Kilworth ()
is a village in north
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
, located about 2 kilometres north of
Fermoy
Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dá ...
near the river Funcheon. The
M8 Cork–Dublin motorway passes nearby. Kilworth has an army camp, located 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 ...
regional road between
Mitchelstown
Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 ...
and Fermoy. Kilworth is part of the
Cork East Dáil constituency.
History
The name Kilworth comes from the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
term "Cill Úird", literally meaning "church of the order". In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Kilworth was a notable settlement on the old
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
to
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 ...
road, prior to the construction of the
T6/old N8/R639 road from Fermoy to
Cashel and from Cashel to
Urlingford
Urlingford () is a town, as well as a Civil parishes in Ireland, 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, Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
A ...
between 1739 and the mid-nineteenth century. Numerous accounts and maps dating from the 1680s tell of armies and travellers journeying from Fermoy to
Clogheen and onwards to Dublin via Kilworth and Kilworth Mountain.
[See, for example, David Broderick, ''The First Toll Roads: Ireland's Turnpike Roads, 1729–1858'' (Cork, 2002); J. H. Andrews, ''Shapes of Ireland: Maps and Their Makers, 1564–1839'' (Dublin, 1997); Taylor and Skinner's ''Maps of the Roads of Ireland'' (Dublin, 1778); and Herman Moll's ''New Map of Ireland'' (1714).]
Notable residents
One of Kilworth's most notable residents was
David Richard Pigot
David Richard Pigot, PC, KC (c. 1796 – 22 December 1873) was one of the leading Irish judges of his time. His children included John Edward Pigot, a noted music collector and one of the founders of the National Gallery of Ireland. His grand ...
, who became
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron ( judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the build ...
and one of the foremost Irish judges of his day. He was born in Kilworth about 1796, son of John Pigot, a doctor, and his wife Margaret Nagle. David Pigot's eldest son,
John Edward Pigot
John Edward Pigot (1822–1871) was an Irish music collector and lawyer, who played a key role in the foundation of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Life
Pigot was born in Kilworth, Co. Cork, the eldest son of the Chief Baron of the Irish Exche ...
, was also born in Kilworth and was one of the founders of the
National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...
.
Amenities and attractions
Kilworth Arts centre is a theatre venue in the centre of the village. It was previously used as a church.
Kilworth (Glenseskin) forest is located about 1 km from the village centre.
Economy
Teagasc Teagasc (, meaning "Instruction") is the State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland, semi-state authority in the Republic of Ireland responsible for research and development, training and advisory services in the agri-food sector.
The offici ...
has an agricultural research facility based at Moorepark, just outside Kilworth. The village is within commuting distance of many centres of employment, including Cork city.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Cork
Civil parishes of County Cork
