Strokestown
Encyclopedia
Strokestown, historically called Bellanamullia and Bellanamully , is a town in County Roscommon
, Ireland
. It is located at the junction of the N5 National primary route
and the R368 regional road
in the north of the county.
Notable features include the second widest street in Ireland, widest being upper O'Connell street, and the Strokestown Park House, an 18th-century mansion with the longest herbaceous border in Ireland. (see Main Street and entrance to Park House in photo)
Strokestown was the site of the estate of the Anglo-Irish Mahon family from about 1671 until 1982. On 2 November 1847 the patriarch of the family and landlord of the surrounding estate, Major Denis Mahon, was assassinated by several local men, including Ciaran Feeney, in an incident that became infamous across Ireland and England at the time. The killing was motivated by the removal of starving tenant farmers from the estate lands during the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. The killing of Denis Mahon did not halt the evictions, and eventually over 11,000 tenants were removed from the Mahon estate during that period.
There is a museum commemorating the Great Famine of 1845 in the town.
Mary Lenahan, of Elphin Street, Strokestown, an ancestor of Mary McAleese
, was among 16 people recorded in the Strokestown Estate Famine Archive as having received grain meal gratuitously on 23 June 1846. The archive was deposited in November 2008 in the Maynooth Archive and Research Centre in Cellbridge, Co. Kildare.
). The school offers the Junior Certificate course and the Leaving Certificate course, including LCVP, and Transition Year is compulsory during 4th Year. The school is rated as the number one school in Co. Roscommon according to The Irish Times
. It is equipped with Home Economics kitchens and sewing room, art room, technical graphics room (with computers featuring Solid Works, a CAD program), science laboratories, wood and metal technology rooms, and the construction of further developments is currently underway. The new extension will include two new science laboratories, a meditation room, first aid facilities, woodwork and metalwork room with shared machine room alongside a number of classrooms. The extension also includes the first elevator to be installed in Strokestown.
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is located at the junction of the N5 National primary route
Roads in Ireland
The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to...
and the R368 regional road
Regional road
A regional road in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route , but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" A regional road in Ireland is a...
in the north of the county.
Notable features include the second widest street in Ireland, widest being upper O'Connell street, and the Strokestown Park House, an 18th-century mansion with the longest herbaceous border in Ireland. (see Main Street and entrance to Park House in photo)
Strokestown was the site of the estate of the Anglo-Irish Mahon family from about 1671 until 1982. On 2 November 1847 the patriarch of the family and landlord of the surrounding estate, Major Denis Mahon, was assassinated by several local men, including Ciaran Feeney, in an incident that became infamous across Ireland and England at the time. The killing was motivated by the removal of starving tenant farmers from the estate lands during the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. The killing of Denis Mahon did not halt the evictions, and eventually over 11,000 tenants were removed from the Mahon estate during that period.
There is a museum commemorating the Great Famine of 1845 in the town.
Mary Lenahan, of Elphin Street, Strokestown, an ancestor of Mary McAleese
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
, was among 16 people recorded in the Strokestown Estate Famine Archive as having received grain meal gratuitously on 23 June 1846. The archive was deposited in November 2008 in the Maynooth Archive and Research Centre in Cellbridge, Co. Kildare.
Name
The Irish name of the town was originally Béal Atha na mBuillí and was Anglicised as Bellanamully and Bellanamullia. The Irish name was edited down to the current Béal na mBuillí in the 1990s. This was done to fit the Irish town name on road signage. The town's name means "the mouth of the ford of the strokes", with "strokes" referring to ancient clan battles that took place there.Strokestown on Film
Strokestown on Film, The Billy Chapman (1902–59) Collection, is a DVD which consists of 31 short films of people and events in and around Strokestown. The films were shot over a five-year period starting in 1948. Included are sports days, Corpus Christi processions, weddings, agricultural shows, livestock fairs and FCA and fire brigade training.Annual Events
Strokestown hosts a number of event throughout the year. Around April/May, Strokestown hosts the Strokestown Poetry Festival, a prestigious event that is known throughout the literary world. In the second weekend in September, the Strokestown Agricultural Show is held, including horse competitions such as dressage, at and craft competitions, handwriting competitions, and more. During October, the Féile Frank McGann, a traditional music festival in memory of Frank McGann, a bodhrán player born in Co. Roscommon.Scoil Mhuire Strokestown
Scoil Mhuire is the main second level school in the Strokestown area. It is located on Church Street, and is a co-educational school with a student population of approximately 450, and a teaching staff of approximately 30. The principal is Mr. Eamon Corrigan and the vice principal is Mrs. Bernadette Condran, and the school is part of CEIST (formerly the Sisters of MercySisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
). The school offers the Junior Certificate course and the Leaving Certificate course, including LCVP, and Transition Year is compulsory during 4th Year. The school is rated as the number one school in Co. Roscommon according to The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
. It is equipped with Home Economics kitchens and sewing room, art room, technical graphics room (with computers featuring Solid Works, a CAD program), science laboratories, wood and metal technology rooms, and the construction of further developments is currently underway. The new extension will include two new science laboratories, a meditation room, first aid facilities, woodwork and metalwork room with shared machine room alongside a number of classrooms. The extension also includes the first elevator to be installed in Strokestown.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- Market Houses in IrelandMarket Houses in the Republic of IrelandMarket houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...
- Scramogue AmbushScramogue AmbushThe Scramogue Ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army on 23 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. It took place in the townland of Scramogue, County Roscommon.-Background:...