Oldcastle, County Meath

Oldcastle An Seanchaisléan
—  Town  —
Oldcastle Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°46′09″N 7°09′45″W / 53.769167°N 7.1625°W / 53.769167; -7.1625Coordinates: 53°46′09″N 7°09′45″W / 53.769167°N 7.1625°W / 53.769167; -7.1625
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Meath
Elevation	61 m (200 ft)
Population (2006)
– Urban	2,226
– Rural	2,046
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
– Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference	N550803

Oldcastle (Irish: An Seanchaisléan) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. It is located in the north-west of the county near the border with Cavan, approximately 21 km from Kells. The R154 and R195 regional roads cross in the town's market square. As of the 2006 census the town's population stood at 2,226.^[1]

In recent years Oldcastle has grown mainly due to an influx of workers from Eastern Europe to work in the several industries, particularly furniture, bedding and victualling located in the area.

History

The area was the birthplace of St Oliver Plunkett, the last Irish Catholic martyr to die in England.

Oldcastle is the 18th century creation of the Naper family who had received parts of the Plunkett estate following the Cromwellian wars. St. Oliver Plunkett, a 17th century Archbishop of Armagh, who was hung, drawn & quartered in Tyburn, London in 1681 on false charges, was the most famous member of this family.^[2]

It was also the birthplace of Isaac Jackson, son of Anthony Jackson III (who some say was a yeoman son in turn of the Charles II courtier, Sir Anthomy Jackson II, of Killingswold Grove, East Yorkshire, England) of Eccleston, Lancashire, England who died in nearby County Cavan after 1666. Isaac was an early Quaker in Ireland, as was his father. He moved to Ballitore, County Kildare, where he married and raised a large family, mostly all of whom emigrated with their parents to Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA in 1725.

Oldcastle suffered quite badly during the Great Famine and subsequent emigration. Owing to the continuation of a Gaelic way of life in the north of the county, Oldcastle suffered far more than the richer more arable land in the southern part of County Meath. The poorest class lived where Irish culture was strongest and were obliterated by starvation and emigration. Nonetheless, land patterns visible today still reveal a strong attachment to the pastoral farming of Gaelic culture. Politically and culturally the area has a strong tradition of support for radical republicanism, the Gaelic Athletic Association and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann; a local paper published in the town in the early 1900s gave its name to one of the Irish political parties, Sinn Féin.

Fennor Upper and Lower in Oldcastle is said to be^{[citation needed]} named after Queen Maive's daughter, Findabair (Fennor). In Irish Mythology she was sent as an offering to Cúchulainn in his fight against Maive and her army from Connaught. She was killed by Cuchulainn and the area was named after the place where she was murdered and buried.

A monument was erected in 1961 in Oldcastle Square by Meath Brigades Executive, Old IRA Federation, 1916-1921 to the memory of Commandant Seamus Coogan and Commandant Patrick McDonnell who were killed by the British Forces during the war of Independence. The monument in the form of a cross was unveiled by Sean Dowling Chairman of the National Federation of the Old IRA.^[3]

In November 1997 McKevitt^{[citation needed]} and other IRA dissidents held a meeting in a farmhouse in Oldcastle, County Meath, and a new organisation styling itself Óglaigh na hÉireann was formed.^[4] The organisation attracted disaffected Provisional IRA members from the republican stronghold of South Armagh, as well as other areas including Dublin, Belfast, Limerick, Tipperary, County Louth, County Tyrone and County Monaghan.^[5]

Entertainment

Annual vents such as the Oldcastle Show and Le Chelie are some of the highlights of the year. The Oldcastle Show is held every August in the Gilson National Park and Le Cheile is held on the bank holiday weekend in August at various venues around the town. Aslan, The Saw Doctors and Shane McGowan have headlined the festival for a number of years.^[6]

Sport

Oldcastle is a centre for anglers & is ideally located 6.4 km from Lough Ramor (County Cavan), a lake that is noted for its coarse fishing.

Oldcastle is also ideally located 10 km from Lough Sheelin (County Cavan) which is noted for its trout fishing.^[7]

Oldcastle GAA club is 125 years old.^[8]

The town has a wide range of other clubs available for all to join.^[9]

Economy

Oldcastle had a bed-manufacturing industry including firms such as Gleneagle Woodcrafts, Briody Bedding and Respa Bedding which are a major source of employment for the area.

There are the engineering firms located in the parish of Moylagh, County Meath, approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) from the town. These industries have attracted many immigrants to the area for work, mainly from Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, and Poland.

In 2010, a Head shop, since closed, opened up in Oldcastle on the Mountnugent road, across from the Oldcastle House Hotel. Local citizens of Oldcastle protested against the store when it opened.^[10]

Tourism

Oldcastle seen from Loughcrew

Tourism is important to Oldcastle. The town is located a short distance from the Loughcrew Cairns, a major tourist attraction. Built around 3300 BC as passage tombs they predate the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

Local Geography

Oldcastle is located in the foothills of Sliabh na Caillaigh.^[11]

In 2005, an environmental disaster occurred in Oldcastle when a sewage treatment plant overflowed and spilled into the River Inny. 4,000 wild brown trout were killed as a result.^[12]

Education

There is a mixed primary school, Gilson National School, and a secondary school, Iarbhunscoil Oiliféir Naofa (St. Oliver Post Primary). This secondary school has been expanded in recent years, with the opening of a new building in 2002. The secondary school celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009, opening four new classrooms on the date. Noel Dempsey and Bishop Micheal Smith were present. On 3 March 2007 the school won the All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship Senior Cup 'B' Competition in Gaelic football.

Recently a new community library was opened replacing a smaller library in the town and is located next to the local Credit Union.

Architecture

The Gilson National School is said by the local Chamber of Commerce to be the "Gem in the Crown of Oldcastle's architecture"^[13] The Gilson National School's trust & building owes its existence to the generosity of Laurence Gilson, a native of Oldcastle Parish.^{[citation needed]}

The Show Hall in Oldcastle is located near the church. It hosts bingo,^{[disambiguation needed ]} show dances, show bands and Le Chelie concerts annually.

Transport

Heavy traffic in central Oldcastle

Oldcastle railway station, at the end of a branch line from Navan, opened on 17 March 1863 and for many years provided a source of revenue and income for local farmers as well as other industries in the area by allowing local goods and produce to be transported to the main ports of Ireland for export. The station closed for passenger traffic on 14 April 1958 and the branch finally closed altogether on 1 April 1963, during a period when numerous railway lines were being closed.^[14]

Bus Éireann Route 187 services Oldcastle from Monday to Saturday. It provides transport to neighbouring towns and villages of Mountnugent, Ballyjamesduff, Virginia and Kells. There are four journeys both to and from Oldcastle each weekday. Subject to road safety the bus will stop to pick up and set down passengers at any safe point along the route^[15]

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Midlands Gateway

Sister Town

• Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada (April 23, 2009)

References

1. ^ CSO Census 2006
2. ^ Oldcastlechamber.com
3. ^ Freewebs.com
4. ^ Mooney & O'Toole, pp. 38-39.
5. ^ Real Irish Republican Army
6. ^ Lecheile.com
7. ^ Oldcastlechamber.com
8. ^ Oldcastle.meath.gaa.ie
9. ^ Oldcastlechamber.com
10. ^ Meathchronicle.ie
11. ^ Oldcastlechamber.com
12. ^ RTE.ie
13. ^ Oldcastlechamber.com
14. ^ "Oldcastle station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-22. 
15. ^ [1]