Sixmilebridge
Encyclopedia
Sixmilebridge is a small town
in County Clare
, Ireland
. Located midway between Ennis
and Limerick city, the town is a short distance away from the main N18 road
, being on the old "back road" between the two. The village of Kilmurry is also part of the Sixmilebridge parish.
Sixmilebridge partly serves as a dormitory
town for workers in Limerick City, Ennis
and Shannon region, with hundreds of modern housing units being built to accommodate demand in recent years. The commercial core of Sixmilebridge has effectively tripled in size in recent years too, with many new retail units and businesses choosing to locate in the village.
name of the village derives, as Thomas Dineley who visited Sixmilebridge in 1681, describes:
The original village grew up around a crossing place on the O'Garney River. By the end of the 17th century development was tied to the industrialisation of the area as people of Dutch
origin found the river very suitable for mill
ing. This ended abruptly with the building of a toll bridge
on the river by Henry D'Esterre (Ó Dálaigh 2004). D'Esterre's construction gained a profit from people crossing the river but halted the trading done with Holland.
According to local tradition , the famous duel between Daniel O'Connell
and a member of the D'Esterre family in February 1815 arose from O'Connell's refusal to pay the toll. This conflicts with the conventional account of the duel. D'Esterre lost his life, but the toll bridge survived and remains standing to this day.
and eight soldiers of the 31st Regiment
escorted 18 tenants of the Marquess of Conyngham
to Sixmilebridge to vote for Colonel Vandeleur in the Clare county constituency
at the general election
. Vandeleur was a Conservative
opposed to tenants' rights. A crowd of protesters, including two Catholic priests, was gathered near the ballot office, and an affray began between them and the voters' party. Soldiers opened fire, without the Riot Act
having been read. Six people were killed at the scene and eight wounded, one of whom later died. At the coroner
's inquest
, the jury
returned a verdict of murder
; this was overturned by the Attorney-General for Ireland
. An article in the Anglo-Celt
accused the regiment of "willful and deliberate murder", and the editor was jailed for libel. The affair was discussed at Westminster
, where Conservative members demanded the priests be prosecuted for incitement
. The events generated lingering bitterness and tension.
, Mick Hanly, and Andy Irvine
have all played. The festival is unique for its open itinerary and insistence on nearly all gigs being acoustic and wireless. The January 2008 programme featured Karan Casey
, Simon Mayor
, and a slew of bluegrass, blues, and traditional Irish acts, along with new features such as a Klezmer
band, and an "Open Mic" afternoon in association with the local Youth Club and Teen Cafe.
and Soccer. The local GAA club is Sixmilebridge and gets its players from the Sixmilebridge and Kilmurry area. The club was formed in 1904 mainly as a Gaelic football
club, but also played hurling, the sport that is now most associated with the club. The land used was donated to the GAA by the Casey family. Nowadays the club participates at hurling, camogie and scór. The club is well known for its hurling and many players from there have represented their county with distinction down through the years with some having the honour of winning Munster and All-Ireland Hurling championships with Clare at Senior, Junior and Minor levels. The club also won an All-Ireland club title (becoming the first team from Clare to have won it) on 17 March (St. Patrick's day) 1996.
.
. Game fish
such as trout
and salmon
can also be caught in the river but certain laws and rules apply. Sixmilebridge Angling Club exists to protect and promote the positive spirit of angling throughout the Owen O'Garney River system.
passes through the village. Sixmilebridge railway station
opened on 17 January 1859 and finally closed on 17 June 1963. It was reopened on 29th of March 2010 as part of the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, 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,...
. Located midway between Ennis
Ennis
Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....
and Limerick city, the town is a short distance away from the main N18 road
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...
, being on the old "back road" between the two. The village of Kilmurry is also part of the Sixmilebridge parish.
Sixmilebridge partly serves as a dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
town for workers in Limerick City, Ennis
Ennis
Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....
and Shannon region, with hundreds of modern housing units being built to accommodate demand in recent years. The commercial core of Sixmilebridge has effectively tripled in size in recent years too, with many new retail units and businesses choosing to locate in the village.
History
The unusual EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
name of the village derives, as Thomas Dineley who visited Sixmilebridge in 1681, describes:
From BunrattyBunratty CastleBunratty Castle is a large tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It lies in the centre of Bunratty village , by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Shannon Town and its airport. The name Bunratty, Bun Raite in Irish, means the 'bottom' or end of the 'Ratty' river. This river, alongside...
