Annacotty () is a suburban town on the outskirts of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

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 ...

, from the centre of the city. It is situated where the old N7 main road between Limerick and Dublin crosses the Mulkear River, upstream of where it flows into the River Shannon.

History

The village originally grew up around the grain mills which harnessed the water power of the

River Mulkear The River Mulcair, or Mulkear, rises in the Slieve Felim Mountains and Silvermine Mountains in Ireland, and flows through the east of County Limerick before joining the River Shannon near Annacotty. It flows through Counties Limerick and Tipper ...

Clonkeen Church Clonkeen Church is a medieval church and a National Monument in County Limerick, Ireland. Location The church is located on the R506 road, southeast of Annacotty, north of the River Mulkear. History A monastery was founded here by Saint Mo ...

was established as a monastic site c. AD 600. One was beside the bridge itself and has now been restored as bar and restaurant and the second was upstream at Ballyclough. Annacotty Co-Operative Society was founded in the 1890s and butter was made at the creamery up to the 1960s when it was taken over by Black Abbey Co-operative of Adare (which, after a succession of mergers, became part of the Dairygold Co-op). The creamery had been transformed into a Co-Operative hardware store which closed in August 2009. The building is currently operating as Irish-owned store Mr. Price. With the expansion of

from 1990, Annacotty has been swallowed up into the rapidly growing suburb of

Castletroy Castletroy (, meaning O'Troy's Landing or O'Troy's Callow) is a suburb of Limerick, Ireland. The town was named after Castle Troy also known as The Black Castle, which is located on the southern bank of the River Shannon, roughly 2km East of th ...

. The N7, which originally ran through the main street, by passed the village as it was then, in 1980 when a new bridge was built over the Mulkear 100m downstream. That, in turn, was superseded by the building of the Limerick Southern Ring Road which crossed the river upstream at Ballyclough. Annacotty officially became part of Limerick City following the May 2014 local government elections with local Councillors elected as part of the Limerick City Metropolitan District. Prior to this local Councillors were elected to

Limerick County Council Limerick County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Luimnigh) was the authority responsible for local government in County Limerick, Ireland. As a county council, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council had 28 elected members. ...

, a separate authority to the old City Council. Annacotty Industrial Estate was built on the former site of the Ferenka factory. Opened in March 1972 by the AKZO Group to manufacture steelcord, it achieved notoriety when its Dutch managing director

Tiede Herrema In October 1975, Dutch businessman Tiede Herrema (21 April 1921 – 24 April 2020) was kidnapped by the Provisional IRA in Castletroy, near Limerick. This triggered a large police investigation and a two week siege, after which Herrema was relea ...

was kidnapped by

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

Eddie Gallagher and Marion Coyle in October 1975 and freed four weeks later following a protracted siege in

Monasterevin Monasterevin (), also Monasterevan, and Mevin is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. The town lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. The population was 4,246 at the 2016 Census. Location and Access Sit ...

, County Kildare. After sustaining continuing losses and experiencing numerous industrial disputes from the day it opened, the factory closed down in December 1977 with the loss of over 1,400 full-time jobs. Annacotty is the home of two clubs. Aisling Annacotty is the local football club and UL Bohemian's is the local Rugby club located on Mulkear Drive. Annacotty is the birthplace of the Limerick inter-county hurler

Jackie Power Jackie Power (30 May 1916 – 23 February 1994) was an Irish sportsperson. A renowned dual player, he played both hurling and Gaelic football with his local club Ahane and with the Limerick senior inter-county teams in both codes from 1935 ...

and a statue of him stands on the main street. Former Irish rugby international

Peter Clohessy Peter Clohessy (born 22 March 1966) is an Irish former rugby union player, who played for Munster, Queensland Reds and Ireland. He played as a prop and was known by his fans as "The Claw". He played most of his career at tighthead prop but la ...

also comes from the town.

Transport

Annacotty railway station Annacotty railway station, on the Ballybrophy branch, served the village of Annacotty in County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The station opened on 23 August 1853 and closed on 9 September 1963. History Opened as Grange station by ...

opened on 8 August 1858, but finally closed on 9 September 1963.

References

External links

{{County Limerick Limerick (city) Towns and villages in County Limerick

History

Transport

See also

References

External links