Tubbercurry
| Tobercurry Tobar an Choire | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 | |
  Tobercurry Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 54°03′00″N 8°44′00″W / 54.0500°N 8.7333°WCoordinates: 54°03′00″N 8°44′00″W / 54.0500°N 8.7333°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County |
 County Sligo |
| Elevation | 92 m (302 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
| • Urban | 1,747 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | G520114 |
Tubbercurry or Tobercurry[2] (Irish: Tobar an Choire, meaning "well of the corrie") is the second-largest town in terms of both population and land area in County Sligo, Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Ox Mountains, on the N17 national primary road. Tubbercurry has a very active Tidy Towns Project which is setting out to transform the town's visual appearance. It was one of the first towns in Ireland to be awarded Fair Trade status and is now home to a large Polish community who work in many of the local industries and retail stores. The village is currently twinned with Viarmes in France. [3]
History
The earliest mention of Tubbercurry is from 1397 when a battle took place in the town between two O’Connor families, the O’Connor Don from Roscommon and the O’Connors from Sligo town. St. Naithí is the patron saint of the area.
Events
- Tubbercurry boasts two of the most popular and successful festivals in the West of Ireland; the Humbert Summer School of Irish traditional music and a major theatrical festival held every year. These events attract large numbers of performing artists and cultural tourists from all over the world.
- At Halloween, a ‘Samhain’ festival and street carnival is held at night.
- There is also an annual Fair Day held in Tubbercurry every August. There is usually a high attendance for this with many people coming from abroad. During this day, a stall can be hired out on the main square, where people sell goods. The square is closed to traffic along with the town's main street.
Amenities
Despite its small size Tubbercurry, is renowned in the West of Ireland for night time entertainment. Several bars and restaurants, as well as traditional Irish pubs, form the main attraction for people who travel from all over the Connacht region.
Teach Laighne/Public Library
This modern civic structure on Humbert Street which contains a state-of-the-art library, as well as meeting rooms and government offices which has won architectural awards. It is used by the community for meetings and other functions. The library has been instrumental in facilitating the setting up of a number of other groups in the community such as the Tubbercurry Writers Group, the Tubbercurry Bookworms Reading Group, and the library Chess and Draughts Club for children. A number of other community groups such as the Tubbercurry Tidy Towns project, Tubbercurry Women's Group and the Tubbercurry Historical Society meet regularly in the library. The library is now the sole venue in County Sligo for a number of different exhibitions and collections and also serves as a venue for many workshops, presentations and lectures of interest to local people.
Sport
The local sports scene comprises Gaelic football and Hurling teams (Tubbercurry GAA) and the Real Tubber F.C. soccer team. There is a golf course on the town's edge - Tubbercurry Golf Club. Other sports are catered for including Badmintion, Athletics, Handball and Karate.
Education
Tubbercurry is home to Saint Attracta's Community School, which was opened after the merger of Banada Abbey Secondary School and the Marist Convent. St. Attracta's C.S. was opened in November 2002.
Transport
- Currently public transport to the town is provided with a bus service which connects Tubbercurry directly with Galway, Sligo, Castlebar, Westport and Tuam, as well as frequent services to nearby Ireland West Airport.
- The town also has a number of private bus and hackney hire companies.
- Tubbercurry railway station opened on 1 October 1895, closed for passenger traffic on 17 June 1963 and finally closed altogether on 3 November 1975.[4]
Notable people
- Michael "Fingers" Fingleton, former chief executive of Irish Nationwide Building Society and key figure in the Irish financial crisis[5]
- Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn, noted sixteenth-century bardic poet, was a powerful figure in Tubbercurry.
See also
References
- ↑ http://cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/census2011vol1andprofile1/Table%205.pdf
- ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ "Tobar an Choire twinning committee". Tubbercurry Exchange Committee. June 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
- ↑ "Tubbercurry station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ↑ "MICHAEL FINGLETON THE CV". Irish Independent. 2004-02-22. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tubbercurry. |
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