Durhamstown ( ga, Baile an Dormhamaigh), known less frequently as Dormstown, is a townland outside

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, Ireland. In religious terms it is covered by the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish of

Bohermeen Bohermeen is a Roman Catholic parish in the Irish Diocese of Meath. Its English name is a corruption of an ancient Irish language name, ''An Bóthar Mín'', which meant ''the smooth road''. Originally one of the five famed ancient roadways that ...

. Durhamstown townland lies in 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Ardbraccan Ardbraccan ( ga, Ard Breacáin) is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the former residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath. It is approx ...

, and has an area of .

History

Name and population

Durhamstown, sometimes referred to as Dormstown (a form of spelling which fell into disuse by the mid 20th century), is one of twenty

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

s in the civil parish of Ardbraccan and had 64 houses according to the 1911 census of Ireland. As of the 2011 census, the population of the townland was 319 people.

Origins of croquet

According to histories of the game of

Croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

, an early set of rules of the game were compiled by an anonymous writer who described himself as "corncrake" to ''The Field'' publication on 21 August 1858. "Corncrake" was revealed to be George Annesley Pollock of the Oatlands estate in Durhamstown. His "The Rules of the Oatlands Club" became a key set of rules for the game, with records revealing that the rules were used by the owners of Oatlands and Durhamstown Castle, and another nearby estate, for local competitions. The game Croquet later spread to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

from Ireland. Though the game spread from Ireland, the first registered set of rules were registered in Britain in 1856.

Geography

The townland's most prominent geographical formations include Faughan Hill, a small hill on the otherwise flat plains of the area on which legend claims

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

was buried. Nearby is

Durhamstown Castle Durhamstown Castle is a 600-year-old towerhouse in the townland of Durhamstown of the civil parish of Ardbraccan which is in the barony (Ireland) of Lower Navan, in County Meath, Ireland. It is named after a Mr Doream and has been converte ...

, a Norman towerhouse that has been lived in for five hundred years.

References

{{reflist Townlands of County Meath