Charleville ( or ''An Ráth'') is a town in County Cork,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It lies in the

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is the historic name given to an area of rolling pastureland in the province of Munster in southwestern Ireland. The area covers parts of three counties: Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Considered the best land in Ireland ...

, on a tributary of the

River Maigue The River Maigue (, ) rises in the Milford area of north County Cork, Ireland. The River Maigue is long. It drains an area of It is joined by the small River Glen and the larger River Loobagh in south County Limerick. It then flows north t ...

, near the border with

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

. Charleville is on the N20 road and is the second-largest town between

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, the largest being Mallow. The Roman Catholic parish of Charleville is within the Diocese of Cloyne. Significant industries in the town include Kerry Co-op and the construction and services sectors.

Names

The old name for the place was Rathcogan, later Rathgogan or Rathgoggan, the last () still the name of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

around the town. The name means Cogan's ''rath'' (

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

), after the family of

Miles de Cogan Milo de Cogan (fl. 1170–1182) was an Anglo-Norman knight from Glamorgan who played a significant role in the Norman conquest of Ireland under Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; a man better known to Irish history as ''Strongbow''. Origins T ...

, granted lands there after the 12th-century Norman invasion. The new town begun by

Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, 25 April 1621 to 16 October 1679, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A younger son of the Earl of Cork, the largest landowner in Munster, like many Irish Protestants he supported the Dublin Castle admin ...

in 1661 was named Charleville after Charles II, who had been restored to the throne the previous year. Later Irish speakers referred to the town as An Ráth "the rath", a short form of the older Irish name. The name Lorc's ''rath''"was first attached to Charleville in an 1849 collection of 18th-century Irish-language poems with English translations. The translation of an ''

aisling The , , approximately ), or vision poem, is a mythopoeic poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of the first s ...

'' by Conchúbhar Máistir Ó Ríordáin interpreted as denoting the town of Charleville. T. F. O'Rahilly felt that , like the more common , was a poetic name for Ireland. D. A. Binchy felt the term, also used by

Aogán Ó Rathaille Aodhagán Ó RathailleVariant Irish spellings of his name include ''Aogán'' and ''Ua Rathaille'' or Egan O'Rahilly (c.1670–1726), was an Irish language poet. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling. Early life It is tho ...

, did refer to a specific place, but likely somewhere in

Muskerry Muskerry () is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry West After the 1920 local elections,

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

-dominated councils loyal to the self-proclaimed

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( or ) was a Revolutionary republic, revolutionary state that Irish Declaration of Independence, declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdict ...

often sought to replace placenames having British monarchic allusions with older Gaelic names. Although ''Rathgoggan'' was mooted by Charleville

Rural District A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

Council, Risteárd Ó Foghladha Fiachra Eilgeach"advised that ''Ráth Luirc'' was the old name, and it was changed to Rathluirc in 1920. Ó Foghladh claimed Lorc was an ancient king of Munster; in fact Lóegaire Lorc was a mythical

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

. The Placenames Commission was established in the 1940s to systematically determine the authentic Irish names of places, and based on its advice that ''An Ráth'' was the commonly used name among the last generations of local Irish speakers, this was legally made the Irish name in 1975. Thus the town had the anomalous position that its English-language legal name was an Irish name different from its Irish-language legal name. The name "Charleville" remained in common use. In December 1989, a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

of residents under the Local Government Act 1946 voted on four names: of 2200 electors, 1500 (over 68%) voted for ''Charleville''. Official documents before and after 1989 have often used "Rathluirc (Charleville)" or similar formulations. Local sports teams have a ''rath'' or fort in their crest, reflecting the Irish name. The town of

Charleville, Queensland Charleville () is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Charleville had a population of 2,992. Geography Located in southwestern Queensland, Aust ...

, Australia may well have been named after the County Cork town.

History

Charleville was founded in 1661 by

. Roger Boyle had been a supporter of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. When King Charles II was restored in 1660, he had to prove his loyalty to the crown. He did this by naming Charleville after the English king. The villages of Brohill and Rathgoggin, who in their former guise preceded the formation of the town of Charleville in the area, fell under the rule of the following political entities: the Eoghanachta of southern Munster, at some point by the Hiberno-Norman Lordships of Ireland 1169–1541 (although this rule was nominal rather than actual), and subsequently by the

Kingdom of Desmond The Kingdom of Desmond () was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond (, "North ...

1118 – 1596. The lands of Broghill and Rathgogan were purchased by Roger's father Richard Boyle as a part of the

Plantation of Munster Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland () involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The main plantations took place from the 1550s to the 162 ...

and Roger subsequently established his residency there after the founding of Charleville. During the time of the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

, practising the Catholic faith was illegal. As a result, the parish of Charleville was amalgamated with the parishes

Bruree Bruree () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland, on the River Maigue. It takes its name from the nearby ancient royal fortress, the alternative name of which from the earliest times into the High Middle Ages was ''Dún Eochair ...

and Colmanswell, both in the Diocese of Limerick. In 1704, Fr. Daniel Mac Namara of Bruree was registered as the Catholic priest for this very large pastoral area. The fact that Catholics had to attend Mass secretly meant that the old chapel in Holy Cross cemetery was abandoned. The remains of this church – now overgrown with ivy – are still to be seen in the centre of the graveyard. Indeed, like so many other pre-1700 churches, the old church of Holy Cross literally became part of the surrounding graveyard, in that several gravestones, both marked and unmarked, are to be found within the building itself. Upon one such gravestone is a Latin

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

to none other than Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill (1691–1754), who was, in his time, the Chief Poet of Munster, as well as a native of Charleville.

