Rhode () is a village in
County Offaly
County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...
,
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 ...
. It is situated on the
R400 at its junction with the
R441 which leads to
Edenderry
Edenderry (; ) is a town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. The Grand Canal runs along the south of Edenderry, through the Bog of Allen, and there is a short spur to the town ...
, 12 km to the east. Rhode village is on an "island" of high ground surrounded by an expanse of raised bog which forms part of the
Bog of Allen.
History
The
Grand Canal, which was completed in the early 1800s, lies just south of the village, where it is crossed by Rhode Bridge (built c.1797). Several of the village's larger buildings, including Saint Peter's Roman Catholic church (original built 1816), date to the early 19th century.
The modern village of Rhode expanded around a peat-burning power plant operated by the
Electricity Supply Board which was supplied with
milled peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
by
Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board"), is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland c ...
. The plant was shut down in 2003 and its cooling towers were demolished in March 2004, removing a highly visible landmark.
Amenities
![Primary school in Rhode, Offaly - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Primary_school_in_Rhode%2C_Offaly_-_geograph.org.uk_-_442526.jpg)
The local
national (primary) school, ''Scoil Mhuire Naofa'', opened in 1959. As of 2020, the school had over 150 pupils enrolled. The local
GAA team,
Rhode GAA, has won the most
Offaly Senior Football Championship titles of any club in the county.
The village has three pubs, two takeaways, two shops, a filling station, several hairdressers and a pharmacy. In the centre of the village is a playground and park.
People
*
John Dunne (1846-1916), an
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
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 ...
priest and bishop.
*
William Fletcher (1750-1823), High Court judge
References
External links
*
{{County Offaly
Towns and villages in County Offaly