Edenderry, County Offaly

Infobox Irish Place
name = Edenderry
gaeilge = Eadán Doire
crest

motto = Esto Fideles - The Faithful
map

pin coords = left: 120px; top: 25px
north coord = 53.2667
west coord = 7.5000
irish grid = N335248
area =
elevation = 83 m
province = Leinster
county = Offaly
town pop = 5,403
rural pop = 702
census yr = 2006
web = www.eio.ie
|

Edenderry (Irish place name|Eadán Doire|the hill-brow of the oak wood [cite book|author=P.W. Joyce|title=Irish Place Names|publisher=EP Publishing|date=1972] ) is a town in the north of County Offaly, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. The Grand Canal passes immediately south of the town 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 join at the northeastern end of the Main St. At the Grand Canal they separate, with the R402 continuing westwards towards Tullamore and the R401 heads south to Rathdangan and Kildare Town.

Edenderry is close to the peat-burning Edenderry Power Station [ [http://www.edenderrypower.ie Edenderry Power] ] - the first Independent Power Producer (I.P.P) in Ireland, situated in Clonbullogue a few miles to the south.

History

In the 16th century, it had the name of Coolestown, after the family of Cooley or Cowley, who had a castle here, defended in 1599 against the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion. This subsequently passed by marriage to the Blundell family and was sacked in 1691 by the army of James II [cite book|title=Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland|date=1837] .

The Blundell's 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 the project [cite book|title=Safe Harbour, Grand Canal at Edenderry|author=Mairead Evans & Therese Abbott|publisher=Edenderry Historical Society] , which was completed in 1802.

By 1716 there was thriving woollen cloth manufacturing, established by Quakers, which employed around 1,000 people [cite book|title=Edenderry, A Leinster Town|author=Michael Murphy|date=2004|publisher=Offaly County Council] . 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 (and its environs) has risen by 53.9% from 1996 to 2006 [cite web | title=Demographic context | work=Offaly County Council Development Plan 2009 - 2015 | url=http://www.offaly.ie/NR/rdonlyres/A4AD027E-87E4-4353-917B-47C75D92768F/1095/Chapter2ContextandChallenges_FEB08.pdf | accessdate=2008-06-28] :
*1996 ... 3,825
*2002 ... 4,559
*2006 ... 5,888

People

Neil Delamere, comedian.

ee also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland.
*Market Houses in Ireland

References

External links

* [http://www.eio.ie Edenderry Information Office]
* [http://www.offalyexpress.ie The Offaly Express Newspaper]