William Alcock Tully William Alcock Tully (14 March 1830 – 26 April 1905) was a Surveyor General of Queensland, (then a colony, now a state of Australia). Early life Tully was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of William Tully, a captain in the Royal Navy, and h ...

, commissioner of

Crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

s in the Kennedy and Warrego pastoral districts and 2nd Surveyor General of Queensland spent his formative years here. during this time, He surveyed the townsite of

which he named after Charleville, County Cork.

Geography

Charleville is geographically located at 'the heart of Munster', within the Golden Vale region. It is 60 km from

city to the south and 40 km from

city to the north. Charleville lies within the

Cork North-West "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Dáil constituency.

Economy

Charleville is a centre for the food processing industry, with brands such as Charleville Cheese and Golden Vale produced by Kerry Co-Op. Numerous stores and restaurants are located here as well.

Engineering

Numerous spin-offs both in the town of Charleville and the surrounding area were created when Golden Vale Engineering closed its doors in 1983. The largest amongst these were BCD Engineering, Diamond Engineering and Sapphire Engineering. BCD is the second largest employer in Charleville. Ireland’s largest independent powered access company CPH www.cphireland.ie is headquartered in Charleville

Cheese

(part of the

Kerry Group Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges. Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant i ...

) continue to make cheese products in the town. Golden Vale is the largest employer in Charleville.

Social

Charleville has numerous pubs as well as two theatre facilities and is home to the North Cork Drama Festival which is held in the Parochial Hall. The second facility is the Schoolyard Theatre which is home to the Shoestring Theatre group.

Transport

Charleville is at the junction of the N20 national road and the R515 regional road. The N20 runs north–south from

cities, the R515 east–west from

Tipperary town Tipperary (; ), commonly known as Tipperary Town, is a town and a civil parish in County Tipperary, Ireland. Its population was 4,979 at the 2016 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, ...

to near

Abbeyfeale Abbeyfeale (; ) is a historic market town in County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Kerry. The town is on the N21 road from Limerick to Tralee, some south-west of Newcastle West and south-east of Listowel and north-east of Tra ...

. The R578 runs from Charleville to Ballydesmond. Charleville is on

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

routes 51 (Cork – Limerick –

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...

–

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

) and 320 (Limerick – Charleville). It is 65 km from both

Cork Airport Cork Airport () is the second-largest international airport in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin Airport, Dublin and ahead of Shannon Airport, Shannon. It is south of Cork (city), Cork City centre, in an area known as Farmers Cross. In ...

and Shannon Airport. It is approximately 550 km from High Halstow. Charleville railway station is on the Dublin–Cork railway line. It opened in 1849 on the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the larges ...

. The former Cork–Limerick line branched off the Cork–Dublin line at Charleville, continuing via Croom; the final goods train ran in 1976, since when

Limerick Junction Limerick Junction () is the interchange railway station for trains originating in , , , , and stations. The station opened on 3 July 1848. The station was highly noted for its layout which prior to 1967 required every train making a stop at ...

, already the junction for Dublin–Limerick, has also been the junction for Cork–Limerick.

Education

Secondary schools in the area include CBS Charleville, St. Mary's Secondary School (Charleville), and Mannix College (which is no longer a secondary School). Other schools include Charleville CBS Primary, St. Anne's, St. Joseph's and the Holy Family School. Charleville's library is located in the former

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church of the parish (which went into disrepair in the 1950/1960s when the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

population of the area declined).

Sport

Sporting clubs in the area include Charleville GAA club and Charleville Camogie Club. The Ráth Luirc GAA Sports Centre has squash,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

facilities. There is also a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

court in the area. The local rugby club is Charleville RFC, and soccer club is Charleville AFC. Charleville Golf Club and Charleville Pitch and Putt Club are also based locally.

People

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

(1882–1975), former Taoiseach and President, was educated at C.B.S Charleville * Aaron Doran (b.1991), Irish

association footballer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and 2015 Scottish Cup winner with

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

* Keith Hanley (b.1993), winner of

The Voice of Ireland ''The Voice of Ireland'' is the Irish edition of the international TV franchise '' The Voice'', a reality singing competition created by media tycoon John de Mol Jr. The first series began airing from 8 January 2012 on RTÉ One. The coaches or ...

series 2 Series 2 could refer to: * Apple Watch Series 2, a smart watch by Apple * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 2, the automobile model * BMW 2 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 2 series, line of nVi ...

* Con Leahy (1876–1921), an Irish athlete who won Olympic medals at the 1906 and 1908 Games, was born here * Eliza Lynch (1833–1886), former first lady of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, was born locallyTom Hennigan: "Life of Cork woman and heroine in Paraguary to be featured in TV drama",

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

, 14 May 2011. (confirmed by baptismal certificate) * Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill (1691–1754), Chief Poet of Munster who was born in nearby Churchtown, lived in the area *

Daniel Mannix Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia. Early lif ...

(1864–1963), Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years, and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia, was born near Charleville * William Reeves (1815–1892), antiquarian, bishop, and President of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

, was born in Charleville

Town twinning

Charleville is twinned with Plouaret – Le Vieux-Marché,

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, in France.

Footnotes

References

External links

Charleville Chamber
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Cork Former boroughs in the Republic of Ireland