Newmarket, historically known as Aghatrasna (), is a town in the barony of

Duhallow Duhallow () is a barony located in the north-western part of County Cork, Ireland. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of Irish counties and used in the administration of justice and the raisi ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

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 at the junction of the R576 and R578 regional roads. Newmarket is within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency

History

The foundation of the town of Newmarket can be dated to the early 1600s, when King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

granted the lands which had formerly been held by the McAuliffe clan to the Aldworth family, with the right to hold a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

there. The Aldworths remained at Newmarket until the 1920s: their family seat was Newmarket Court. The town was beginning to develop by 1620. Newmarket Train Station opened in 1889 as the line from

Banteer Banteer () is a village in north County Cork, Ireland located in the civil parish of Clonmeen in the historic barony of Duhallow. It is near the town of Mallow. Banteer is within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency. History In 1651, the B ...

to Newmarket was built at 8 3/4 miles long and had only one station at

Kanturk Kanturk () is a town in the north west of County Cork, Ireland. It is situated at the confluence of the Allua (Allow) and Dallow (Dalua) rivers, which stream further on as tributaries to the River Blackwater. It is about from Cork and Limeric ...

. Due to the unprofitability of the line, it closed in February 1963. The station in Newmarket is still intact, and is now used as an office building for a local business.

Amenities and community

The local

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and was built in 1840. The

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

(Anglican) church is on the town's main street and was built circa 1830. There are several national (primary) schools serving the area, including Newmarket Girls National School and Newmarket Boys School. The nearest secondary schools are in

Boherbue Boherbue (post office spelling) or Boherboy (Ordnance Survey spelling) () is a village in north-west County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kilmeen in the Barony of Duhallow, a ...

and

. Glenlara GAA and Newmarket GAA are the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

clubs. Newmarket Celtic FC is a local soccer club.

Twin towns

Newmarket is twinned with: *

Lakeview, Oregon Lakeview is a city in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,418 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lake County. The city bills itself as the "Tallest Town in Oregon" because of its elevation ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

* Mauron in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Notable people

Tony Buckley Tony Buckley (born 8 October 1980) is a former Irish rugby union player who played Prop. He was one of the heaviest men playing professional rugby, weighing in at 21 st 10 lbs or 138 kilograms (305 lbs). He wore size 16 boots which ha ...

(b.1980), Irish international rugby player *

Jerry Cronin Jeremiah Cronin (14 September 1925 – 19 October 1990) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1970 to 1973 and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries from 1969 to 1970. He served as a Teac ...

(b.1957), former Cork hurler who played with Newmarket GAA club * Danny Culloty (b.1964), former Cork footballer *

John Philpot Curran John Philpot Curran (24 July 1750 – 14 October 1817) was an Irish orator, politician, and lawyer celebrated for his defence of civil and political liberty. He first won popular acclaim in 1780, as the only lawyer in his circuit willing to repr ...

(1750–1817), the Irish orator and lawyer, was born in 1750 in Newmarket. He is credited as being the originator of the saying "The cost of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance". *

Sarah Curran Sarah Curran (1782 – 5 May 1808) was the youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran, an Irish barrister celebrated for his defence of United Irishmen, and his wife Sarah Curran (née Creagh). She was the great love of the Irish patriot Robert E ...

(1782–1808), daughter of the above, was the love of Irish rebel leader

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...

. After her death in 1808, she was buried in Newmarket. *

Seán Moylan Seán Moylan (19 November 1889 – 16 November 1957) was a senior officer of the Irish Republican Army and later a Fianna Fáil politician. He served as Minister for Agriculture from May 1957 to November 1957, Minister for Education from 1951 ...

(1889–1957), Irish Republican Army commandant and later Minister for Agriculture, lived in Newmarket * Edward Worth (c.1620–1669),

Bishop of Killaloe The Bishop of Killaloe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Killaloe in County Clare, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bis ...

, was born in Newmarket about 1620, son of the local (and probably the first)

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Newmarket, James Worth. *

Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore, PC (Ire) KC (28 May 1736 – 19 August 1805), was an Irish judge and politician, who gave his name to Yelverton's Act 1782, which effectively repealed Poynings' Law and thus restored the independence of ...

(1736–1805), politician and judge, born and raised near Newmarket.

References

External links