Castledermot ()
is an inland village in the south-east of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in
County Kildare
County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
, about from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, and from the town of
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
. The
N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the village but upon completion of a motorway bypass in 2010, it was re-designated the
R448.
History
![1903 Gordon Bennett Trophy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/1903_Gordon_Bennett_Trophy._De_Knyff_passes_Winton_repairing_his_car.jpg)
The earliest known
Irish Parliament met at Castledermot on 18 June
1264. Also, the oldest intact window in Western Europe can be found in the town, being part of the ruins of a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
. The window, although large, is only stonework.
St. Laurence O'Toole, (
1128 -
1180) or Lorcán Ua Tuathail, was born at Castledermot.
In July 1903 the
Gordon Bennett Cup passed through Castledermot.
Public transport
Bus
The main bus route serving Castledermot is
J.J. Kavanagh & Sons route 736 providing a limited number of daily services to
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
,
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and
Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport (Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south of ...
. This service was reduced in 2015 which impacted local commuters and community members seeking to visit hospitals in Kildare and Dublin. Visitors who wish to visit Castledermot outside of the small number of services that pass through the town must alight at slip road off the M9 for Carlow and avail of a taxi service into Castledermot. South Kildare Community Transport operate a route from Castledermot to
Athy twice a day each way Mondays to Fridays inclusive.
Bus Éireann
Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...
used to serve Castledermot more frequently, but the solitary Sunday evening journey was withdrawn in 2015. Castledermot is also served by bus route 880 operated by Kildare Local Link on behalf of the
National Transport Authority. There are several buses each day including Sunday linking the town to
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
and
Naas
Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge.
History
The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...
as well as villages such as
Moone
Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a national school, one shop and a small community ce ...
in the area.
Rail
Carlow railway station
Carlow railway station serves the town of Carlow in County Carlow.
It is a station on the Dublin to Waterford intercity route. The station has two platforms. The far-side platform is only used when two trains are in the station at once, as i ...
is approximately 11 kilometres distant.
Athy railway station
Athy railway station serves the town of Athy in County Kildare, Ireland.
It is a station on the Dublin to Waterford intercity route.
Description
The single track north and south of the station splits to provide two platforms. Platform 1, next ...
is around 14 kilometres distant.
Demographics
The population of the town was 887 at the time of the (January
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
) census, a 22% increase over the figure recorded in
2002.
As of the 2016 census, the population of the village had grown further to 1,475 people.
The settlement is growing due to its proximity to Dublin.
Notable features
The River Lerr (a tributary of the larger
River Barrow
The Barrow ( ga, An Bhearú) is a river in Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers, and at 192 km (120 mi), the second-longest ri ...
, the second longest river in Ireland) flows through the town.
In the town there are various remains including
Castledermot Round Tower,
Saint John's Tower and two well-preserved
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
high crosses
A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...
and the ruins of
Castledermot Abbey, a Franciscan friary. away is
Kilkea Castle
Kilkea Castle is located northwest of Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland near the village of Kilkea on the R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow. It was a medieval stronghold, for over 700 years, of the Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare. ...
, once the residence of the Duke of Leinster, but now a hotel and health farm. The castle was built by the English Norman
Hugh de Lacy Hugh de Lacy may refer to:
* Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Lassy (c.1020–1085), first recorded member of the Norman noble family de Lacy
* Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (died 1186), 4th Baron Lacy
* Hugh de Lacy, Abbot of Shrewsbury (died c. 1215/18)
*Hug ...
in
1180, and later passed to the Fitzgeralds.
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...
, is said to have practised magic in
Kilkea Castle
Kilkea Castle is located northwest of Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland near the village of Kilkea on the R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow. It was a medieval stronghold, for over 700 years, of the Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare. ...
which earned him the nickname "the Wizard Earl".
Education
There are two schools in the town. The national school,
Scoil Diarmada, is on the
Athy road out of Castledermot and was opened in January 2009. It has two floors, and an elevator for easier access for disabled people. The secondary school,
Colaiste Lorcain, is located on the main street.
Sport
Sporting organisations in Castledermot include the local
GAA team,
Castledermot GAA
Castledermot GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland, winner of three senior hurling championships, first winners of the intermediate football and senior camogie championships, Kildare Club of ...
(which has men's and women's teams), and plays
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
and
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
. There are also local
Gaelic handball,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
and
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
teams.
Castle Villa
Castle Villa AFC are an association football (soccer) team based in Castledermot, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
The team was formed by Walter Brookes in 1969. Commonly known as 'The Villa', there are two senior teams and many ...
, whose grounds are at Mullarney Park, are one of the most successful soccer teams in Leinster. Two of the club's most successful teams of the past were the 1979 team which won the Counties Cup and the Sheeran Cup winners of 1984. More recently, the club was crowned Lumsden League Cup Champions in 2016 and have been Kildare Senior League champions on several occasions.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
*
List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Kildare)
References
External links
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Kildare