MULLINGAR

'Mullingar' (''An Muileann gCearr'' in Irish, meaning "the left-handed mill" or "the Wry-Mill") is the administrative centre of County Westmeath, Ireland and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath. Local government affairs are administered for the county from the town and county council buildings.

Contents

Introduction

Commerce

Industry

Transport

Roads

Waterways

Railways

Health Service

Tourism

Notable buildings

Notable citizens

Local Organisations

Music

GAA

Soccer

Rugby

Athletics

Snooker

Golf

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

Swimming

Cycling

Gallery

Notes

References

External links

Introduction

From the year 1542, Henry VIII of England made Westmeath a county, separating Meath from Westmeath, and thus distinguishing the two counties. Mullingar became the administrative centre for County Westmeath.
The town was originally named ''Maelblatha'', and takes it's modern name from a mill noted in the legend of Colman of Mullingar.^[1]
Mullingar now possesses amenities such as libraries, secondary schools, gymnasiums, snooker halls, internet-cafes, an Arts Centre, and railway station. The town had a tradition of cattle-trading up until 2003, when its cattle market was finally closed for development of a mixed commercial and residential scheme called the ''Market Point''.
Mullingar is famous for the neighbouring lakes, Lough Owel and Lough Ennell, which attract many anglers, as well as Lough Derravaragh. Lough Derravaragh is best known for its connection with the Irish legend of the Children of Lir. Having being turned into swans, the four children of King Lir spent three hundred years on Lough Derravaragh before moving to other locations around Ireland. Lough Lene has a reputation for its clear water, historic ringforts, and wind-surfing.

In recent times one of Mullingar's major exports has become the items of pewterware produced by the firm of Mullingar Pewter located near the town. Genesis fine art is also produced locally and sold worldwide - one of its sculpures of the "Pilgrims" dominates the dispensary house at Austin Friars St where once there was an Augustinian Friary.
The current total zoned area within the town and environs is approximately 1,280 hectares, based on the Westmeath County Development Plan 2002-2008. This area therefore, is considerable less than the areas zoned in Athlone and Tullamore.
The town has two newspapers serving the community: The Westmeath Topic and the Westmeath Examiner.^[2]

Mullingar forms part of the Midlands Gateway, along with Athlone and Tullamore.

Commerce

Mullingar's commercial sector has expanded in recent years from just a few shops on the main streets of the town - Oliver Plunkett St., Austin Friars St., and Mount St. - to several major shopping areas. There is an out-of-town retail park at Lakepoint (about a mile from the town center), the 'Harbour Place' shopping center near the town center and a new development at the Green - on the site of the former Avonmore and Pennys units.
The town has a mix of local retailers and chain stores (Tesco, Dunnes Stores, O2, Penneys, Lidl, SuperValu, Boots, Specsavers, Lifestyle Sports, Atlantic Homecare, Mothercare and others). The town also has branches of all the major banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland, Halifax, Ulster Bank, National Irish Bank - and branches of First Active and EBS building societies. The town also has one of the country's largest Credit Unions (St.Colemans Credit Union).
A Farmers' Market is held in Mullingar every Sunday and a further small market is run near Penneys by The Green.

Industry

Columb Barracks is a major military base in the county comprising of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment and the HQ of the 54 Reserve Field Artillery Regiment(Army Reserve)formally the FCA(9 FAR).
Mullingar contains several industrial estates including Lough Sheever Corporate Park and the Lynn Industrial estate. Two of the towns major manufacturing plants - Penn tennis balls and Tarkett [1] - both closed in the early 2000s causing many job losses. However newer industries have absorbed the job losses - including Capmark [2], Oakley [3], P.E.M. Engineering [4], Trend Technologies [5],Taconic International [6], and Mullingar Pewter [7] which are all sizeable operations. The town is also home to a Van Nelle (Ireland) (a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco) tobacco factory which has provided employment for many years and Iralco - an automotive component manufacturer is located near the town. The town recently won a €25m Lidl Warehouse and distribution center which will employ between 100 and 150. A new site for the IDA Business Park has been sited aloung the new N52 bypass. A major addition to the towns telecommunications infrastructure - a broadband network - was completed in 2004 - this is expected to increase the areas attractiveness to large multinational companies. Tesco Ireland had wanted to build a superstore in Lakepoint Retail addition to its current store but the local council because pressure from a selfish councillor turned this down.

