Tower (),

Ordnance Survey Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ) was the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It was the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the Ordnance Survey of ...

name Model Village, is a village within the administrative area of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in Ireland. It is located to the northwest of the city, approximately 3 km from the town of

Blarney Blarney () is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork City in Ireland. It is located approximately north-west of the city centre. It is the site of Blarney Castle, home of the legendary Blarney Stone. Blarney is part of the D� ...

on the R617 road. Together with Blarney, Tower is a satellite or

dormitory 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 ...

of Cork city. Tower is part of the Dáil constituency of

Cork North-Central "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. As of the

2022 census of Ireland The 2022 census of Ireland was held on Sunday, 3 April 2022. It was organised by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and reported a total population of 5,149,139, or an 8.1% increase since the prior 2016 census. It is the highest population rec ...

, the village had a population of 3,300.

History

The 1845 Ordnance Survey map shows a hamlet called Tower Village at the junction of the

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 ...

s of Coolflugh, Kilnamucky, and Cloghphilip in the

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 Matehy. By 1902, the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway (CMLR) branch line to Blarney had a station at Tower Bridge. This prompted development of a

model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...

by O'Mahony Builders along what is now the Model Village Road. There was further growth in the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

era, with the population growing by 216% (from 1,402 to 3,032 people) between the censuses of 1991 and 2002. It grew more slowly thereafter, reaching 3,306 in 2011. Originally located within the administrative area of

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

, as part of the

2019 Cork boundary change The boundary between Cork city and County Cork, under the local jurisdiction of Cork City Council and Cork County Council respectively, was changed in mid 2019 when the Local Government Act 2018 came into force after the 2019 local elections, w ...

, Tower (together with other "satellite towns" like Blarney and Glanmire) was brought within the administrative area of

Cork City Council Cork City Council () is the local authority of the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Before 1 January 2002, the council was known as Cork Corporation. The council is responsible for ho ...

in mid-2019. A health treatment facility, "St Ann's Hydropathic Establishment", was founded in the area in the 1840s. It was served by St. Anne's railway station on the CMLR, and described as having extensive grounds with "facilities for tennis, billiards, golf and fishing". It is "now in ruins".

Features

Tower is in the Roman Catholic parish of

Inniscarra Inniscarra () is a civil parish in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Muskerry East, County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located about 15km west of Cork (city), Cork city. The local GAA club is Inniscarra GAA and Dripsey GAA. Innisca ...

. There are two pubs in the village (The Huntsman and Aunties Bar), and a SuperValu store.

References

Towns and villages in County Cork Model villages Geography of Cork (city) {{cork-geo-stub

History

Features

See also

References