Ballymore Eustace
Template:Infobox Place Ireland Ballymore Eustace (An Baile Mór in Irish) is a small town now situated in County Kildare in Ireland, although until 1836 it lay within a "pocket" of County Dublin. It lies close to the border with County Wicklow.
The town's name, which is frequently shortened to "Ballymore" in everyday usage, derives from the Irish An Baile Mór ("the big town") with the addition – to distinguish it from several other Ballymores in Ireland – of the family name (Fitz)Eustace. A fuller version of the town's official name in Irish is Baile Mór na nIústasach ("big town of the Eustaces").
Location and access
Ballymore Eustace is located at the junction of the R411 and R413 regional roads, on the River Liffey, over which the R411 is carried by a relatively rare seven-arch bridge. It had a population of 786 at the 2002 census. The town is served by Dublin Bus, with route number 65, seven times daily, at irregular intervals.
History
Ballymore Eustace in the 13th century - at the time simply known as Ballymore - was the site of a castle, which in 1244 was granted an eight day fair to be held on site by Henry III. The upkeep of the castle was given to Thomas Fitzoliver FitzEustace as constable in 1373, whose family name came to be associated with the town, lending it its present name. No trace of the castle exists today, but the importance of Ballymore is emphasized by the fact that Parliament was held there in 1389. It was a border town of "the Pale", giving it strategic importance in the area, but also leading to its raiding by local families.
The first reference to a church is in 1192, but the existence of two High Crosses in St. John's Graveyard indicates pre-Norman church site.
The town and surrounding lands formed for centuries one of three detached portions of the barony of Uppercross, County Dublin. These lands, originally part of Dublin because they belonged to religious foundations there, were among the last such exclaves in Ireland, being merged into Kildare only in 1836.
The town was the scene of one of the first clashes of the 1798 rebellion when the British garrison were attacked by United Irish rebels on 23 May but managed to defeat the attack in the Battle of Ballymore-Eustace. In the 19th century, the town's largest source of employment was a cotton mill (owned by the Gallagher family), the ruins of which still stand by the river at a spot known as the "pike hole". This mill employed in the region of 700 people and a row of single-storey houses were built nearby to accommodate a number of their families - this terrace today known as "Weaver's row", running alongside and down the hill from the Catholic church.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1821 | 760 | — |
| 1831 | 841 | +10.7% |
| 1841 | 936 | +11.3% |
| 1851 | 673 | −28.1% |
| 1861 | 674 | +0.1% |
| 1871 | 719 | +6.7% |
| 1881 | 629 | −12.5% |
| 1891 | 616 | −2.1% |
| 1901 | 511 | −17.0% |
| 1911 | 447 | −12.5% |
| 1926 | 349 | −21.9% |
| 1936 | 338 | −3.2% |
| 1946 | 329 | −2.7% |
| 1951 | 340 | +3.3% |
| 1956 | 381 | +12.1% |
| 1961 | 348 | −8.7% |
| 1966 | 405 | +16.4% |
| 1971 | 433 | +6.9% |
| 1981 | 545 | +25.9% |
| 1986 | 575 | +5.5% |
| 1991 | 625 | +8.7% |
| 1996 | 719 | +15.0% |
| 2002 | 786 | +9.3% |
| 2006 | 725 | −7.8% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Surroundings
Near the town are the Blessington Lakes which were created artificially in the 1940s by the damming of the river Liffey at Poulaphouca (or the "Devil's hole") which was done to generate electricity by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), and also to create a reservoir for the supply of water for the city of Dublin. The water is treated at a major treatment plant, the Water Treatment Works at Ballymore Eustace run by Dublin City Council.
Activities such as fishing, sailing, canoeing, water skiing and windsurfing are regularly seen on Blessington Lakes and on the Golden Falls lake downstream from Poulaphouca Dam. Also nearby is Russborough House, a fine example of Palladian architecture, which houses the Beit art collection, much of which was donated to the state by Sir Alfred Lane Beit, including works by Goya, Vermeer and Rubens.
It has also been a place of interest for the film industry. The 1959 film Shake Hands With the Devil was filmed in and around the town. Some of the battle scenes in Mel Gibson's (1995) film, Braveheart, were filmed around Ballymore Eustace. The recent film King Arthur was also mostly shot in the village. This resulted in a 1 km long mock-up of Hadrian's Wall being constructed in a field outside of the village during 2003. This was disassembled and the field was returned to its original state.
Sport
Ballymore has a proud handball tradition with more than a dozen All Ireland medalists, including Greg Lawler in the 1960s and Tommy O'Rourke in the 1980s, having come from the town [6]. In recent years the local club has been at the heart of moves to reinvigorate the hardball game. On one side of the town, towards Naas, in the parish of Eadestown, is the Punchestown Racecourse, the site of a well-known horse-racing festival, which takes place over three days every April. Ballymore Eustace is surrounded by well-known stud-farms where many renowned racing horses have been bred down through the years. Punchestown Racecourse is also used for major outdoor music festivals and exhibitions.
