Timoleague

Timoleague ( _ga. Tigh Molaige) is a village in County Cork, Ireland, located along Ireland's southern coast near Courtmacsherry. Clonakilty is to the west of the village.

History

Timoleague gets its name from its original Irish name "Tigh Molaga", meaning the Home/House of Molaga. St. Molaga was reputed to have brought beekeeping/honey to Ireland. Honey production is still evident in the area.

Places of interest

Timoleague Friary was founded by the franciscan order in 1240. The abbey was built on the site of a monastic settlement founded by Saint Molaga in the 6th century. The villages name comes from the Irish for House of Molaga, Tigh Mologa.The abbey was extended by Donal Glas McCarthy in 1312, and by Irish and Norman patrons in the 16th century. The monks were dispersed by the Reformation, but returned in 1604. In 1612, the abbey was sacked by English soldiers who also smashed all of the stained glass windows, but much of the significant architecture remains. The friars remained in the abbey until 1629.In Abbeymahon, on the road to Courtmacsherry is the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey - Abbeymahon Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1172 by Dermot MacCormac MacCarthy, King of Desmond. The site was originally at Aghamanister and was colonized with a group of monks from Baltinglass. Almost a century lapsed before the monks decided to move to a new site. The monks moved to Abbeymahon in 1278 when Diarmuit MacCarthaig, son of Domnall Cairbreach, was buried in the new monastery. The Church of Ireland church is also noteworthy. The interior is completely decorated in mosaic work carried out and paid for mainly by the then Maharajah of Gwalior of India about 1920 in memory of his doctor, Dr Crofts, who came from Timoleague. The church itself dates from 1811.

Economy

Much of the local industries are based around tourism, agriculture and craft. One of the main employers is [http://www.hatchett.ie Hatchett] Furniture.

Events

The Timoleague Harvest Festival is held every year in August. This attracts well known acts (in 2006 included Mundy, The Walls) as well as events in the village.

port

The local GAA club, Argideen Rangers, have an exceptional record for a village of this size. Achievements include the 2005 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship as well as a number of Junior Football & Hurling County Championships over the past fifteen years. The club has created some great sportsmen including Mark Foley, the hero of the 1990 All-Ireland Hurling championship who scored an unprecedented 2-7 from play against the All-Ireland champions (Tipperary) in the "Donkeys Don't Win Derbies" Munster Final in Thurles. He went on to score 1-1 in the All-Ireland Final against Galway in September of that year and triumphantly brought the Liam McCarthy Cup to the streets of Timoleague a few days later.

Transport

The village was once connected to the West Cork Railway, by a branch onto the Clonakilty railway line, opened by the Ballinascarthy & Timoleague Junction Light Railway in 1890. The Timoleague & Courtmacsherry Extension Light Railway later extended this to Courtmacsherry in 1891 and its pier in 1892. It had three locomotives, "Slaney", "St. Molaga" and "Argadeen". Regular passenger traffic ceased in 1947 with post-war fuel shortages, and the line was closed completely by CIÉ in 1961. Timoleague railway station opened on 20 December 1890, closed for passenger traffic on 24 February 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 April 1961. [cite web | title=Timoleague station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-11-24]

ee also

*List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
*Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland
*List of Harvest Festivals

References