a maze of narrow roads."^[5]

The travel writer and biographer, James Pope-Hennessy, described the River Shannon at Banagher in September in his biography of Anthony Trollope: "The month of September in Banagher, and all along the Shannon banks, is visually a glorious one, with golden autumn mornings, the low sun making long shadows of the houses in the street. At dusk the whole river reflects the varied sunsets as the days draw in - effects of palest pink, for instance, striped by cloudy lines of green, or an horizon aflame with scarlet and orange light."^[5]

The Slieve Bloom Mountains lie to the south of Banagher and the town is also surrounded by the great bogs of the midlands, particularly to the east and west.

The River Brosna is a major tributary of the River Shannon and meets the Shannon at Shannon Harbour, two miles north of Banagher.

Two regional roads meet in Banagher; the R356, which links the N62 and N65 national primary roads and is known as Harbour Street in Banagher and the R439 which links Birr with Banagher and is known as Main Street in Banagher. Harbour Street leads to the road to Shannon Harbour and Main Street begins at the hill at the southern entrance to the town and leads down to the bridge crossing the Shannon.

[edit] Demographics

Banagher was extensively planted by the English, particularly during the periods 1621-1642 and 1650-1690. The Plantations had a profound impact on Ireland in several ways. The first was the destruction of the native ruling classes and their replacement with the Protestant Ascendancy, of British-origin (mostly English) Protestant landowners. Their position was buttressed by the Penal Laws, which denied political and land-owning rights to Catholics. The dominance of this class in Irish life persisted until the late 18th century, and it voted for the Act of Union with Britain in 1800. As a result, by the early 20th century, Banagher had a mix of Irish of native descent and Irish of English descent and supported two churches, one Catholic and one Protestant, both of which still exist.

During the late 1960s to the early 1980s, a mumber of German, Dutch and Swiss settlers were attracted to Banagher, mailnly because of its proximity to the River Shannon and associated lifestyle. A number of these are still resident in Banagher. As with the majority of towns and cities in Ireland, Banagher has seen an influx of foreign nationals, mostly of Eastern European origin, in recent years and these now make up just over 10% of the population.^[2]

According to the 2006 Census, Banasgher has a population of 1,636 with 863 male and 800 female residents. This marks a 5.3% increase in population on the 2002 Census.^[2]

[edit] Wildlife

In Autumn and Winter, the vast flood plain of the Shannon Callows can support a huge number of waders, swans and wildfowl and other bird life. The most obvious of all Shannon birds are the mute swans. Also to be seen are the coot, moorhen and little grebe or dabchick. The kingfisher is widespread as is the meadow pipit and pied wagtail. The area holds one of the largest concentrations of breeding waders in Ireland including lapwing, redshank, sandpiper and godwit.

Much energy has been spent on saving the corncrake and it can be seen at the bridge of Banagher near the summer. Once a common summer visitor to Ireland, corncrakes have suffered drastic population declines over the last few decades and are threatened with global extinction.^[6] Conservation efforts have focused on changing harvesting times to avoid the nesting season of May to August. The extensive hay meadows hold large numbers of these birds - one of the few places in the world where this globally threatened species is still common. ^[7]

In winter the resident bird population is increased with visitors from north-east Europe, in particular the widgeon and Greenland White-fronted Goose.^[8]

Riverside mammals can be frequently seen and otters, mink and fox are common residents. Although trout and salmon are less commonly found in the Shannon nowadays, pike are still common and attract quite a number of fishermen.

