Edenderry
Éadan Doire
Town
JKL Street in Edenderry is named for James Warren Doyle (a.k.a. James Kildare & Leighlin)
JKL Street in Edenderry is named for James Warren Doyle (a.k.a. James Kildare & Leighlin)
Coat of arms of Edenderry
Coat of arms
Motto: 
Esto Fideles - The Faithful
Edenderry is located in Ireland
Edenderry
Edenderry
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°20′42″N 7°03′04″W / 53.345°N 7.05116°W / 53.345; -7.05116
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Offaly
Elevation
84 m (276 ft)
Population
 (2022)[1]
 • Total7,888
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode
R45
Telephone area code046
Irish Grid ReferenceN633328

Edenderry (/ˌiːdənˈdɛri/; Irish: Éadan Doire, meaning 'hill-brow of the oak wood'[4]) is a town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. The Grand Canal runs along the south of Edenderry, through the Bog of Allen, and there is a short spur to the town centre.

The R401 road from Kinnegad to the north and the R402 from Enfield to the east meet at the northeastern end of the Main Street. At the Grand Canal they split, with the R402 continuing westwards towards Tullamore and the R401 heads south to Rathangan and Kildare Town.[5]

History

Edenderry's first Town Hall
Blundell Castle Ruins

In the 16th century, Edenderry was known as Coolestown, after the family of Cooley or Cowley, who had a castle here. It was defended in 1599 against the Confederates, during the Nine Years' War. This subsequently passed by marriage to the Blundell family and was sacked in 1691 by the army of James II.[6]

The Blundells' land passed subsequently to the Marquess of Downshire who reversed the earlier opposition of the Blundell sisters to the establishment of a branch to the Grand Canal to Edenderry and paid for the £692 cost of the project,[7] which was completed in 1802.

By 1716 there was thriving woollen cloth manufacturing, established by Quakers, which employed around 1,000 people.[8] By 1911 the town had grown to 2,204 people. Other industries included the factory of Daniel Alesbury who made a variety of woodwork as well as the first car manufactured in Ireland, the Alesbury, in 1907.

Demographics

The population of Edenderry doubled in the period between the census of 1996 (when it had a population of 3,825 people)[9] and the 2022 census (which recorded a population of 7,888 people).[1]

Education

There are two secondary schools in the town, St. Mary's Secondary School and Oaklands Community College, as well as five primaries, Gaelscoil Éadan Doire, St. Mary's Primary School, Scoil Bhríde Primary School, Saint Patrick's Primary School and Monasteroris National School.[10]

Local organisations

Organisations and businesses operating in the area include the Offaly Express newspaper, Edenderry Chamber of Commerce [11] and Eden FM Community Radio

Local sports clubs include Edenderry Rugby Club,[12] Edenderry GAA club,[13] Edenderry Town AFC,[14] and Highfield Golf Club.[15]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Census 2022 - F1015 Population". Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. August 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. ↑ http://www.cso.ie/census and www.histpop.org. Post 1971 totals are for Edenderry urban and Edenderry environs. For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see JJ Lee “On the accuracy of the pre-famine Irish censuses” in Irish Population, Economy and Society edited by JM Goldstrom and LA Clarkson (1981) p54, and also “New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850” by Joel Mokyr and Cormac Ó Gráda in The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (November 1984), pp. 473-488.
  3. ↑ "Sapmap Area - Settlements - Edenderry". Census 2016. CSO. 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. ↑ P.W. Joyce (1972). Irish Place Names. EP Publishing.
  5. ↑ S.I. No. 54/2012 — Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012 Irish Statute Book. 2012-02-28.
  6. ↑ Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. 1837.
  7. ↑ Mairead Evans & Therese Abbott. Safe Harbour, Grand Canal at Edenderry. Edenderry Historical Society.
  8. ↑ Michael Murphy (2004). Edenderry, A Leinster Town. Offaly County Council.
  9. ↑ "Demographic context" (PDF). Offaly County Council Development Plan 2009 - 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  10. ↑ "Schools". Edenderry Parish. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Edenderry Chamber of Commerce
  12. ↑ Edenderry Rugby Club
  13. ↑ Edenderry GAA Club
  14. ↑ Edenderry Soccer Club
  15. ↑ Highfield Golf Club
  16. ↑ Reynolds, Dierdre (7 December 2014). "'I just think all performers are a bit weird...me included' - Neil Delamere". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "A robust performer with a Derry air". Irish Times. 16 October 1999. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
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