Kanturk (Irish: Ceann Toirc, meaning "boar's head")[2][3] is a town in the north west of County Cork, Ireland. It is situated at the confluence of the Allua (Allow) and Dallow (Dalua) rivers,[4] which stream further on as tributaries to the River Blackwater. It is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Cork and Limerick, and lies just north of the main N72 road, 15 km (9 miles) from Mallow and about 40 km (25 miles) from Killarney. Kanturk is within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency.

Kanturk
Irish: Ceann Toirc
Town
Kanturk Castle
Kanturk Castle
Kanturk is located in Ireland
Kanturk
Kanturk
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°10′30″N 8°54′0″W / 52.17500°N 8.90000°W / 52.17500; -8.90000
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountyCounty Cork
Population2,803
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

History edit

Located at a crossing point at the confluence of the River Allow and River Dalua, evidence of ancient settlement near Kanturk includes a number of ringfort, holy well and fulacht fiadh sites in the surrounding townlands of Coolacoosane, Curragh, Greenane and Gurteenard.[5] The town's English name, Kanturk, derives from the Irish Ceann Toirc or Ceann Tuirc, meaning head (or headland) of the boar.[2][6]

To the south of the town, in Paal East townland, is Kanturk Castle. Known locally as the Old Court,[7] this fortified house was built c. 1601 for MacDonogh McCarthy as a defence against English settlers during the Plantation of Ireland.[8][9] The building was a limestone rubble Tudor mansion four storeys high, 28 metres in length and 11 metres wide, with four towers of five storeys high and a height of 29 metres. The castle was never fully completed.[10][4] Work stopped c. 1618, reputedly because local English settlers were concerned that the structure was too large and fortified, and could be used as a base to attack them.[11] Accordingly, the Privy Council in England ordered that building works be stopped. After changing hands several times in the intervening centuries, Kanturk Castle is now owned by An Taisce (the National Trust for Ireland),[12] and is a designated National Monument.[10]

As of 2015, there were 32 buildings or structures listed on the Record of Protected Structures for County Cork.[13] These include a number of the town's bridges, which date to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[14][15] The larger religious and administrative buildings in Kanturk date to the early to mid-19th century, including the former market house (1810),[16] court house (1825),[17] Church of Ireland church (1858),[18] and Roman Catholic church (1867).[19]

Economy and amenities edit

The local creamery, North Cork Creameries, was founded in 1928 and produces casein powder and other milk products.[20][21]

 
The "Unity Stone", in Kanturk Unity Park has an inscription and a notice indicating that the park was opened by then President Mary McAleese on 7 July 1998

Kanturk's library offers lending facilities, newspapers, reference books, internet access and also organises cultural events.[22][23]

Kanturk Town Park is a short distance from the town shopping centre. The "Unity Stone" monument is located near the park's entrance. The park has oak, beech, chestnut and ash trees, a children's playground, some cultural exhibits, and a walkway by the banks of the Dalua.[citation needed]

The town's schools include a number of national (primary) schools and two co-educational secondary schools. The secondary schools, Coláiste Treasa and Scoil Mhuire, have enrollments of over 500 and 270 students respectively.[24][25]

Sport edit

Kanturk GAA club has a hurling team and a football team, both men's and women's from underage to Intermediate level. The local pitch is located in Kilroe, just outside the town. Kanturk RFC is a rugby union club which is also located just outside the town, at Knocknacolan. Founded in 1927, the club plays in the All-Ireland League. An eighteen-hole golf course is located on Mill Road, where milling used to take place. The local association football soccer pitch has facilities to accommodate a number of teams. Kanturk also has a cycling club with its own outdoor 250m velodrome, one of only three on the island of Ireland.[26]

Kanturk has a trout fishing club which maintains the rivers that flow through the town. From Newmarket, the Dalua river flows into the Allow (Freemount River) in the centre of the town. A further 2 km (1 mile) south of the town the river Brogeen flows into the Allow. The Allow joins the River Blackwater; known for its salmon fishing, a further 3 km (2 mi) downstream at Leaders Bridge on the N72 Mallow to Killarney road. The Kanturk Trout Anglers Association has been represented on the international stage on several occasions, with past members participating at the World Fly Fishing Championships.[27][28]

Transport edit

By rail, Kanturk is served by the nearby Banteer railway station, which is 6 km (4 mi) from Kanturk. The town's one-time railway station opened on 1 April 1889, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 4 February 1963.[35]

Bus routes serving Kanturk include weekday services to Mallow, one of which continues to Cork. On Saturdays, there is a single bus service to Cork via Mallow. Kanturk is not served by bus on Sundays.