The announcement that Marks and Spencer is planning to open a store in the Fairgreen Shopping centre has been a recent boost for the town. The Fairgreen centre had been caught up in a planning battle with the owners of the Harbour Place Shopping Centre who challenged its right to let space to 'high street' retailers rather than 'bulky' retailers, for which the scheme was zoned. This claim however was rejected by the authorities paving the way for a new M&S store. UK fashion retailer 'New Look' is also seeking space in the town. There is however a great need for more retailers in Mullingar which has leaked millions of Euro of spending power from the area to surrounding retail centres such as Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown. The towns high street has witnessed a spate of closures recently, with primarily independent traders suffering, including Kilroys, Texas, The Austin Friar Hotel and Partners Dry Cleaners as shoppers go elsewhere to take advantage of more choice from national and UK stores. Some of these closures are rumoured to relate to land banking by a developer keen to develop a larger scheme on Austin Friar Street. Dunnes Stores has also closed a convenience food store in order to consolidate its business on their larger format department store at Harbour Place, where planning permission is sought to extend their store for them, presumably in preparation for M&S's imminent arrival. Heatons is also rumoured to be closing on the towns main throughfare after over 20 years of successful trading, a suggestion which has been fervently denied by the store, who report excellent trading from the site.

Transport

Roads

Mullingar lies on national primary route N4, the main Dublin - Sligo road, 79 km (49 miles) from the capital. The town is served by a Bus Éireann service to Dublin and Athlone where passengers can catch connecting buses.
The town currently suffers from heavy afternoon traffic partially caused by a lack of off-street parking (however an underground carpark has recently been constructed to help solve this problem). The town is bypassed and a ring road has been completed in a bid to further alleviate traffic. A new road to Athlone is also in the planning stages.

Waterways

In the 19th century the town was served for a time by the Royal Canal - however displaced first by the railway and then the car, it is no longer commercially used for the transport of goods or people.

Railways

The Midland Great Western Railway line to Mullingar from Dublin opened in stages from 1846 to 1848, arriving in Mullingar on 2 October 1848. This was to a temporary station, adjacent to the greyhound stadium. The original mainline ran from Dublin (Broadstone) to Galway via Mullingar and Athlone, the Mullingar to Galway section opening in August 1851. The present station opened with the branch line to Longford on 14 December 1855.
There were two secondary stations in Mullingar, Canal Crossing cattle bank was on the Sligo Line and on the Athlone Line, Newbrook racecourse had its own station. This was unique in that it was a two platformed station with both platforms on the Down Line.

Nowadays, the line northwest to Longford and Sligo is the mainline, Galway is accessed from Heuston Station via Portarlington and the line between Mullingar and Athlone is disused. Mullingar station is served by national rail company Iarnród Éireann's ''Arrow'' commuter services to Dublin and ''InterCity'' trains to/from Sligo. Calls have been made for the line to Athlone via Moate to be reopened to facilitate more services between Galway and Dublin.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland have a secondary base in the town. There is a photo survey of the disused Athlone Mullingar line available by clicking here.

Health Service

Mullingar's hospital services the entire Longford Westmeath area. A large extension was built in the early 1990s to accommodate the ever increasing population. Due to a change in government however investment was halted and the empty shell lay idle until late 2006 when funding was secured to complete the extension.
There are several other hospitals being: St. Mary's Geriatric Hospital, Saint Francis Private Hospital and St. Lomans Psychiatric Hospital which provides Psychiatric services to all of the midlands.

Tourism

Mullingar's main tourist attractions are its lakes - Lough Owel, Lough Lene and Lough Ennell - which are popular among anglers - and Belvedere House and Gardens which is heavily promoted for its beauty. The town has several hotels - the Greville Arms Hotel,Annebrook House Hotel, Bloomfield House Hotel and the 4 star Mullingar Park Hotel which houses a conference centre among others.
The town is also known for it's connections to Irish author James Joyce, who was a frequent visitor to Mullingar during his youth. Joyce's father, John, was a civil servant posted from Dublin to compile an electoral register of Mullingar and the surrounding townlands. He often stayed in the Greville Arms Hotel, where some of the scenes in his celebrated novel, "Ulysses", are set.

