Moynalty
| Moynalty Maigh nEalta | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
  Moynalty Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 53°47′23″N 6°53′08″W / 53.789784°N 6.885629°WCoordinates: 53°47′23″N 6°53′08″W / 53.789784°N 6.885629°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Meath |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
Moynalty (Irish: Maigh nEalta, meaning "the plain of the flocks[1]") is a village in the north-west of County Meath in Ireland. It is located at the junction of the R194 and R164 regional roads 8 km (5 mi) north of Kells, near the border with County Cavan. It was part of the Kells Poor Law Union. The Owenroe river (Irish: An Abhainn Rua) flows through the village.
Origins of the name
According to the Annals of the Four Masters, the name Mágh nEalta was introduced into Ireland about 2000 BC when Partholon, a Greek, gave that name to a treeless fertile plain in Dublin. Because the description also described its location, the area now known as Moynalty got the name Magh nEalta also. The name was initially used to describe the manoral lands and settlement in the area.
The Synod of Kells in 1152 restructured Catholicism on Ireland, replacing a monastic system of directing the Irish Church with a system of parishes, dioceses and archdioceses. As the old manorial village had embraced the name of the surrounding plain, the new parish assumed that name 'Magh n-Ealta' also.
Current village
The village was built by the grandson of James Farrell who purchased the lands of Moynalty and its hinterland in 1790. That grandson John Arthur completed the building of Moynalty Village in 1837 and in is to some extent based on a Swiss design . The village was built on one side only earning it the saying "All To One Side Like The Village Of Moynalty".[2] It was only after 1900 that houses were built on the river side of the village. There was a small lace-making industry in Moynalty. This lace making industry supplied Lace to the wife of King George at Buckingham Palace in London. The village has become a familiar face in the national Tidy Towns competition. Moynalty was awarded with the title of Best Kept Town in All of Ireland in 2011. The village also hosts the Moynalty Steam Threshing festival, held every August since 1975.[3]
Transport
Bus Éireann route 108 provides three journeys a day (one on Sundays) to Kells and three journeys a day (one on Sundays) to Bailieborough via Mullagh [4] Onward connections to Dublin and Dublin Airport are available at Kells.
Notable people
Matthew Gilsenan - Member of the Irish based classical music group The Celtic Tenors was born in Moynalty in the early 1970s.
Fr Ignatius Spencer C.S.S.P. - He came to Moynalty to give a mission in 1858.
Senator Patrick Lynch (1867–1944) - Born in Shearke, Moynalty in 1867.