[edit] History

There seems no doubt that the St.Rynagh (also Reynagh, Rinagh) who founded Banagher and after whom the parish is still called, was a sister of St. Finnian of Clonard.^[9] According to research, they originated from near New Ross in County Wexford. It is known that contact was maintained between Rynagh's Wexford home and her foundation at Banagher. Her mother came to live there. It is recorded that Reynagh's mother, Talech, or Talacia, became Abbess of the Banagher convent. The death of St. Finnian is assigned to 563, but there does not seem to be any authoritative statement as to the date of St. Rynagh's death, although according to St. Rynagh's Parish Church in Banagher, St. Rynagh died about 610. The place of her burial is uncertain but it is likely to have been in either Banagher or Kilmacduagh near Gort, the monastery founded by her son, St. Colman.^[10]

[edit] Origins

Banagher came to occupy the position it does on the east bank of the Shannon because at this point the river was fordable and the river banks and country beyond were flood-free all year round, in contrast with conditions pertaining for many miles above and below. Travellers desiring to cross the Shannon, converged on this point along tracks which were the forerunners of the roads, and from this crossing point a community emerged which grew to be a village, and ultimately, a town.^[11]

Many of the early travellers were pilgrims as a few miles to the north-west on the Connacht side was the ancient monastic establishment of Clonfert, with the more famous one of Clonmacnoise some short miles further north, and a few miles to the south-west on the same side was another monastic foundation, at Meelick. At Meelick, the three provinces, Leinster, Munster and Connacht meet, and a few miles to the south of Banagher in the direction of Birr, the four dioceses, Clonmacnoise, Meath, Killaloe and Clonfert meet.^[12]

[edit] Military History

At Banagher, there are ridges on both sides of the river and roads were built along these many centuries ago. The first bridge was built over the Shannon at that point as early as 1049.^[13] It was a place of great strategic importance because the Shannon and its lowlands provided a natural barrier between Connacht and Leinster. An army that wanted to cross the river had few choices; apart from Banagher the only other suitable places were Athlone, Shannonbridge and Portumna.

The importance of Banagher as a military position on the Shannon and on the highway from Leinster and Munster to Connacht was early appreciated by the English, whose forces seized it about the middle of the 16th century, coming up the river to do so. They constructed some fortifications which they called Fort Frankford (later Fort Falkland) and held the place in spite of the fact that the part of Offaly for some miles around Banagher was in the hands of the MacCoghlan clan. The MacCoghlans, aided by boundaries of bog and river, held their territories against all comers for about 500 years, even maintaining a footing by open defiance well into the 17th century. Garry Castle, Clononey Castle, and Moystown Castle are remains of MacCoghlan strongholds.^[14] Sometime after 1554, when Queen Mary married Philip II of Spain, Offaly County was named King's County in honour of Philip, but it is doubtful if the royal jurisdiction extended to any of the MacCoghlan areas except Banagher. Ultimately the MacCoghlans were overthrown and their lands were planted by order of James I issued in 1621.^[15]

The town was incorporated by charter of Charles I on the 16th of September 1628.^[16] The corporation was allowed to elect two members to Parliament and hold two fairs per year, amongst other wide-ranging powers.^[17]

In 1628 a permanent military garrison was established which continued with slight interruptions until 1863. The defences were further strengthened and it was officially named Fort Falkland. The forces of the Confederate Catholics took Banagher in 1642, but it was retaken by the Cromwellian Army in 1650, under the command of Henry Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law. By 1652 the Cromwellian conquest was completed and the transplantation of the Catholic land holders to Connacht began in 1654. The lands from which they were expelled were divided among the adventurers and the soldiers of Cromwell’s army.

During the in the Williamite Wars of 1690-1691, the garrison espoused the cause of James II in contrast with that of Birr, which took the side of William. A stone bridge across the Shannon was erected in 1685, and a Williamite army advancing from Birr in 1690 attempted to break it down but abandoned the attempt as too risky in consequence of the presence of Sarsfield's Army on the Connacht side. A broken arch of this bridge is still to be seen on that side a few yards below the present bridge of seven arches, which was erected by the Commissioners for the Improvement of Navigation of the Shannon in the years 1841-1843. The square tower on the lower side of the bridge at the Galway end was erected to protect the old bridge, as was the Salt Battery, with emplacements for four cannons facing west and north, a few hundred yards from town along the Crank Road.^[18]

The Irish garrison remained in Banagher without further molestation until the Battle of Aughrim, after which Banagher was evacuated. The English re-occupied the town, where they remained until the middle of the nineteenth century, when Banagher ceased to be a garrison town.^[19]

[edit] Economic Growth

In the seventeenth century, Banagher was the centre of a flourishing woollen trade. But in 1699 the impost placed on the export of woollen goods to England practically killed the woollen trade. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, an embargo placed on the export of foodstuffs to the American Colonies struck another blow at the trade at Banagher. In 1780 the English Parliament withdrew all these restrictions. Banagher now began to improve rapidly.^[20]

From 1800 to 1847 Banagher enjoyed a prosperity unequalled in its history.^[21] Corn growing had long been one of the chief agricultural pursuits of the district. The opening of the Grand Canal at the end of the 18th century gave easy access to Dublin and Limerick and gave cheap and efficient water transport to these parts. The canal arrived at Shannon Harbour in 1804 and accelerated the growth of the town. Neat two and three storey houses were built on each side of the road to provide shops and dwellings for the merchants and other people who came to live there for the canal business.^[13]

Banagher became the outlet for the grain raised in a wide area round the town, and the Banagher corn market on Fridays was one of the largest of its kind in Ireland. Transport facilities stimulated the growth of existing industries and encouraged the establishment of new ones. In 1834 there was a distillery, a brewery, two tanyards, a malthouse and corn mills in full operation in the town. Several craftsmen carried on industries in smaller workshops and in their homes. With the increase in trade and manufactures went a corresponding increase in population. In 1800 the population was estimated at 1500. In 1841 it was 2836, and in 1846 it was estimated at 3000.^[22]

[edit] Decline

Contrasted with the flourishing state of trade in the first half of the 19th century is the rapid and sustained decline during the second half. In the period of 40 years from 1841 to 1881 the population fell from 2836 to 1192, a loss of over 57%. By the end of the century all that remained of the major industries of the town was the malthouse of F.A. Waller & Co., while all smaller industries had vanished completely.

Various causes contributed to this decline. The abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 allowed the free importation of grain into these islands. Unable to compete with foreigners, the Irish farmer turned his land to pasture and grew only sufficient grain for his own use. The Banagher corn trade rapidly declined, and would have completely vanished were it not that barley growing was kept alive by Waller's malthouse.

The clearances in East Galway in the years immediately succeeding the Great Irish Famine adversely affected the trade of the town while the smaller industries were unable to compete against the highly organised industries of Britain.^[23]

[edit] Banagher Fair

As part of the charter of incorporation of 1628, the corporation was given powers to: "To hold two fairs, one on the Feast of St. Philip and Jacob, the other on the Feast of St. Simon and Jude, each to continue for two days."^[17] These feast days equated to the 1st of May and the 28th of October. However, a fair was already in existence in Banagher since 1612 and was held in September. These three fairs were certainly still in existence in the mid 1830s, as they were described in a government commissioned report in 1835.^[24]

The fairs established by the first corporation continued to gain in size and importance during the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century. In 1826 the enormous number of 43,000 sheep was offered for sale at the September fair, with three-quarters of that number being sold.^[17] Pigot's Directory of 1824 described the workings of the fair: "...and there are three fairs; the principal one commences on the 15th of September and continues for four days, the first for sheep, the second for horned cattle, the third for horses, and the last day is the country fair for linen, woollens and other merchandise."^[25]

It seems that the fair held in September was the main fair and is the one that has survived to the present. Pope Hennessy described the granting of the charter by Charles I which "empowered them to hold the famous Banagher Great Fair, at which everything from cattle and sheep to boots and basket chairs was on sale. This Fair, the greatest in all the Irish Midlands, began on September 15th and lasted four days. The line of horses tethered on each side of Banagher Main Street stretched from the Shannon river bridge to the crossroads two and a half miles outside the town known as Tailor's Cross."^[26]

[edit] Architecture and Buildings

[edit] Cuba Court

Cuba Court, also known as Cuba House, was a house dating from the 1730s and may have been constructed by one George Frazer, a former Governor of Cuba and perhaps to a design of Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, who designed the Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin. It is certainly known to have been constructed with money from the sugar plantations in Cuba.^[27] In his biography of Anthony Trollope, Pope Hennessy describes Cuba Court as "a fine example of an Irish country-house of the mid-eighteenth century in the manner of the Dublin architect, Pierce (sic)." The building contained "...two circular rooms...and an avenue of lime trees led to the front door."^[28]