Notable buildings

Mullingar's most famous building is the cathedral of Christ the King Mullingar, the cathedral of the Diocese of Meath.The Cathedral was dedicated historically on the day World War II broke out.

Notable citizens

★ Music: Home town of the ska-pop band The Blizzards as well as rock bands The Aftermath, Waiting To Explode, and the well-known singer Joe Dolan.

★ Writers: Home town of Declan Power author of "Siege at Jadotville". Home to J. P. Donleavy, author of "The Ginger Man". Author and Joycean scholar Leo Daly, whose books include, "The Rock Garden", and "James Joyce and the Mullingar Connection".

★ Business: Home town of Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair.

★ Academic: Mullingar is the home town of the President of Dublin City University, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski whose family home is at Knockdrin, just outside the town.

★ Artists: Patrick Graham, one of Ireland's most highly rated artists, was born in Mullingar in 1943.

★ Military: Columb Barracks has housed soldiers decorated for bravery:

★
★ Comdt Adrian Aisnworth,Military Medal for Gallantry 2nd Class(C/O 9 FAR fca)

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★ Captain Thomas Boyle, Distinguished Service Medal 2nd Class

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★ Sergeant John Quirke, Distinguished Service Medal 2nd Class

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★ Corporal William Allen, Distinguished Service Medal 2nd Class, who now lives in Collinstown

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★ Sergeant Patrick Mulcahy, Distinguished Service Medal 3rd Class, posthumous

Local Organisations

Music

The Mullingar Town Band was founded in 1879 by Fr. Polland as a Holy Family Confraternity Band. The local Military Barracks supplied many of the early members who themselves were serving members of the British Regimental bands stationed in Mullingar. Many of the members of these bands settled in the town and joined the band. The Mullingar Confraternity Band remained under the auspices of the Confraternity until the 1940's when it was handed over to a committee who continued under the title of Mullingar Brass and Reed Band. And thus it remained until membership had dwindled to 3 or 4 members in 1957 when the present Director Hubert Magee was asked to take the helm. In 1979 the centenary was celebrated with a membership of 100 - one member for every year of the band's existence.
The band has a dual role of marching band - The Celtic Crusaders - and a concert band which has won some of the top awards in Ireland, Northern Ireland and England. Entirely voluntary, it is maintained financially by membership fees and fundraising. Every four years since 1974 both the Celtic Crusaders and Concert Band attend the International Youth Band Festival in Pumerend, Holland. In 2004 the band completed a successful exchange with the Cardinal Gibbons High School Band, Raleigh, North Carolina and the band travelled to Midsomer Norton, England in July 2006 for the Open European Championships, bringing home four gold medals, including a gold with distinction in the senior concert section for the first time.

GAA

Mullingar parish is served by three gaelic football teams; Mullingar Shamrocks, St. Lomans (both senior clubs) and Shandonagh (intermediate) and The Downs (senior)
St Oliver Plunketts and Cullion are the only hurling teams in Mullingar. The principal GAA ground for Co. Westmeath i.e. Cusack Park is situated in Mullingar.

Soccer

At the moment, Mullingar has two soccer teams, i.e. Mullingar Athletic (who play in a Gainstown) and Mullingar Town (who have their grounds in Dalton Park). A third, set up in 2006, are known as Mullingar Bohemians.

Rugby

Mullingar rugby football club is located in Cullionbeg, and has had a degree of success in the 1990s with two towns cup final appearances. The first team will be captained in the 2007/2008 season by dual star Brian Murphy, following in the footsteps of his brother Ray and father Tom.

Athletics

Mullingar has a rich tradition in athletics with the club Mullingar Harriers producing many international athletes.Bobby Begley was Irish Team Manager when Eamonn Coughlan won the 5,000 meters World Championship in Helsinki.

