Ennistymon

Ennistymon
Inis Díomáin
Town
Ennistymon

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 52°56′N 9°17′W / 52.94°N 9.29°WCoordinates: 52°56′N 9°17′W / 52.94°N 9.29°W
Country Ireland
Province Munster
County County Clare
Population (2002)
 • Urban 881
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
 • Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference R134877

Ennistymon or Ennistimon (Irish: Inis Díomáin) is a country market town in County Clare, near the west coast of Ireland. A popular tourist spot, it has a typical Irish main street, with many traditional pubs. The River Inagh, which has some small rapids known as "the Cascades" runs through the town, behind the main street. A bridge across the river leads to nearby Lahinch, on the N67 national secondary road. The town is connected to Ennis by the N85 (which is actually the main street through the town).

Name

The town's official name is Ennistimon, although Ennistymon is the spelling most widely used.[1] Historically, it was spelled Inishdymon.[1] This is believed to derive from Inis Diomáin meaning "Diomán's island".[1] However, Míchéal Ó Raghallaigh argues that the name is derived from Inis Tí Méan meaning "island of the middle house" or "river meadow of the middle house".[2]

Business

There are many shops in Ennistymon including a large supermarket, local bakery, several hairdressers, two butchers, a hardware shop, print shop, builders suppliers, several cafes and one hotel along with numerous B&Bs. There are also numerous pubs, many of which play host to the local trad music scene.

Transport

Bus

Two Bus Eireann routes, 333 & 350 serve the town. Route 350 links Ennistymon to several locations: Ennis, Lahinch, Cliffs of Moher, Doolin (possible to connect with ferry to Aran Islands), Lisdoonvarna and Galway. There are a number of journeys each way daily. Onward rail and bus connections are available at Ennis and Galway. Route 333 links the town to Kilfenora, Corofin, Miltown Malbay and Doonbeg.

Rail

The West Clare Railway formerly passed through the town, connecting it to Ennis and the West Clare coastal towns and villages. Ennistymon railway station opened on 2 July 1887. The railway finally closed on 1 February 1961.[3]

A view of Ennistymon.

Memorial

The 'An Gorta Mór' Memorial was erected a mile outside Ennistymon on the road to Lahinch to commemorate the memory of the victims of the great potato crop failures/famine of 1845 to 1850 known as the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór). It was dedicated on August 20, 1995 – the 150th anniversary of that tragedy. Located across from Ennistymon Hospital, itself built on the grounds of the local workhouse, it was erected by a combined effort of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Board of Erin and Board of America and the Clare County Council.

Ennistymon
The Falls

The monument was designed by an artist from Co Kerry and depicts an account found in the Minutes of the Meetings of the Boards of Guardians for Ennistymon Union held in the County Archives. The account centered on a note that was pinned to the torn shirt of a barefoot orphan boy who was left at the workhouse door on the freezing cold morning of February 25, 1848. The note read:

Gentlemen,

There is a little boy named Michael Rice of Lahinch aged about 4 years. He is an orphan, his father having died last year and his mother has expired on last Wednesday night, who is now about to be buried without a coffin!! Unless ye make some provision for such. The child in question is now at the Workhouse Gate expecting to be admitted, if not it will starve. -- Rob S. Constable''

One side of the memorial depicts a child standing before the workhouse door, while across from that is the head of an anguished mother and two hands clenched in frustration or anger above the sorrowful text of the pleading note.

Parish of Ennistymon

The Parish of Ennistymon has three churches; Ennistymon, Lahinch and Clouna. In recent times the church in Furglan was closed reducing the number of churches from four to three. The church at Ennistymon was built in 1831. The current church in Ennistymon was built in 1954.

Education

Ennistymon has two primary schools: Scoil Mhainchin/Ennistymon National School and Mol an Oige Steiner School.[4] Mol an Oige Steiner National School recently became the first Steiner method school in Ireland to be given permanent recognition as a national school by the Department of Education.[5]
Scoil Mhainchin is in an amalgamation of the CBS Primary School and The Convent of Mercy National School. There are also three secondary schools in the town: Ennistymon CBS, the Vocational School and Scoil Mhuire provide secondary education.[6][7][8] For over thirty years plans have been in place to amalgamate these three schools.[9]

Cultural

In November 2009, Ennistymon played host to the first Irish Discworld Convention, based around the works of author Terry Pratchett. It hosted the event again between the 4th and 6 November 2011.

The Dylan Thomas Literary Weekend took place for the first time on Friday 18th and Saturday 19 May 2012.

The town of Ennistymon is memorialized in the song "Ennistymon on the Inagh" by Tadhg Ó hEagráin.

Ennistymon can be seen in numerous episodes of Father Ted.

Notable people

Born

Twin cities

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Placenames Database of Ireland
  2. ↑ Míchéal Ó Raghallaigh:Scríobhaí ó Inis Díomáin, "The Other Clare", vol. 16 (Shannon, 1992),p. 18.
  3. ↑ "Ennistymon station". Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  4. ↑ Mol an Oige Steiner National School
  5. ↑ Ireland now has its first (official) Steiner National School
  6. ↑ Ennistymon CBS Home Page
  7. ↑ Ennistymon Vocational School Home Page
  8. ↑ Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon Home Page
  9. ↑ School Amalgamations, Seanad Éireann Debate (Vol. 217 No. 7) on Wednesday, 3 October 2012

External links