Ballymore Eustace footballers have had some memorable and inspirational teams and accomplishments since the clubs formation. They are the only team to win a junior, intermediate and senior championship over three consecutive years. This great team led by Conor Murphy was the envy of the county in the 60s.[citation needed] In recent years a new breed of skilful and well built Ballymore players have joined the ranks of the team. Ballymore lost an intermediate championship in 2006 and have been challenging strongly for the honour since then. The back bone of the team lies in the strength and muscular prowess of the like of Tadgh Grace and Mark "Mack" McCarville. This bolstered by the speed, agility & finese of favoutrites such as William O Donoghue (also see famous Ballymore marriages - Gillian O Dwyer) and Pat Browne. Also the emergence of the clubs very own "Spice Boys" has helped improve the clubs fortunes;The so-called Spice Boys given the title for their ability to be big headed and over confident in their appearance and overall manner without actually doing anything. These include Shane 'Vinny/James' Kavanagh a wing forward with a knack of being incredibly lazy, Steven Dwyer another wing forward who loves shouting profanities after missing easy chances. Along with Brian 'Buckles' Moore, the imposing half back with a gift of not defending and the finesse of Paul Darby who talks the opposition into submission it is easy to see why the future of the club is safe.
Ballymore's captain, John Doyle, who is a great reader of the game seemingly has a knack of seeing everything around him clearly. He inspires those around him from centre back and has no doubt of his teams ability at the moment. When John was recently asked where he seen Ballymore finish the season he replied "I can barely see the ball coming never mind where well be come end of championsip".[citation needed]
The Ballymore outfit is very much a family affair - the brownes of boleybeg, the gormans of the gorman potholed lane, long johnnys lads of the golf course- long conor, long johnny junior & tadhg grace. Not to forget the famous Kavanagh brothers, Eoin and Ronan.
However this Ballymore Eustace team can also lay claim to having spread its wings further afield than the parish boundaries, with two of its brightest up and coming stars Keith 'Straight Edge' Conway and Gareth 'Gazzatron' Clarke now living in Kerry but still happy to pull the Green and Gold of Baile Mor. Ironically both players are often likened to two Kerry legends; Keith is very much in the Paul Galvin mould as he tends to get involved in off the ball incidents, has a strong dislike for referees and both men shop in Topman and similarly Gareth is known as Gooch due to his uncanny ability to score big game goals and of course his massive ears.
The backbone of the Ballymore team, (since the recent retirement "again" of the previous fullback) is shouldered by one Colin Clarke. His ability to put forwards off their game can be put down to numerous things: tight marking, red hair, muscular physique, red hair, freckles & incredible speed. He has his fans on the line but quite a few people disagree with the manner of his play and often refer to it as "showboating". His unsportsmanlike behaviour was taken to a new level against Straffan recently when in the dying minutes he disregarded all respect that should be shown in Gaelic football by proceeding to clear a high ball into the square using his face. The home fans were not happy and Colin infuriated them even more by saying "OOOOOWWWW" very loud. Friend or foe, one thing is noted by all when referring to the Neil Lennon lookalike, which is his incredibly giving nature. He is locally known as the man with the money and he is not afraid to spend it. On a recent team trip to Galway, Colin lived up to this title by throwing the money around all weekend. At his last count he had spent 36 euro and 44 cent, including 1.20 on chewing gum (which he noted costs 80 cent in Bray) and 6.70 on a 6-pack of tuna from lidl to make sandwiches while the lads "threw their money away in Supermacs" Colin disagreed with the theory that it was either tasty or tempting food.
Speaking of generous and charitable players involved in the Ballymore outfit, there is none moreso than the aforementioned Tiger Grace/Murphy. At a recent charity auction he forked out over 200 euro on a Kildare championship jersey which he knew had obviously only been worn in the league. This jersey was special however in the fact that the entire Kildare league team had signed it. On a recent outing to Croke Park Tadgh made his fiance Joanna swap seats with him so that he could get these scribbles into the photo. Tadghs feels he owes people this generosity after the care he was shown in his early years. Tadgh had a near-death experience in his youth when an intern in the coombe hospital mistook Tadgh for his own ambilical chord and nearly cut his head off.
Players plying their trade abroad
Indeed Ballymore Eustace GAA can be proud to say the club is as popular abroad as it is within the Republic. Current players to have emigrated in recent years include goalkeeper supreme Daragh Meade, Colm O'Driscoll who had made a comeback under the Tutilage of Jarlath Gilroy, but unfortunately this aspiring landscape artist was informed that GAA players are not paid and consequently emigrated. Without a doubt Ballymore has been hit hard by the recession with our biggest loss coming in the form of young Timmy Gorman. Timmy currently living in Australia was many things to the club, a hard trainer, a man with a squeaky voice, a ball playing corner back but most of all the club misses his ability to moan, jog and check himself out at the same time. On a brighter note the club have received a massive boost in recent times with the homecoming of Tomas 'wing mirrors' O' Rourke. Tomas is as strong as an ox and his ball winning, hard hitting nature have made him massive hit and a firm fans favorite (especially with his DADDY Tom O' Rourke Snr, please see Handball Greats). Ballymore are also hoping to have the great Vincent Gilroy home soon and his ability to strike a dead ball from his own 14 yard line will obviously aid Ballymore Eustaces chances (Please see Guinness Book of World Records, tallest man/ biggest kick categories).
On a lighter note the club would like to wish William O' Donoghue all the best on his two week holiday in Corfu. The rest of the players are delighted for William and are more than happy to fight tooth and nail to avoid relegation whilst William relaxs and has a few well earned drinks. In this regard, the club are refusing to comment on recent stories within the Ballymore Bugle that William got his rich Uncles paid for his holiday. William has been dogged with reports that he is spoilt by his large extended family during the Celtic Tiger days. He refutes these claims and believes he worked very hard for the Volkswagen Polo he received for Christmas one year and the jeep he received because it was a Wednesday. Also present is Ballymore Eustace GAA.
See also
References
- ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
- ^ 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. (eds.). 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. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ http://ballymore.blogspot.com/2009/06/ballymore-eustace-proud-handball-record.html