Gort

Gort
An Gort
Town
Bridge Street, Gort
Gort
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°03′58″N 8°48′42″W / 53.0660°N 8.8118°W / 53.0660; -8.8118Coordinates: 53°03′58″N 8°48′42″W / 53.0660°N 8.8118°W / 53.0660; -8.8118
Country Ireland
Province Connacht
County County Galway
Elevation 43 m (141 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 2,644
Time zone UTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing key H53
Telephone area code +353(0)91
Irish Grid Reference M451019

Gort (Irish: Gort Inse Guaire or An Gort) is a town in south County Galway, in the west of Ireland. It lies just north of the border with County Clare on the old Galway–Limerick road, now the R458. Gort is situated in the territory of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne also known as Maigh Aidhne ("the plain of Aidhne"), which is coextensive with the diocese of Kilmacduagh / Cill Mhic Dhuach.

Newtown Castle, west of Gort.

History

Gort takes its name, Gort Inse Guaire, from gort (a meadow), "inse" (island) and Guaire Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin, the sixth century King of Connacht and patron of St. Colman MacDuagh. During the Middle Ages the chiefs of Cenél Áeda na hEchtge, the O'Shaughnessys (Ó Seachnasaigh, a clan descended from Guaire Aidhneach) had their principal stronghold in Gort, on a site which later became a cavalry barracks. At the end of the seventeenth century the O'Shaughnessy lands were confiscated and granted to Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet, whose grandson was John Prendergast Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort. In 1831, the town had a population of 3,627 and 563 houses. The Great Hunger of the mid-1840s devastated the population.

A number of historic sites around Gort are included in the Sites and Monuments Record. Kilmacduagh monastery and round tower are situated approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Gort. Rahaly Castle lies approximately 4.8 km (3 mi) east of Gort. Kiltartan Castle is 3 km to the north.

Transport

Gort railway station opened on 15 September 1869 and was closed for goods traffic on 3 November 1975 and for passenger traffic on 5 April 1976.[7] it was reopened in 2010 as part of the Western Railway Corridor project.

The M18 Motorway bypass of the town was officially opened on 12 November 2010.

People

The poet William Butler Yeats renovated an old tower house near the village (Thoor Ballylee) and took up residence there. He was also a frequent visitor to the home of Lady Gregory at nearby Coole Park. Coole Park is located just off the Galway Road, just 1 km from the town of Gort. Thomas Laughnan, recipient of the Victoria Cross, was born in Gort.

Demographics

Some 40% of the residents of Gort were non-Irish, according to the 2006 Census, a massive majority of these being Brazilians. These people originally came to work in the meat processing plants in Gort where the pay is generally much higher than in similar plants in Brazil. According to Claire Healy "a large community of Brazilians now live, work and attend school in Gort, gradually altering the appearance and the character of the town".[8] The Roman Catholic Church caters to the Brazilian community with a mass in Portuguese every Saturday held in Gort Catholic Church.

By the time of the 2011 Census, non-Irish nationals accounted for 27.2% of the population. The largest group (417 people) were still Brazilians, followed by UK nationals (81).[9]

Education

The town has its own secondary school, Gort Community School which was founded in 1995, and serves a large area of south County Galway. The school facilities include a GAA pitch, rugby union pitch, football pitch, and canteen. The school's sports teams include hurling, rugby, soccer, basketball, athletics, golf and equestrian teams.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  2. ↑ Census for post 1821 figures.
  3. ↑ http://www.histpop.org
  4. ↑ Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Census Home Page Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Lee, JJ (1981). "Pre-famine". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  6. ↑ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
  7. ↑ "Gort station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  8. ↑ Carnaval do Galway: The Brazilian Community in Gort, 1999-2006 — Claire Healy, in "Irish Migration Studies in Latin America" 4:3 July 2006 (www.irlandeses.org), accessed 14 August 2007
  9. ↑ http://census.cso.ie/areaprofiles/areaprofile.aspx?Geog_Type=ST&Geog_Code=27010

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