Mulhussey () is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

and village in

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 ...

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 has a school, a castle with accompanying cemetery, a nearby church (or the 'Little Chapel', as it is commonly known) at the edge of the Kilcloon parish in

Kilcock Kilcock () is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Its population of 6,093 makes it the ninth largest town in Kildare and 76th largest in Ireland. The town is located 35 km (22 ...

, and a religious antiquity, St Bridgid's Well, located in Calgath near Mulhussey.

History

Mulhussey's first inhabitants were the Husseys, a noble Norman family in the 13th century AD. The Lord of

Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

at the time sent the Husseys to an area outside

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

, which at the time was very important, because of the large Norman castle, owned by the Fitzgeralds of

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. A tower house and manor was to be built and lived in by the Husseys to look after the land and protect it for the DeLacy family of Trim. Legend has it that toward the end of the 16th century AD, the last inhabitant of the tower house and manor ''or Mulhussey Castle'' as it is known today, was a bald lady. The literal translation for Maol Hosae is 'Hussey's Summit', but folklore provides a second translation. Combining the Irish word for bald, and the Irish name for Hussey (''Maol and Hosae'') the land protected by the Hussey family was named Maol Hosae, which was anglicised to Mulhussey.

Geography

Mulhussey is located at the very south of County Meath in the parish of

Kilcloon Kilcloon or Kilclone () is a parish situated in the south-east of County Meath in Ireland. Kilcloon parish is largely rural and contains the village of Kilcloon itself and the neighbouring villages of Batterstown and Mulhussey. The parish chur ...

, along with neighbouring townlands Jenkinstown, Longtown, Kimmins Mill, Pagestown, Kilclone, Collistown and Rodanstown.

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...

deliver mail to people in Mulhussey from Kilcock post office in Kildare, which leads some people to believe Mulhussey is in Kildare county, but this is for postage convenience only. Mulhussey's closest towns and villages are Kilcock and Maynooth, 6 and 8 kilometres to the south respectively,

Dunboyne Dunboyne () is a town in Meath, Ireland. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitants. Location Dunboyne is centred on the ...

16 kilometres to the east, Sumerhill 8 kilometres to the north along with

Dunshaughlin Dunshaughlin ( or locally ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. A commuter town for nearby Dublin, Dunshaughlin more than tripled in population (from 1,275 to 4,035 inhabitants) between the 1991 and 2016 censuses. History Foundation Dunshaugh ...

18 kilometres to the north. A tributary of the

River Tolka The River Tolka (; , "the flood"), also once spelled ''Tolga'', is one of Dublin's three main rivers, flowing from County Meath to Fingal within the old County Dublin, and through the north of Dublin city, Ireland (the other main rivers are t ...

flows through Muhussey and Kilclone townlands.

Sport

Mulhussey's inhabitants are eligible to join the local

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 ...

club,

Blackhall Gaels GAA Blackhall Gaels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Parish of Kilcloon. The parish consists of the main townlands of Batterstown, Mulhussey and Kilcloon near the town of Dunboyne, in County Meath. The club plays hurling and foo ...

. Training grounds are located in Pagestown and

Batterstown Batterstown () is a small rural village in the townland of Rathregan (''Ráth Riagáin''), County Meath, Ireland. It is about northwest of Dublin, on the R154 regional road. It hosts a yearly cycling race. There are approximately forty houses ...

- both with modern club houses and gym facilities. The club has men's

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 ...

and

ladies Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

teams, with smaller teams for

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

also.

Developments

The area around Mulhussey has experienced a decline in population since 1991. The Central Statistics Office census records indicate that, in 1991, Kilcloon census town had a population of 351, which by 2002 had fallen to 309, and by the time of the 2016 census, the population stood at 280 inhabitants. St Joseph's National School in Mulhussey, (located on the

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia * Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney *Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

road) which was established in 1964, had an enrollment of 74 pupils as of 2013, increasing to 81 as of early 2020. Mulhussey Castle, or tower house, still stands today on the road from Kilcock. The Mulhussey Graveyard Restoration Society have undertaken restoration work on the Mulhussey cemetery beside the castle.

References

External links