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Cuba Court was the home of Denis Bowes Daly, who was a prominent member of the local ascendancy. Prior to his death in 1821 he had leased Cuba Court to the Army Medical Board on a 61-year lease. The building was little used as a hospital and the Medical Board was quite happy to give it up to the Commissioners of Education for the purpose of the Royal School, which had eventually been established as a result of the Royal Charter of 1621.

Charlotte Bronte spent her honeymoon at Cuba Court in 1854 following her marraige to Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate. Nicholls was born of Scottish parents in County Antrim in 1818. He was orphaned early and subsequently brought up by his uncle, Alan Bell, in Banagher. Alan Bell was headmaster at the Royal School at Cuba Court at that time.^[29] The marriage was short-lived as Bronte died in 1855. Bell Nicholls returned to live in Banagher in 1856 and died in 1906.

During the 1820s, the Royal School at Cuba Court was attended by Sir William Wilde, who later married the poet Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee. The couple had two sons: Willie and Oscar Wilde, and a daughter, Isola Francesca, who died in childhood.^[30]

Due to the Irish policy on rates at the time, the house was unroofed in 1946 and this hastened its demise. Pope Hennessy described Cuba Court in 1971: "Like so many of Ireland's great houses, Cuba Court is now being slowly but deliberatly demolished. The lime trees have long since been hacked down."^[28] In spite of this, it was described as "a superb ruin that could tell the history of Ascendancy Ireland", as late as 1979.^[27] It was eventually acquired by a local businessman and demolished in the 1980s. A development of four houses was built on the site at Cuba Avenue in 2003. An archaelogical survey revealed nothing of significance.^[31]

[edit] Martello Tower

Martello towers (or simply Martellos) are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. They stand up to 40 feet (12m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15-25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. Fear of an invasion by Napolean Bonaparte reached panic proportions amongst the authorities in Ireland and England in 1804 and the first towers were built in Ireland that year.^[32]

In case an invasion fleet tried to sail up the River Shannon, two towers were built on the middle reaches of the river to defend its crossing points. One of these was located at Meelick and the other at Banagher. The tower at Banagher is located on the west (Galway) bank of the river and measures 36 feet (10.9m) in diameter and height. The tower was described in 1970 as having "...no corbels, a ridge around the top, much vegitation growing around it, and its general condition is fair."^[32]

[edit] Literature & The Arts

Banagher has a thriving poetry scene and an annual poetry festival called Readings from the Pallet takes place in local bars. The town was one of the settings for the series Pure Mule, as featured on RTÉ television. The mini-series was an RTÉ production and shot in 2006-06 in Banagher, Birr and Tullamore. The series received a favourable reaction from the critics, although some locals maintain that it portrays midlanders in a bad light.^[33] The series received four IFTA awards in 2005.^[34]

In past times, Banagher was noted for a number of crafts, including pottery and a popular pottery company was established at the West End until it closed down in the 1980s.

Johnny McEvoy is from Banagher and is a popular singer of Country and Irish genre. The internationally reknowned folk-singer, Roger Whittaker took up residence in Banagher for about 10 years up to 2007. Although none of them are native, Banagher has also had a number of well known writers staying in the town for varying periods and reasons.

