MAYNOOTH

'Maynooth' (''Maigh Nuad'' in Irish) is a town located in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is located on the R148 road between Leixlip and Kilcock, with the M4 motorway bypassing the town. Other roads connect the town to Celbridge, Clane, and Dunboyne. The ancient name of Maynooth means the plain of Nuada. Nuada is referred to as the maternal grandfather of the legendary Fionn mac Cumhail in the Annals of the Four Masters.
Two third-level educational institutions -- St. Patrick's College, Maynooth founded by King George III in 1795 and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth founded in 1997 -- are located in the town. NUI Maynooth is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city.
The population of 10,715 (2006 Census^[1]) makes it the fifth largest town in Kildare and the 35th largest in the Republic of Ireland. A difficulty in measurement is due to the fact that much of the town's population is transient - students at NUI Maynooth or temporary employees at the nearby Intel and Hewlett Packard facilities (both located in Leixlip).

Contents

History

Economy & amenities

The history of Maynooth Town Football Club

See also

External links

History

The town is a major historical centre, with Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The castle was taken by force in 1535, after the rebellion of the Earl. The town is just inside the western edge of The Pale.
The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-Gothic revival style. The new range of buildings was erected by A.W.N. Pugin in 1850 under a commission from then college president Laurence F. Renehan, while the highly important College Chapel was designed and completed by J.J. McCarthy during the presidency of Dr. Robert Browne in 1894.
In the 1920s, the town was the unofficial home to the King's representative in Ireland, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, who declined to take up official residence in the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, and whose family operated a hardware store in the town until 2005, the only store with an Irish language name in the town for many years.
The famed ''Connolly's Folly'' is also near the town, although it is arguably in Celbridge, as it is much closer to it, but is covered by Maynooth's very large town boundaries.

Economy & amenities

The town is the main retail and other service centre for North Kildare and South Meath, with branches of SuperValu, Tesco Ireland, Aldi and Lidl, as well as a wide variety of non-chain stores. In October 2005, Dunnes Stores opened a major shopping centre off the town's main street, Manor Mills. This centre contains a number of other high street names, such as Easons, Elvery's Sports and a Halifax branch. Both Tesco and Dunnes Stores are open 24 hours. On 18 January 2007 Tesco Ireland announced plans to demolish its existing store in Maynooth (the same store having been demolished and rebuilt only seven years previously) and build a larger shopping centre, anchored by a Tesco Extra store, on the same site [1]. The new centre will be known as Carton Park, after nearby Carton House.
The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann Western Commuter, as well as a being served by the Sligo InterCity service. Dublin Bus services also serve the town.
It contains a fire station, in addition to the area's Garda station, a health centre, a branch library and a Credit Union. In the mid-1980s the town gained some minor fame for having the first callcard phones in Ireland.
Maynooth is home to the prominent Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation, Moyglare Stud Farm.

The history of Maynooth Town Football Club

Soccer has a long tradition in Maynooth. It was played in the Harbour Field and in 1969 there were two clubs in the area, Maynooth St. Mary's and Ballygoran United. These amalgamated in 1972 when the present club was born. The 1970s were a particularly successful era. The club contested the Sheeran Cup Final and were very successful in the Leinster Junior League. In 1976 they won the Cruise Cup. Many of the players on that team also played for the Maynooth GAA team that won the Jack Higgins Cup.
Another high point in the club's history was when they played Sligo Rovers shortly after they won the FAI Cup. Many fine players have turned out for the club including David Cowhey who played for UCD and Bohemians and his brother Pat who played for UCD. Liam Devine played for Shelbourne and Dundalk whilst Mark Shaw starred both in League of Ireland and county football teams. Colm Boyce, a tough midfield player also deserves a mention.
In 1995 the first Maynooth side was entered into the underage 7-a-side game and the game began to grow in tandem with the town. In the 2002/3 season the club supports 16 teams 13 of which are competing at schoolboy level. The 1999/00 season was the most successful ever for Maynooth, winning trophies at all levels. The ladies started the ball rolling winning Premier B in the Dublin Women's League. Star player Emma Kilduff also got the call-up the Irish squad having made her mark at under-18 level. Emma also earned a 4-year soccer scholarship to Troy State University in Alabama USA.
Not to be outdone by the ladies the men's senior team took the honours in the Major Division of the Leinster Football League and also lifted the Leinster Champion's Cup. Following those successes Shamrock Rovers snapped up first team keeper Paul Flood. The schoolboy sides also had their share of success in the 1999/00 season with the under 12A side completing a league and cup double and under 12C also being crowned league champions.
The year 2001 was a major milestone in the club's history having secured a long-term lease on a 10-acre site that will become the home of soccer in the town of Maynooth. Work began in July 2002 on the new site to install drainage and car parking. A plan was drawn up to develop the ground to the best possible standards. A €127,000 grant from the National Lottery and a grant of €20,000 from Kildare County Council assisted with this development. The Club also raise €50,000 locally to realize this first phase of a three-phase development. The first phase of the development completed in September 2003 provided the club with 3 full size playing pitches, a 7-side pitch for the small sided game and includes drainage and car parking. A good foundation to build into the future.
Early 2004 seen the completion of Phase I and the start of the planning stage of Phase II of the development. The Phase II plan consists of changing rooms, storage room, showers & toilets, referee's changing rooms & a community room. The completion of Phase II would be highly dependent on the availability of funding both nationally and locally.
The 2004/5 season seen the club join the ranks of the Leinster Senior League with 2 senior teams entered. The Sunday side competed in the Premier Division while the Saturday side competed in division 2. The schoolboy continued to build on their previous success on the field with Under 9's winning their league & Shield and Under 12's winning the Kevin Moran Cup and finishing runners up in the league & David Costello Cup. There was also league runners up spots for Under 8's & Under 10's
In July 2005 the club applied for planning permission to build a new clubhouse on our ground in the Rathcoffey with an estimated cost of €500,000. Planning permission was granted in November 2005 and a project team put in place to plan for the project.
The 2005/6 season seen the club's continued growth on the field with a record 20 teams (2 Senior & 18 Schoolboy/girl) entered to compete.
The season 2005/6 was the clubs most successful season ever. 10 of the 20 teams competing gained honours in various competitions through the age ranges. Off the field the club were granted 250,000 euro from the 'Lotto' to assist the clubhouse development project.
The club seen further growth in 2006/7 with 25 teams (a 25% increase) entered at all age groups with teams entered in the under 7's training league for the first time and 3 teams entered at senior level in the Leinster Senior League.
http://www.maynoothtownfc.com

See also

★ List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

External links

★ Maynooth (County Council site)

★ Maynooth Town Portal (Maynooth Town Portal) news & forums

★ Maynooth Toastmasters

★ Architecture of Maynooth

★ Bond Bridge photographs pre-demolition

★ News article about Bond Bridge

★ Map of Maynooth

★ Maynooth Town Football Club