Kinnegad or Kinagad () is a town in

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

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 on the border with

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

. It is roughly 60 km from the capital,

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 ...

. From 1996 to 2016, there was a considerable increase in Kinnegad's population, from 517 to 2,745 inhabitants. According to the 2016 census, approximately 79% of the town's housing stock (715 out of 907 households) was built between 1991 and 2010.

Transport

Kinnegad is primarily a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, serving Dublin via the N4 and the M4 motorway.

Citylink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two exi ...

and

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 ...

both serve Kinnegad towards Dublin, in addition to private company Kearns. There is no

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the town; it was served by the station at Hill of Down (which was originally called Kinnegad when it opened in 1847) until its closure in 1947. As of 2019, there were calls for the reopening of the train station at Killucan, to serve both

Killucan and Rathwire The villages of Killucan () and Rathwire () are co-located in the east of County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. They have a combined population of 1,370 according to the 2016 census of Ireland, 2016 census. Killucan is on the R156 roa ...

and Kinnegad, but this is unlikely before extra capacity is available on the Dublin-Sligo railway line.

Education

The town has a large national school, Saint Etchen's Kinnegad N.S. The school consists of two separate buildings, Scoil Etchen Naofa (built-in 1984) and the Cardinal Glennon building (built-in 2008). The renovation was necessary due to an increase in population. It is run by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

but non-Catholic children can attend the school. There was a campaign by the Kinnegad Steering Group during the 2010s in favour of the development of a secondary school in the town, but as of 2019 this had yet to materialise.

Religious sites

The Catholic church of St. Mary's Church of the Assumption is in Kinnegad. It is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath The Diocese of Meath ( ga, Deoise na Mí) is a diocese of the Catholic Church that is located in the middle part of Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. Thomas Deenihan has been bishop of the d ...

. The then arch-bishop, Seán Brady, visited the church on 7 June 2009, in honour of its 100-year anniversary. There are bullet holes visible in the stations of the cross in the church which were made by the

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

in the 1920s.

Sport

The local

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

team is

Coralstown Coralstown (), also Correllstown, is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located in the south of the county on the N4 road, to the north of Kinnegad. The village contains a National school, a post office A post office is a pu ...

/Kinnegad Gaelic Football Club, which fields teams for both male and female players aged from under eight through to senior level. The club's colours are red shirts and socks, and white shorts. The club has three pitches and a clubhouse with four dressing rooms, toilets, and a gym. The town also has an

association football 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 ...

club, Kinnegad Juniors Athletic Football Club, which was founded in 2005. Kinnegad Juniors play at Lagan Park on the Killucan Road, Kinnegad. The club caters to boys and girls from the ages of 6–19 and also has a senior men's and women's team.

References

External links

Strategic Development Framework for the Midlands Gateway; General statistic & regional information
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Westmeath