[edit] Anthony Trollope

Banagher's greatest literary association is probably with Anthony Trollope, who became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Trollope had been employed by the General Post Office in 1835 and was sent to Ireland in September 1841 at the age of 26. Trollope had had an unhappy life up to that point and remarked in his autobiography: "This was the first good fortune of my life."^[35] After landing in Dublin on 15th September, he travelled by canal-boat to Shannon Harbour and then on to Banagher, arriving on 16th September, which coincided with the second day of the annual Great Fair. Although very much smaller than the town of Birr, which is only eight miles away, Banagher had been chosen as the base of a Postal Surveyorship, probably because its position on the Shannon offered easy access by can boat to Dublin and Limerick.^[26]

Trollope established himself at The Shannon Hotel, a long bow-fronted Georgian building, which was over 100 years old at that time. The hotel, which still exists, is located at the bottom of the town, a mere one hundred yards from the river. The post office where Trollope worked was at the top of the town, which is only a matter of minutes on foot. Next to the post office was a two-roomed bungalow which was used by the Postal Surveyor and his new deputy as their working headquarters. This building is often erroneously considered to have been the residence of Trollope himself.^[26]

Although Trollope's initial knowledge of Ireland was limited, he soon discovered that the Irish were good-humoured and clever - "...the working classes very much more intelligent than those in England." They were not, as they were reputed to be, spendthrifts, but were economical, hospitable and kind. Their chief defects, he judged, were that they could switch to being very perverse and very irrational, and that they were "but little bound by the love of truth."^[26]

Trollope remained stationed at Banagher until late 1844 when he was transferred to Clonmel. It was while in Banagher that Trollope began to write his first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran. He had begun to contemplate this novel whilst walking outside Drumsna in County Leitrim where the ruins of Ballycloran House stood in to the 1840s and were still there in the 1970s. Trollope had been up in Leitrim inspecting the accounts of an errant postmaster. He thought the ruins of Ballycloran "one of the most melancholy spots I had ever visited" and he later described it in the first chapter of his novel.^[36] Although, his first novel was initially unsuccessful, Trollope was undeterred and in all, went on to write forty-seven novels, as well as dozens of short stories and a few books on travel. He returned to England in 1856 and By the mid-1860s had reached a fairly senior position within the Post Office hierarchy. Postal history credits him with introducing the pillar box (the ubiquitous bright red mail-box) in the United Kingdom. Anthony Trollope died in London in 1882 and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

[edit] Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë had a brief association with Banagher in the mid 1850s when she married one Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate. Nicholls was born of Scottish parents in County Antrim in 1818. He was orphaned early and subsequently brought up by his uncle, Alan Bell, in Banagher. Alan Bell was headmaster at the Royal School at Cuba Court at that time.^[29] The couple honeymooned in Ireland and stayed at Cuba Court for a period in June 1854. She noted of Cuba Court: "It is very large and looks externally like a gentleman's country seat - within most of the rooms are lofty and spacious, and some - the drawing room and dining room are handsomely and commodiously furnished. The passages look desolate and bare - our bedroom, a great room of the ground floor, would have looked gloomy when we were shown into it but for the turf fire that was burning in the wide old chimney."^[29] According to Pope Hennessy, Mrs. Nicholls disliked both Banagher and its inhabitants, although she greatly admired the surrounding countryside.^[37]

If Bell Nicholls was a poor unknown curate in England - in Banagher he was a member of a respectable family. In a letter quoted by Elizabeth Gaskell in her book The Life of Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte wrote: "My dear husband, too, appears in a new light in his own country. More than once I have had deep pleasure in hearing his praises on all sides. Some of the old servants and followers of the family tell me I am a most fortunate person; for that I have got one of the best gentlemen in the country .... I trust I feel thankful to God for having enabled me to make what seems a right choice; and I pray to be enabled to repay as I ought the affectionate devotion of a truthful, honourable man."^[38]

In January 1855 Brontë discovered she was pregnant. It was accompanied by severe illness and she died on 31 March 1855, officially from tuberculosis. Mr. Nicholls remained with Brontë's father for a further six years before returning to Banagher in 1861, taking with him his wife's portrait, her wedding dress (of which a copy has been made), some of Charlotte's letters and other mementoes. Forty years later, when the critic Clement Shorter prepared to write Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle, he found at Banagher among other relics, two diaries of Emily and Anne, in a tin box, and some of minute childhood writings wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a drawer.^[29]

