Daingean

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

For Daingean Uí Chúis, see Dingle.

Daingean
An Daingean

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53°17′42″N 7°17′31″W / 53.295, -7.292

Statistics

Laois-Offaly

057

78 m (254 ft)

Population (2002)
- Town:
- Environs:

777 [1]
391

Website: www.offaly.ie/offalyhome/visitoffaly/Towns/Daingean/

Daingean (pronounced /dæŋgən/, Irish: An Daingean), formerly Philipstown, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. 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, Kilclonfert and Cappincur.

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

[edit] History

Daingean was originally christened Philipstown in 1556 when it was established as the capital town in the land that was planted by Queen Mary Tudor in King’s County. It was so named after her husband, Philip II of Spain.

The town was once the seat of the O’Connor clan, who were chieftains of the surrounding area of Offaly. Its current name ‘Daingean’ means fortress, a name which it derived from the mediaeval island fortress of O’Connor Faly.

In 1883 Tullamore replaced Daingean as the focal point of the county. As a result Philipstown was demoted from capital town to village and as a result lost most of its political status. It was in 1922, with the foundation of the Free State that the village was renamed Daingean, at the same time as County Offaly replaced the old King’s County. Daingean has long boasted a strong status as a Midlands town and this was never more evident than at the start of the 20th Century when Daingean displayed at various points a number of important public buildings including the courthouse, the government reformatory, a military barracks, a Protestant Church and a Catholic Church. Of these buildings all can still be seen in various states but few are still used for their original functions within the village.

The Daingean Reformatory

A bog body, given the name Old Croghan Man, was found near Daingean in 2004 and featured on the BBC Two Timewatch programme in January 2006.

A book called From the Quiet Annals of Daingean was written and published by John Kearney, Main St., Daingean, Co. Offaly in December 2006.^[3]

[edit] Tourist Attractions

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

The village 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^[4]. One of the most anticipated events at the festival is a raft race on the Grand Canal.

[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) 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.