Snooker

St.Mary's Snooker Club has the proud history of running Ranking Events for Greater Westmeath, namely the Mullingar Open Snooker Championship, The Westmeath Open Snooker Championship, the Midland Open and the St Mary's Open Classic.
The County's most successful player has been Mick Kane who has won 11 Mullingar Open Snooker Champioship titles and 7 times County Westmeath Champion.Ger O'Connor has won 4 Mullingar Open titles and also 7 Westmeath Championships.Richie Toal is the current holder for 2006 of Mullingar Open Snooker Championship.
in the junior snooker championships,stephen hickey has proved to be successful.stephen won the mullingar junior snooker championship in 2005.all that year he proved to be the most successful underage player in westmeath reaching all except one ranking event.stephen also remains westmeath champion and has held his number 1 spot for the last 2 years.other players like kevin boyle and chris vella are among the top guns of the westmeath junior snooker scene. The "John Smith Memorial Cup" is played for each year as a Handicap event and has been in existence since 1963.
The "Peter McNally Memorial Cup" in honour of Peter McNally(Irish International) Edenderry Snooker Club was won by the St Mary's Snooker Club team in 1997 the Team was Mick Kane (capt) Ger O'Connor,Anthony Cleary,Richie Toal,John Norris,Larry Mahedy & Niall Heffernan. Some years later the McNally Tournament became a singles event and Ger O'Connor and Pat Tyrell reached the Final and Richie Toal the Semi Finals.

Golf

Mullingar golf club also has a proud history and hosts every August bank holiday weekend a leading amateur golf competition, i.e. The Mullingar Scratch Cup. This competition has been won by the likes of Des Smyth, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley. The 2006 winner is up and coming golfer from Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy. Mullingar player Gerry Purcell is former An Post Golf Society Irish Champion on two occasions.

Basketball

The Mullingar Monarchs were formed in 2001, training from the CBS gym in the town centre. However the derilect gym was rejected in favour of Rochfortbridge. While the club took 2 years to get off the ground they are now one of the most decorated in the Midland League, securing one trebble and two double titles. The team have also played in the National League Division 1, only one step away from the superleague.

Cricket

The Cricket club is based on the Murray farm in Bunbrosna, overlooking Lough Owel.

Hockey

Mullingar Hockey Club plays its matches at the Loreto secondary school, near the hospital. The mens club is in its 25th year, and has between 40 and 50 members, fielding a First Division Four team, a Second Division Eight team and (from 2007) a Third cup team. In the club there are 3 qualified coaches, with matches (open to the public) played every Saturday.

Swimming

The Mullingar Jets Swimming Club is based in the town swimming pool located in Mullingar Town Park.

Cycling

Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar Cycling club is a predominantly leisure and touring club catering for cyclists of all ages and abilities. The Clubs main activities are short, medium and longer distance cycles on Saturday and Sunday mornings and in the summer months on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

Gallery

Notes

1. From: Betha Colmáin Maic Lúacháin, or, The Life of Colmán son of Lúachan Life of Colman of Lynn alternatively, one may find where the old copy of the original has been all these years in France Bibliothèque de Rennes
2. Audit Bureau of Circulations, Jun 2006 - Jan 2007.

References

★ Famine and Community in Mullingar Poor Law Union, 1845-49, Seamus O'Brien, , , Irish Academic Press, 1999, ISBN 0-7165-2678-6

★ Mullingar: Just for the Record, Matt Nolan, , , Crigean P., 1999, ISBN 0-9537651-0-5

★ Mullingar: Essays on the History of a Midlands Town, Mary Farrell, , , Westmeath County Library, 2002, ISBN 0-9506016-3-2

★ James Joyce and the Mullingar Connection, Leo Daly, , , Dolmen P, 1975, ISBN 0-85105-266-5

External links

★ Mullingar Town Band

★ Mullingar Chamber of Commerce

★ St. Colman (Colman Mac Luachain 6th/7th century)

★ Westmeath County Council (including Census Information.)

★ Corpus of electronic texts

★ Betha Colmáin Maic Lúacháin, or, The Life of Colmán son of Lúachan

★ Bibliothèques de Rennes and ''chercher'' Colman (Recherche par Sujet)

★ STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE MIDLANDS GATEWAY; Census stastics page 27