Walsh Island or Walshisland () 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 takes its name from the surrounding

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

which is a fertile area of land on a hill (104m) located in an area of bogland known as the Bog of Allen, (hence, "island"). The village is one kilometre west of the R400 regional road which runs through the bog below. Walsh Island is 12 km from the nearest town, Portarlington. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 443 people.

Sports

Walsh Island GAA Walsh Island is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the village of Walsh Island in County Offaly, Ireland. With 12 Senior Football wins and 2 Leinster Championship wins, they are one of the most successful clubs in the Offaly. Histo ...

club has produced two

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

winning captains in

Willie Bryan Willie Bryan (born 1947 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1966 until 1978. Bryan captain Captain is a title, a ...

and

Richie Connor Richie Connor (born 1954 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and, from 1975 until 1989, at senior level for the Offaly county team. Walsh later served as manager of ...

. Walsh Island's

Matt Connor Matt Connor (born 1960 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1978 until 1984, when he was seriously injured in a ca ...

was also selected in 1999 as a member of the GAA Millennium Football team. He was also the subject of a ''

Laochra Gael ''Laochra Gael'' (; "''Heroes of the Gaels''") is an Irish television programme. With the 2022 series its twentieth, the show profiles and celebrates some of the greatest names in Gaelic games (hurling, Gaelic football, ladies' Gaelic football an ...

'' television programme on

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. The club's intermediate level team was also featured on the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

programme ''ParkLive'' in 2006. The local

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team, the Walsh Island Shamrocks, plays its home games at Carty Park. They play in the C.C.F.L League (for teams from Counties Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford). The village also has a small

Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ga, liathróid láimhe) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two ( ...

alley which was restored by Walsh Island development group and officially opened in August 2015.

Economy and culture

Bogland plays a role in the culture and economy of Walsh Island. Its "island" name is thought to refer to the fact that the village is surrounded by bogs - which may have flooded in centuries gone by, creating an "island". The village has one pub called 'The Hoppers', which is run by the Flint family. A threshing festival is held in Walsh Island each summer to celebrate the harvest season, called the Hopper's Harvest. It is usually held in August and incorporates a vintage tractor run, traditional cooking, butter making, animal display and a dog show. The Mountlucas Wind Farm, just outside the village, has a recreational walking route. Walsh Island is known for the preserved

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

in the village centre.

References

Towns and villages in County Offaly {{Offaly-geo-stub

Sports

Economy and culture

See also

References