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 ...
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...
, along the boundary with
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...
, in
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
,
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 ...
.
Access
The town lies on the
R639
The R639 road is one of Ireland's regional roads. Once designated the N8 national primary road (and before that some fractions were designated as the T6 and others as the T9), it was reclassified in stages as the R639 following the progress ...
. The M8 motorway runs just west of the town, from which both Urlingford and nearby Johnstown are accessed via junction four. Urlingford is a bus hub, with major operator
JJ Kavanagh and Sons
JJ Kavanagh and Sons is Ireland's largest private coach operator. It was founded in 1919 by J.J. Kavanagh with the operation of a service connecting Urlingford with Kilkenny City.
The company has expanded greatly since the 1990s with the tak ...
based there. Situated 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
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, Urlingford has long been a resting point for travellers halfway between the Republic of Ireland's two largest cities. As a result, until September 2013 the
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 ...
Dublin to Cork bus service called here. It is now replaced by route 828 which connects with express buses at
Portlaoise
Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...
The Irish name ''Áth na nUrlainn'' means "ford of the slaughter" and has been anglicised as ''Aghnenurlin'', ''Aghnenoorlin'', ''Awnanoorlin'' and similar.
History
In 1526,
Piers Butler
Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Ossory (1539) also known as Red Piers (Irish ''Piers Ruadh''), was from the Polestown–– branch of the Butler family of Ireland. In the succession crisis at the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl ...
, 8th Earl of Ormond, gave possession of the lands of Urlingford to John Tobin and Nicolas Mothing (chaplins). The earlier settlement was focused around the castle, church and graveyard.
The town had an organised planned growth with traditional plot patterns. It was built over a cut-over bog, an extension to the Templetuohy Bog, much of which has been reclaimed. Urlingford is a linear town around the focused primary axis, the Main Street. In 1837 it was the centre of manufacture of coarse stuffs, flannels, and worsteds, and carries on an extensive retail trade with the surrounding districts.
The town was recorded on
Griffith's Valuation
Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868.
Griffith's background
Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examinati ...
in 1864. Urlingford has taken part in the Tidy Towns Competition.
Rivers
A minor tributary of the River Nore, the
River Goul
The River Goul (; ga, An Gabhail) is a river that flows through the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Laois in Ireland. It is a tributary of the River Erkina which is in turn a tributary of the River Nore.
It has its source in the Slievea ...
, enters the town from the southeast. It sources 6 kilometers away from the town in the Slieveardagh hills. The river passes under the Main Street and towards the bridge at Urlingford Castle (and mill).
Buildings
There is a library in Urlingford which is based in the old courthouse.
Urlingford Castle
Urlingford () is a town, as well as a civil parish within the barony of Galmoy. It is located in the north west of County Kilkenny, along the boundary with County Tipperary, in Leinster, Ireland.
Access
The town lies on the R639. The M8 motor ...
and mill are located in Urlingford.
Sport
Emeralds GAA
Emeralds GAA is a junior Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Urlingford, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The club was founded in 1972 and almost exclusively fields teams in hurling.
They spent 14 seasons in intermediate grade in Kilkenny be ...
is a junior
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...