Castlecomer

Castlecomer ( , 'castle at the confluence') is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At the 2016 census, Castlecomer had a population of 1,502 people¹. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. The town has been associated with the coal mining industry since the 17th century, and is part of a discrete area called the Castlecomer Plateau. It is bounded on the east by the River Barrow, the west by the River Nore and dissected in the centre by the River Dinnin.

Castlecomer ( , 'castle at the confluence') is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At the 2016 census, Castlecomer had a population of 1,502 people. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. The town has been associated with the coal mining industry since the 17th century, and is part of a discrete area called the Castlecomer Plateau. It is bounded on the east by the River Barrow, the west by the River Nore and dissected in the centre by the River Dinnin. ===Castlecomer Railway=== In the past Castlecomer had a busy railway line. Castlecomer railway station opened on 21 February 1921 with a passenger service between Castlecomer and Kilkenny. Funding for the Castlecomer line came from Captain Richard Henry (R.H.) Prior-Wandesforde and a War Office Grant, which was given to ease postwar unemployment. It closed for passenger traffic on 26 January 1931 and closed completely on 1 January 1963. This was largely due to the decline of coal mining in the area. Castlecomer station was the passenger terminus of the last ever proper branch line to be built in Ireland, when the Great Southern & Western Railway opened a line just north of Kilkenny on the Portlaoise via Abbeyleix line to the coal mining town of Castlecomer and Deerpark Mines in 1922. The branch lost its passenger service only ten years after opening, however it remained open for coal and general goods until January 1963, closing along with the Portlaoise to Kilkenny line. The corrugated iron station building and single platform at Castlecomer Station are now long gone, the site now occupied by the 'Railway Garage'. The trackbed of the coal mine extension from the station to the coal mines outside Castlecomer town is now a footpath. Many of the concrete piers which carried the railway across the Dinin River are still in situ just south of Dysart crossing, visible from the adjacent N78 road. You can also still see the left-side concrete bridge abutment at Cloghogue Bridge, Chatsworth Street. This bridge spanned either side of the two roads here (R694/R426) with a centre pillar support. ===Emergency services=== The Garda Síochána have a station on the Kilkenny Road. When the station is unmanned, calls are diverted to Kilkenny Garda Station. Castlecomer Fire Station is located on the Kilkenny Road. Castlecomer's fire service began in the 1940s when Kilkenny County Council supplied a fire service in the late 1940s with the trailer pump based in Market Square. The Original Mining Company trailer pump was given to Castlecomer Fire Service and was based in the mining office yard. Later in 1954, a newer fire station was built in Love Lane. In late 2009, construction began on a new fire station on the Kilkenny Road and this opened officially in May 2010. It houses a Class B Fire Water Tender/Ladder appliance and serves Castlecomer and much of north-east Kilkenny. ==Notable people== John Byrne, Victoria Cross recipient Ellen Cahill (1863–1934), Irish-Australia street singer also known as "Killarney Kate", born Castlecomer William Henry Walker, New York politician and father of Mayor James J. Walker ==References==

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1345765836 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.