- Doneraile
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Doneraile
Dún ar Aill— Town — 
Location in Ireland
DoneraileCoordinates: 51°58′N 9°02′W / 51.967°N 9.033°W Country 
IrelandProvince Munster County County Cork Elevation 269 ft (82 m) Population (2006) - Total 1,387 Time zone WET (UTC+0) - Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1) Irish Grid Reference R596073 Historical populations Year Pop. ±% 1821 2,456 — 1831 2,652 +8.0% 1841 2,722 +2.6% 1851 1,856 −31.8% 1861 1,475 −20.5% 1871 1,314 −10.9% 1881 1,208 −8.1% 1891 833 −31.0% 1901 797 −4.3% 1911 829 +4.0% 1926 809 −2.4% 1936 740 −8.5% 1946 801 +8.2% 1951 775 −3.2% 1956 745 −3.9% 1961 725 −2.7% 1966 710 −2.1% 1971 799 +12.5% 1981 920 +15.1% 1986 846 −8.0% 1991 815 −3.7% 1996 761 −6.6% 2002 800 +5.1% 2006 759 −5.1% [1][2][3][4][5] Doneraile (historically Dunerayl, from Irish: Dún ar Aill)[6] is a town in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is located on the R581 regional road 8 km east of the N20 road which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about 12 km north of Mallow town. It is situated on the River Awbeg, a branch of the Blackwater.
Contents
Origins of the name
The town stands on the northern slope of Knockahur hill, which rises by a gentle slope from the river and gradually ascends to a rocky prominence. However, it was not this rocky prominence but one near the graveyard of Oldcourt which together with an ancient fort built thereon, gave the town its name, Doneraile, i.e. "Dún ar Aill", meaning "the fort on the cliff".[7] The countryside around Doneraile is very scenic and has a wealth of historical associations.
Schools in Doneraile
There are three schools in Doneraile; the Presentation Primary Girls school, Christians Brothers school and the secondary school Nagle Rice. The girls school was established in 1971, and replaced the former Presentation Convent in Doneraile, founded in 1818. The Presentation Convent, with its Primary and Secondary School, survived until the early 1990s. When the Sisters left, the Community Cemetery, containing the remains of over 100 Sisters, was tastefully transferred for greater security to the local Public Cemetery at Oldcourt, Doneraile. The boys school used to be run by the Christian Brothers. Nagle Rice is a mixed school and is named after Nano Nagle and Edmund Rice.
Literary History
Doneraile is famed as the pastorate of the great Irish literary figure Canon P.A. Sheehan, who was parish priest from 1895 until his death in 1913. He was also politically active in the tenant land purchase movement.
Edmund Spenser, the poet, made the district famous in his epic, The Faerie Queene. In 1586 Spenser was given 3,000 acres (12 km2) near Doneraile from the seized lands of the Earl of Desmond, including the castle at Kilcolman. Spenser was driven from his home by Irish rebels during the Nine Years War in 1598. His castle was burned and it is thought one of his infant children died in the blaze - though local legend has it that his wife also died. He was buried in Poets' corner in Westminster Abbey in 1599.
History
The horse race known as the steeplechase originated in 1752 as a result of a race between the church steeples of the town and neighbouring Buttevant town.
There are only a few reported cases of women becoming Freemasons but one exception occurred in 18th century Doneraile. Elizabeth Aldworth (born St. Leger), was reported to have surreptitiously viewed the proceedings of a Lodge meeting held at Doneraile House—the private house of her father, first Viscount Doneraile. Upon discovering the breach of their secrecy, the Lodge resolved to admit and obligate her, and thereafter she proudly appeared in public in Masonic clothing.[8]
Doneraile also has the distinction of being the town in Ireland where the first successful agricultural co-operative and creamery was established in 1889 by Horace Plunkett.
During the early part of May 1853, a countryman ploughing in the neighbourhood turned up a large quantity of silver coins, amounting to more than forty-six ounces in weight, which were purchased by a silversmith in Cork. They consisted of English shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth, with a few groats, threepences and half-groats of the same queen; also a few groats of her predecessors, Mary, and Philip and Mary both having the bust of Mary; English shillings and sixpences of James 1, upon the union with Scotland and exclusively of the rose, thistle, and fleur-de-lis mint marks; with a large number of the quarter-dollars and smaller money of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Nearly all the coins were in the finest state of preservation, and appeared to have been but little used or in circulation.[9]
John B. Keane, the well-known writer spent some years here in the 1950s working as an assistant for the antiques dealer and chemist A.H. Jones and occasionally attending at the petrol pumps outside.[10]
Twinning programme in Doneraile
Doneraile is twinned with Ramapo NY.
See also
References
- ^ "Census for post 1821 figures.". http://www.cso.ie/census.
- ^ http://www.histpop.org
- ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): pp. 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland (see archival records)
- ^ Doneraile by J. Anthony Gaughan, Kamac 1970
- ^ The Hon. Miss St. Leger and Freemasonry Ars Quatuor Coronatorum vol viii (1895) pp. 16-23, 53-6. vol. xviii (1905) pp. 46
- ^ "Doneraile Hoard Article". http://detecting.merseyblogs.co.uk/2006/12/doneraile_count.html.
- ^ Self Portrait by John B Keane, Mercier Press 1964
External links
- Neill O'Donnell's Doneraile page
- A poem by Patrick O'Kelly about Doneraile
- Doneraile Golf Club
- Carker House
- Doneraile memoirs - On the Banks of the Awbeg by Fr David O'Regan
Categories:- Untranslated Irish place names
- Towns and villages in County Cork
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