Croghan () is a village in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It is situated near

Croghan Hill Croghan Hill ( or ) is a hill with a height of in County Offaly, Ireland. The remains of an extinct volcano, it rises from the Bog of Allen and dominates the surrounding plains. It is composed of basalt, diorite, and volcanic ash. Historical ...

, on an "island" of high ground surrounded by an expanse of

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombro ...

which forms part of the

Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen () is a large raised bog in the centre of Republic of Ireland, Ireland between the rivers River Liffey, Liffey and River Shannon, Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometres (370 square miles) stretch into counties County Offaly, ...

. The village is in a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name.

Sport

The local GAA club in Croghan is St Brigid's ().

School

St Brigid's National School, known in Irish as Scoil Bhride, was built in 1963. There were formerly a number of other schools in Croghan, including a

hedge school Hedge schools ( Irish names include '' scoil chois claí'', ''scoil ghairid'' and ''scoil scairte'') were small informal secret and illegal schools, particularly in 18th-century Ireland, teaching the rudiments of primary education to children ...

which was run in Coole during the time of the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

by a Mr. Burke. The first official school opened in August 1835 in Cannakill. Croghan Community Centre was the local school until Scoil Bhríde was built. Due to the number of pupils then attending the new school, an extension was built in 2009. It included an assembly hall and other facilities and was officially opened and blessed by

Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, one of the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of Dublin. The episcopal title takes its name from the towns of Kildare and Old Leighlin i ...

, James Moriarty. As of 2014, the school had over 90 pupils enrolled.

Croghan Hill

It is said that it is possible to see up to 9 counties from the summit of nearby

. On 17 March every year,

St Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba ...

's Day, people climb the hill and set fire to the Furzes. The lighting of furzes is an age old tradition and it was believed that if you drove your

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

through the burning furzes it would ward off any diseases. The Croghan Hill Challenge is an adventure race which takes place on the slopes of the hill, and has been used as a fundraiser for charities. Including in 2013, when over €60,000 was raised.

Transport

Croghan is served by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

route number 120, which provides 6 daily buses, Monday to Saturday, 2 buses on a Saturday and 1 bus on a Sunday. It serves the local towns of

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...

and

Edenderry Edenderry (; ) is a town in east County Offaly, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties County Kildare, Kildare, County Meath, Meath and County Westmeath, Westmeath. The Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal runs along ...

and onwards to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. The village is 19 km by road from

References

External links