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Castlerea

Coordinates: 53°46′00″N 8°30′00″W / 53.7667°N 8.5°W / 53.7667; -8.5
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For other uses, see Castlereagh (disambiguation).

Castlerea
An Caisleán Riabhach
Town
Main Street, Castelrea
Main Street, Castelrea
Castlerea is located in Ireland
Castlerea
Castlerea
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°46′00″N 8°30′00″W / 53.7667°N 8.5°W / 53.7667; -8.5
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyRoscommon
Elevation
82 m (269 ft)
Population
 (2022)[1]
2,348
Eircode routing key
F45
Telephone area code+353(0)94
Irish Grid ReferenceM670797

Castlerea (/ˌkæsəlˈriː/ KASS-əl-REE; Irish: An Caisleán Riabhach, meaning 'brindled castle') is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 2,348 at the 2022 census.[1] Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled castle' (Caisleán Riabhach). An alternative translation is 'castle of the king' (Caisleán Rí). The town is built on the banks of the River Suck and the River Francis, both of which are tributaries of the River Shannon.

History

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Clonalis House

Clonalis House, located in the west of Castlerea, is the ancestral home of the Clan O'Conor, the last of the High Kings of Ireland. The O'Connor dynasty produced eleven high kings of Ireland and twenty-four kings of Connacht.

Theophilus Sandford, a member of Oliver Cromwell's army in Ireland, received a large allocation of lands confiscated from the O'Connor family as part of the Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652. This package included Castlerea.[2] Castlerea developed under the Sandfords, who established a distillery (at its height producing more than 91,000 litres or 20,000 imperial gallons of whiskey annually), a brewery, and a tannery. Sandford's descendants continued in power through the 19th century. The estate was later acquired by the Land Commission and the Congested Districts Board. The demesne in which it was set survives and is now enjoyed as a public park.

On 11 July 1921, Sergeant James King of the Royal Irish Constabulary was shot in Castlerea on St Patrick Street and died of his wounds shortly afterwards. The Truce of July 1921 was declared later that day, making Sergeant King the last casualty of the Irish War of Independence.[3]

On 17 June 2020, Detective Garda Colm Horkan was shot dead by a 43-year-old man in Castlerea when his firearm was snatched from him who then fired fifteen rounds at him.[4] Horkan became the 89th garda to be killed in the line of duty.[5]

Sport

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St. Kevin's GAA club

The local association football (soccer) club is Castlerea Celtic, and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club is St Kevin's. Castlerea Cavaliers is a basketball club with ladies and men teams.[citation needed]

The Castlerea Enterprise Hub located in the town business park is also home to the town's gym and to Castlerea Boxing Club. Castlerea is home to the boxers Aoife O'Rourke and Lisa O'Rourke, who have collectively won a number of World and European titles.[6]

Amenities

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Sign for the Suck Valley Way. Castlerea serves as the trailhead for the walk

Amenities in the town include Castlerea golf club, established in 1905 and moved to its current location in 1907. It is a 9-hole course. There is an outdoor swimming pool, a playground, a public library, a soccer pitch and a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) pitch at O'Rourke Park. The GAA club also owns a squash court and a handball court in the town. The Neighbourhood Youth Project (NYP) is a social venue for teenagers in the town. St Patrick's Church (built in 1896) is the Catholic church of the town.[citation needed]

The demesne is a large public park accessible off Main Street and home to some trees planted by notable figures, including former US ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.[citation needed] The town serves as the trailhead for the Suck Valley Way, with the 105-kilometre long trail beginning and ending in the town. Castlerea also serves as the trailhead for the Lung Lough Gara Way. Also, the Beara-Breifne Way also passes through the town.

Education

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The schools in the town are all located in the same area; they include two primary schools (St Anne's Convent National School and St Paul's Boys National School), St Michael's Special Needs School (which serves all ages), and Castlerea Community School (for second-level students). Castlerea Community School instructs approximately 500 students. It provides Leaving Certificate Applied classes as well as the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate state examinations.[7]

Transport

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Castlerea Railway Station

The main road through the town is the national secondary road N60, from Roscommon town onward to County Mayo. Other roads include the R361 to Boyle and the R377 to Castleplunket.

The Castlerea railway station opened on 15 November 1860.[8] The railway station resides on the Westport-Dublin main line and connects to Dublin Heuston, Ballina and Westport.

People

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[edit]
  • Castlerea Demesne
    Castlerea Demesne
  • Castlerea Train Station bilingual sign
    Castlerea Train Station bilingual sign
  • Plaque at Hells Kitchen Bar and Restaurant
    Plaque at Hells Kitchen Bar and Restaurant
  • Plaque in honour of John F. Cryan in Castlerea
    Plaque in honour of John F. Cryan in Castlerea

Twinning

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Castlerea is twinned with:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Castlerea". visual.cso.ie. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Captain Theophilus Sandford". sandfordfamily.org.uk.
  3. ^ Chronology of Irish History 1919 – 1923 Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Dublin City University
  4. ^ Brady, Tom; Murray, Eavan (19 June 2020). "Suspect fired 15 shots, hitting Det Garda Colm Horkan at least five times, before bullets ran out". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Garda Colm Horkan is 89th member of force killed in line of duty". The Irish Times. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  6. ^ "O'Rourke sisters make boxing history". iaba.ie. 14 March 2025.
  7. ^ "Programmes – Castlerea Community School".
  8. ^ "Castlerea station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  9. ^ Barrett, Tom (5 February 2019). "Remembrance of Things Past: A Tribute to John F. Cryan 1929-2005". Insider NJ.
  10. ^ "Bishop Thomas Anthony Finnegan [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
  11. ^ "From Ming the Merciless to Ming the Mayor". The Irish Times. 26 June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  12. ^ Loughran, Neil (28 March 2020). "'It's probably a bit like the Jamaican bobsleigh team... maybe they'll make a Cool Runnings of Irish sumo film one day'". The Irish News. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  13. ^ Irish stars make it big in Britain[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Longford House, Longford, Castlerea, Roscommon". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Aoife O'Rourke". Olympic Federation of Ireland. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Hundreds gather in Castlerea to welcome home the O'Rourke sisters". Roscommon Herald. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  17. ^ "The Rochford files". mayonews.ie. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Stephen Rochford [..] turned 37 last Friday and is Branch Manager of AIB in Castlerea. He lives in Ballinrobe
  18. ^ "Biography". johnwaters.ie. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018.
  19. ^ Webb, Arthur (1878). "Sir William Robert Wills Wilde". A Compendium of Irish Biography. Retrieved 31 October 2014 – via Library Ireland.
  20. ^ Garnett, Richard (1900). "Young, Matthew". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 63. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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