Nicholls remarried and lived at Hill House in Banagher until his death in 1906. Hill House was sold to a Major Bell in 1919. He died in 1944 and his wife inherited the property. Florence Bell died in 1959. It is now once again open to visitors who can enjoy its restored appearance and sense the history of a place connected in a curious way with the Bronte family.^[29]

[edit] James Pope Hennessy

James Pope-Hennessy came to Banagher in 1970 to write his biography of Anthony Trollope. Pope Hennessy had published his first book, London Fabric in 1939, for which he was awarded the Hawthornden Prize^[39] and was a well established biographer and travel writer by the time he arrived in Banagher. Among his more notable works were a biography of Queen Mary for which he was rewarded by being created a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1960, Verandah (1964) a biography of his grandfather, the Irish colonial governor John Pope Hennessy and Sins of the Fathers (1967), an account of the Atlantic slave traffickers.

Like Trollope before him, Pope Hennessy took rooms at The Shannon Hotel, near the river and set about trying to capture the essence of the town which had inspired Trollope's first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran. He proved to be a very popular figure in the town, evidenced by the fact that he was asked to adjudicate at a local beauty pageant and the horse fair.^[40] Pope Hennessy gives particular mention to the Corcoran family, the proprieters of The Shannon Hotel in the 1960s and 1970s, for their help in the production of his work.^[41] They sold the hotel in 1977.

Pope Hennessy stayed in Banagher from March 1970 to April 1971 and largely completed his study of Trollope during this time. The finished biography, Anthony Trollope won the Whitbread Award for Biography in 1972 and is largely regarded as Pope Hennessy's finest work since Queen Mary.^[42] Pope Hennessy grew very fond of Banagher and returned to stay at The Shannon Hotel a number of times before his premature death in 1974. This is illustrated by his description of Banagher in Anthony Trollope: "...in Trollope's words, Banagher then seemed 'little more than a village'. It retains a quality of friendly village life to this day \nd can have changed little sice Trollope's time, save that its population has declined to eleven hundred."^[28]

[edit] Sir Jonah Barrington

Sir Jonah Barrington was born in 1760 near Abbeyleix in the Queen's County (Co. Laois). He was first elected to Parliament as a member for Tuam in 1790. He lost this seat in 1798 and was elected as a member for Banagher in 1799. He voted against the Act of Union in 1801 and as a result he was deprived of his £1,000 a year sinecure in the Customs House and this also stopped his further advancement.^[30] In 1809 he published, in five parts, the first volume of the Historic Memoirs of Ireland. It is thought that he was induced to delay the second volume - the English government shrinking from the exposure of their conduct in carrying the Act of Union, and it was understood that to purchase his silence he was permitted to reside in France from about 1815.^[43]

In 1827, he published two volumes of Personal Sketches of His Own Times. In 1830, by an address from both Houses of Parliament, he was removed from the Bench, in consequence of well-proven misappropriation of public moneys. The third volume of Personal Sketches appeared in 1833 as did the delayed volume of his Historic Memoirs. This book was subsequently reproduced in a cheaper form as The Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation. His works are interesting, racy, and valuable - although his statements of fact cannot always be depended on - containing much of personal incident, related in a fascinating style.^[44] He died at Versailles on 8 April 1834.

[edit] Famous Residents

• Charlotte Brontë, writer
• Michael Duignan, hurling
• Aidan Fogarty, hurling
• Padraig Horan, hurling
• Damien Martin, hurling
• Pat Moylan, politician
• Johnny McEvoy, singer
• James Pope-Hennessy, writer
• Tony Reddin, hurling
• Hubert Rigney, hurling
• Anthony Trollope, writer
• Pad Joe Whelahan, hurling
• Roger Whittaker, singer-songwriter

[edit] Transport

• Banagher railway station opened on 29 May 1884, was closed for passengers on 24 February 1947, and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1963.^[45]

[edit] External Links

• St. Rynagh's Church Website
• Offaly County Council - Banagher Town
• St. Rynagh's GAA Club
• Local Guide to Banagher
• Banagher Angling Centre
• Banagher - A Brief History

[edit] References

Coordinates: 53°11′N, 7°59′W