Kanturk is 51 km (32 mi) from Kerry Airport and a little over 60 km (37 mi) from Cork Airport.

People edit

 
Thady Kelleher, International Champion Ploughman from Duhallow, displayed on the approach roadside to Kanturk

People of note from the area include:

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b "Census Mapping – Kanturk". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Ceann Toirc / Kanturk". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Database. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ^ "S.I. No. 395/2012 – Placenames (County Cork) Order 2012". Irish Statute Book. Office of the Attorney General. 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Samuel (1837). "Kanturk". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  5. ^ Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork. Dublin: Government Stationery Office. 2000.
  6. ^ Joyce, Patrick Weston (1869). The origin and history of Irish names of places, Volume 1. Dublin: McGlashan & Gill. p. 429. Kanturk, in Cork, is written by the Four Masters, Ceann-tuirc, the head or hill of the boar
  7. ^ "The Old Court: The Story of Kanturk Castle". Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Learning Zone – Primary School Students – Looking at Places – Kanturk Castle". askaboutireland.ie. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Historic Kanturk – An Overview". kanturk.ie. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b Heritage Castles of County Cork (PDF) (Report). Cork County Council. 2017. pp. 138–139. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  11. ^ "An Abandoned Project". theirishaesthete.com. 7 December 2015. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Our Work – Properties – Kanturk Castle, Co. Cork". antaisce.org. An Taisce – the National Trust for Ireland. 21 August 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Section 3 (Settlements and other locations) Kanturk". Kanturk Electoral Area Local Area Plan, Second Edition, January 2015 (PDF) (Report). Cork County Council. 2015. p. 35. Retrieved 24 June 2022. Throughout the town as a whole, there are also 32 buildings or other structures entered in the Record of Protected Structures
  14. ^ "Kanturk Bridge, William O'Brien Street, Main Street, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Brogeen Bridge, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Kanturk Credit Union, Strand Street, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Court House, Church Street, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Saint Peter's Church, Freemount Road, Egmont Place, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Church of the Immaculate Conception, Church Street, Kanturk, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  20. ^ "It truly is dairy gold for North Cork Creameries". The Corkman. Independent News & Media. 2 November 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  21. ^ "North Cork Creameries reveal details of merger with co-op". The Corkman. Independent News & Media. 10 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Kanturk Library Homepage". Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  23. ^ "Permanent library for Kanturk after three-year delay". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 11 September 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Whole School Evaluation Report – Coláiste Treasa, Kanturk, County Cork" (PDF). education.ie. Department of Education. 8 May 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Whole School Evaluation Report – Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk, Co Cork" (PDF). education.ie. Department of Education. 7 December 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Our 'drome of dreams". The Corkman. Independent News & Media. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020. There are two other tracks in Ireland, one which is in Dublin and which is 440 metres and the other is in Belfast
  27. ^ "Michael hooks a bronze beauty at world c'ships in South Africa". The Corkman. Independent News & Media. 2 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  28. ^ "Kanturk man to join Irish team for World C'ships". The Corkman. Independent News & Media. 16 September 2000. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  29. ^ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area – Settlements – Kanturk". CSO. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  30. ^ "Census for post 1821 figures". Archived from the original on 9 March 2005. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  31. ^ "histpop.org". Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  32. ^ "nisranew.nisra.gov.uk". Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. Volume. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  35. ^ "Kanturk station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  36. ^ "The Doc: Remembering Pat O'Callaghan – Ireland's first Olympic hero". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  37. ^ Jackie Daly kanturkarts.ie[dead link]
  38. ^ Maume, Patrick (2009). "Johnson, Philip Francis". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.004295.v1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  39. ^ Maume, Patrick (2021). "Keating, Sean P." Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.009790.v1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Birthplace of Edel Quinn". kanturk.ie. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  41. ^ Maume, Patrick (2009). "Sheehan, Daniel Desmond ('D. D.')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.008016.v1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  42. ^ Luddy, Maria (2009). "Skeffington, (Johanna) Hanna Sheehy-". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.008106.v1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  43. ^ Lunney, Linde; Cronin, Maurice (2009). "Ó Síocháin (Sheehan), Pádraig Augustine". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006438.v1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

External links edit

52°10′30″N 8°54′0″W / 52.17500°N 8.90000°W / 52.17500; -8.90000