, the seat of the Earl of ThomondHenry O'Brien, 7th Earl of ThomondHenry O'Brien, 7th Earl of Thomond PC was an Irish peer, styled Lord Ibrackan from 1639 to 1657.O'Brien was the son of Barnabas O'Brien, 6th Earl of Thomond and Anne Fermor.In 1641, he married his first cousin Anne O'Brien Henry O'Brien, 7th Earl of Thomond PC (Ire) (c.1620 – 2 May 1691) was an...
, into the town of Sixmilebridge, belonging also to that noble family, is 3 miles; from whence to the city of Limerick, to which are two ways, namely by the oil mills and the seat of the Mc Namaras beyond it, or over the high mountain, famous for its admirable prospect, hanging as it were over Sixmilebridge town and commonly known as Gallows Hill; this is the upper, the other the lower way to Limerick and from town to the city six miles either way, whence the town hath its name.
The original village grew up around a crossing place on the O'Garney River. By the end of the 17th century development was tied to the industrialisation of the area as people of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
origin found the river very suitable for mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
ing. This ended abruptly with the building of a toll bridge
Toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
on the river by Henry D'Esterre (Ó Dálaigh 2004). D'Esterre's construction gained a profit from people crossing the river but halted the trading done with Holland.
According to local tradition , the famous duel between Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...
and a member of the D'Esterre family in February 1815 arose from O'Connell's refusal to pay the toll. This conflicts with the conventional account of the duel. D'Esterre lost his life, but the toll bridge survived and remains standing to this day.
1852 election affray
On 22 July 1852, a magistrateMagistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
and eight soldiers of the 31st Regiment
31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot
The 31st Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1702 and amalgamated into The East Surrey Regiment in 1881.-Predecessor regiment:...
escorted 18 tenants of the Marquess of Conyngham
Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham
General Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham KP, GCH, PC , styled Lord Francis Conyngham between 1816 and 1824 and Earl of Mount Charles between 1824 and 1832, was a British soldier, courtier and politician.-Background and education:Born in Dublin, Conyngham was the second son of...
to Sixmilebridge to vote for Colonel Vandeleur in the Clare county constituency
Clare (UK Parliament constituency)
Clare was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
at the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1852
The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...
. Vandeleur was a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
opposed to tenants' rights. A crowd of protesters, including two Catholic priests, was gathered near the ballot office, and an affray began between them and the voters' party. Soldiers opened fire, without the Riot Act
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
having been read. Six people were killed at the scene and eight wounded, one of whom later died. At the coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
's inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
, the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
returned a verdict of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
; this was overturned by the Attorney-General for Ireland
Attorney-General for Ireland
The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was senior to the Solicitor-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters...
. An article in the Anglo-Celt
Anglo-Celt
The Anglo-Celt is a weekly local newspaper published every Thursday in Swellan, Cavan, Ireland, founded in 1846. It exclusively contains local news about Cavan and surroundings. The news coverage of the paper is mainly based on the paper's local county of Cavan...
accused the regiment of "willful and deliberate murder", and the editor was jailed for libel. The affair was discussed at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, where Conservative members demanded the priests be prosecuted for incitement
Incitement
In English criminal law, incitement was an anticipatory common law offence and was the act of persuading, encouraging, instigating, pressuring, or threatening so as to cause another to commit a crime....
. The events generated lingering bitterness and tension.
Places of interest
A unique feature of Sixmilebridge is the highly decorated but functional "duck inn" on the O'Garney River, occupied by a thriving population of ducks. The duck inn is a floating raft with glass windows and painted walls. It houses the ducks during winter and is also where their locally consumed eggs are hatched and collected. It forms part of the tourist trail of Sixmilebridge.Events
Each January, the village plays host to a colourful selection of singers, instrumentalists, dancers and yarn spinners for the Sixmilebridge Winter Music Weekend. This festival was established in 2000 by the Sixmilebridge Folk Club. The event lasts one weekend and has wide-ranging acts and events including French street groups, Irish, American and English singer-songwriters, oldtime bands, stand up comedians, singing and dancing workshops, blues singers and bluegrass bands. Some heavyweights on the Irish music scene usually headline. Kate Purcell, Johnny MoynihanJohnny Moynihan
John "Johnny" Moynihan , is a folk singer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is often credited as being responsible for introducing the bouzouki and the Irish bouzouki into Irish music in the mid 1960s. Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", as a young man he played in the band Sweeney's Men with Andy Irvine,...
