Kingscourt, historically known as Dunaree (), is a town in

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

, Ireland. It is located near the Cavan–

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

border. The town was founded near the site of the old village of Cabra, by Mervyn Pratt, towards the end of the 18th century, and was completed by his brother,

The Rev. The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Joseph Pratt.

History

Cabra Castle Cabra Castle is the name given to two castles, one now ruined, the other now used as a luxury hotel. They are near the hamlet of Cabra, which is very near Kingscourt ( Irish: ''Dún a' Rí'') in south-east County Cavan, Ireland. The curr ...

, an early 19th-century ' Gothick-style' castle, is located very near the town, being on the R179 road (known locally as the

Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town and environs had a population of 5,032 according to the 2016 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a ca ...

Road). The castle was originally called Cormey Castle and was built on the site of an earlier Cormey Castle which had been destroyed during the Cromwellian War. The castle has, in recent years, been restored and expanded and is now a four-star hotel which is popular for weddings.

Architecture

The local Catholic church, which is perched high above the town, contains

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

by the renowned Irish artist Evie Hone, who also provided designs for Eton College Chapel.

Economy

Building supplies company

Kingspan Kingspan Group plc is a building materials company based in Ireland trading in over 70 countries with 159 factories employing over 15,000 people. The company operates with five divisions; Insulated Panels, Insulation, Light & Air, Water & Energy, ...

is headquartered in the town. The company was founded in 1965 and initially known as Kingscourt Construction Group. Kingspan is now a constituent company on the Dublin stock market's

ISEQ 20 The ISEQ 20 is a benchmark stock market index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures a stock market, or a subset of the stock market, that helps investors compare current stock price levels with past pri ...

index.

Environment

Tree in Dun na Rí Forest Park, near Kingscourt, Co

Dún na Rí Forest Park is located a couple of kilometers from Kingscourt. Situated in a valley, and formerly part of the Pratt family's Cabra Estate (which was centered on nearby

), Dún na Rí is home to stoat, hare, mink,

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

and

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

, as well as red and grey squirrel along the banks of the River Cabra. The park itself borders the Shercock and

roads. The original Cabra House (also sometimes known as Cabra Castle) was located within the modern forest

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

. The Pratt dynasty moved into the current Cabra Castle (which is just across the Carrickmacross Road from the forest park's main entrance) in 1813.

Transport

Railway

Kingscourt has a railway line which has been disused following strike action by

Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...

train drivers in 2001. The line ceased to have passenger services in 1947, and was then a freight-only service. The line, which runs from Kingscourt to Navan and then on to

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, was used to carry gypsum ore daily from Gypsum Industries, but the company withdrew this service when

could not guarantee deliveries of Gypsum ore, and was consequently transferred to road transport in 2001.

Road

Kingscourt is situated on the R162 regional road where it connects with the R164, R165 and R179. The town is approximately 30 minutes drive from the M1 motorway, via Ardee,

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, providing easy access to Dublin Airport (95 km), Dublin city and its environs (90 km),

(50 km), Dundalk (35 km) and Belfast (130 km).

Bus

There are daily bus connections to Nobber, Navan and Dublin with both Sillan Tours Limited and

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 ...

. On Tuesdays and Thursdays

route 166 provides a link to

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

via Bailieborough and

Stradone, County Cavan Stradone () is a village located in County Cavan, Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Laragh (or Larah) six miles from Cavan, near the N3 road between Cavan and Virginia. Stradone is classified as a 'small village' in the Cavan Count ...

. Royal Breffni Tours operate a twice-daily service from Kingscourt to Dundalk IT.

Sport

The Racquetball Association of Ireland is based in Kingscourt and the 14th IRF Racquetball World Championships took place in the town in 2008. Held every two years, previous championships were held in the Dominican Republic (2006), South Korea (2004) and Puerto Rico (2002). The Kingscourt Handball and Racquetball court complex is the largest in Ireland with three 40x20s and one 60x30 court. Kingscourt Handball Club is home to a number of All-Ireland champions, and the club have won the Senior All-Ireland Club title twice; once in 2001 and again in 2003. In

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 ...

, the Kingscourt Stars are the fourth most successful club in the county having won the

Cavan Senior Football Championship The Cavan Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Cavan Gaelic football clubs. It was first competed for in 1888. The winners get the Oliver Plunkett Cup and qualifies to represent t ...

eleven times, most recently in 2015.

Education

Schools include Coláiste Dún an Rí, a co-educational secondary school opened in August 2016.

Notable people

* Shane Connaughton (born 1941), Irish writer and actor * Eugene Murtagh (born 1942), billionaire businessman, founder and chairman of Kingspan Group * Victor Sherlock, Gaelic football player for Meath and Cavan

References

External links

{{County Cavan Towns and villages in County Cavan