Rhode () 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 on the R400 at its junction with the R441 which leads to Edenderry, 12 km to the east. Rhode village is on an "island" of high ground surrounded by an expanse of raised bog 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, ...

History

The Grand Canal, which was completed in the early 1800s, lies just south of the village, where it is crossed by Rhode Bridge (built c.1797). Several of the village's larger buildings, including Saint Peter's Roman Catholic church (original built 1816), date to the early 19th century. The modern village of Rhode expanded around a peat-burning power plant operated by the

Electricity Supply Board The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company based in Ireland with operations worldwide. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as a commercial semi-state concer ...

which was supplied with milled

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board") is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland co ...

. The plant was shut down in 2003 and its cooling towers were demolished in March 2004, removing a highly visible landmark.

Amenities

The local national (primary) school, ''Scoil Mhuire Naofa'', opened in 1959. As of 2020, the school had over 150 pupils enrolled. The local GAA team, Rhode GAA, has won the most Offaly Senior Football Championship titles of any club in the county. The village has three pubs, two takeaways, two shops, a filling station, several hairdressers and a pharmacy. In the centre of the village is a playground and park.

People

* John Dunne (1846–1916), an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 ...

priest and bishop. * William Fletcher (1750–1823), High Court judge

References

External links

* {{County Offaly Towns and villages in County Offaly