, Mick Hanly, and Andy Irvine
Andy Irvine (musician)
Andrew Kennedy 'Andy' Irvine is a folk musician, singer, and songwriter, and a founding member of the popular band Planxty. He is an accomplished player of the mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, guitar-bouzouki, harmonica and hurdy-gurdy....
have all played. The festival is unique for its open itinerary and insistence on nearly all gigs being acoustic and wireless. The January 2008 programme featured Karan Casey
Karan Casey
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
, Simon Mayor
Simon Mayor
Simon Mayor is a mandolinist and fiddle player, guitarist, and composer.- Works :With his solo debut The Mandolin Album in 1990 he embarked on a series of recordings to give the mandolin a uniquely British voice. The CD was made Recording of the Week on BBC Radio 2...
, and a slew of bluegrass, blues, and traditional Irish acts, along with new features such as a Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
band, and an "Open Mic" afternoon in association with the local Youth Club and Teen Cafe.
Societies
- The Sixmilebridge tidy towns committee compete every year in the national competition.
- The Sixmilebridge Youth Club is very popular among youth and each year presents a play.
- The Sixmilebridge Variety Group created and produced by Dolores O'Loughlin, has enjoyed much success down through the years at local and national level. It has held shows in many countries across Europe, including Denmark where it has performed on one occasion for the Queen of Denmark.
- The Bridge Complex is a voluntary community organisation, with administrative offices at The Old Courthouse, the current community hall. The aim of the Complex is to provide socially inclusive amenities to the community. A new facility is currently being constructed to house the organisation.
Education
There are two primary schools in the Sixmilebridge Parish, namely Sixmilebridge National School and Kilmurry National School. For secondary education, students go to schools in Limerick, Shannon, Ennis and Tulla.Gaelic games
Sports are prominent in the area with locals partaking in HurlingHurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
and Soccer. The local GAA club is Sixmilebridge and gets its players from the Sixmilebridge and Kilmurry area. The club was formed in 1904 mainly as a Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
club, but also played hurling, the sport that is now most associated with the club. The land used was donated to the GAA by the Casey family. Nowadays the club participates at hurling, camogie and scór. The club is well known for its hurling and many players from there have represented their county with distinction down through the years with some having the honour of winning Munster and All-Ireland Hurling championships with Clare at Senior, Junior and Minor levels. The club also won an All-Ireland club title (becoming the first team from Clare to have won it) on 17 March (St. Patrick's day) 1996.
Football
The local soccer (football) club is called Bridge United AFC. The club was formed in 1967. They have enjoyed success, with some players receiving trials with professional clubs in England down through the years. The highlight of their history was their first big win, the Clare and District Soccer League Premier Division title 1972/73 season. They have since repeated that feat twice in 2002/03 and 2005/06 respectively.Golf
There is a pitch and putt and nine hole golf course at Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge which is open year round.Other sports
There are a number of sport societies and clubs in the area which cater to Sixmilebridge and District. There is the Kilmurry Community Games, Sixmilebridge Golf Society, Olympic Harriers Athletic Club, Tradaree Coursing Club, Sixmilebridge Gun Club and Kilmurry Gun Club. Some locals also have horses and some play rugbyRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
.
Angling
As well as the river, there are many lakes in the area such as Mountcashel lake and these waters provide a chance to catch coarse pike, bream and roachRutilus
Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...
. Game fish
Game fish
Game fish are fish pursued for sport by recreational anglers. They can be freshwater or marine fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, though increasingly anglers practise catch and release to improve fish populations. Some game fish are also targeted commercially, particularly...
such as trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
and salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
can also be caught in the river but certain laws and rules apply. Sixmilebridge Angling Club exists to protect and promote the positive spirit of angling throughout the Owen O'Garney River system.
Transport
The Limerick–Ennis railway lineRail transport in Ireland
Rail services in Ireland are provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin...
passes through the village. Sixmilebridge railway station
Sixmilebridge railway station
Sixmilebridge railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Sixmilebridge in County Clare, Ireland. It is located on the Shannon Road less than 1 km from the village...
opened on 17 January 1859 and finally closed on 17 June 1963. It was reopened on 29th of March 2010 as part of the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland