Walsh Island is a small village in County Offaly

County Offaly

County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...

, 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 takes its name from the surrounding hinterland

Hinterland

The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...

 which is a fertile area of land on a hill (104m) located in a vast area of bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

land known as the Bog of Allen

Bog of Allen

The Bog of Allen is a large raised bog in the centre of Ireland between the rivers Liffey and Shannon.The bog's 958 square kilometers stretch into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County Laois, and County Westmeath. Peat is mechanically harvested on a large scale by Bórd na Móna,...

, (hence, "island"). The village is one kilometre west of the R400

R400 road

The R400 road is a regional road in Ireland, linking Mullingar, County Westmeath to the R419 at Cushina, County Offaly.-Route:It starts in the centre of Mullingar and crosses over the N52 south of the town....

 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...

 which runs through the bog below.

Sports

Walsh Island

Walsh Island GAA

Walsh Island is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the village of Walsh Island in County Offaly, Ireland. With 12 Senior Football wins and 2 Leinster Championship wins, they are one of the most successful clubs in the Offaly.-History:...

 is known throughout the country for its achievements in Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

. The small village has produced two All-Ireland

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...

 winning football captains in Willie Bryan

Willie Bryan

Willie Bryan is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Walsh Island and was a member of the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1966 until 1978. Bryan captained Offaly to the All-Ireland title in 1971.-References:-Teams:...

 and Richie Connor

Richie Connor

Richie Connor is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Walsh Island and was a member of the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1989...

. Walsh Island's Matt Connor was also selected in 1999 as a member of the GAA Millennium Football team. Matt was also the subject of a Lochra Gael television programme on TG4

TG4

TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....

. The current team was also featured on the RTÉ

RTE

RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

 programme ParkLive in 2006.

The local soccer team Walsh Island Shamrocks had been very successful during its 15-year history.
The team plays
its home games at Carty Park. They play in the C.C.F.L League (for Teams from Counties Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford)

The Local Surfing team from Mill Lane Bog have being successful winning the offaly championship in its first year.

The village also has a small handball

Gaelic handball

Gaelic handball is a sport similar to Basque pelota, racquetball, squash and American handball . It is one of the four Gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association...

 alley and is known for having a well preserved blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

's forge

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

 in the village centre.

Shops

Walsh Island has two shops;
Kavanagh's Store which incorporates the local Post Office, owned by John and Breda Kavanagh, and the Island Shop. The village has one pub called the 'Hoppers'

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland