Ashbourne, County Meath

Archaeological excavations in the area around Ashbourne have revealed evidence of settlement back to neolithic times. In the townland of Rath, to the north of the town centre, a Bronze Age settlement was found during the construction of the M2 motorway. Excavations in the vicinity of the cemetery of Killegland revealed the extent of the early Christian settlement, with souterrains, house sites and a large enclosure centred around the remains of the church that is visible in the cemetery. This would link the townland name of Killegland - meaning Declan's Church - to pre-Patrician settlement in the area. Archaeological excavations on the site of Lidl supermarket revealed the original medieval town, with several house remains, associated field systems, fish traps and mill races.

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, set about building fortified houses, called mottes and baileys, in case the native Irish would regroup and attack. The remains of a motte and bailey can be found in Ratoath 5 km from Ashbourne.

Once settled, Hugh de Lacy divided the land among his army. A large portion at Killeglan was given to a family called Wafre in 1220. This family lived there until 1420, the last member of this family having built a tower house (a fortified house often called a castle). The castle and lands became the property of the Segrave family, who remained owners until 1649. The first of the family recorded in Meath, Richard Sydgrave, was Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer 1423-5. They became one of the most influential and wealthy non-aristocratic families in Ireland during the 16th century, with two gaining the high political office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, while another became High Sheriff of Meath; Richard Segrave ( died 1598) and his son Patrick Segrave were both judges of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland).

However, their political power and possessions were removed during the religious wars of 1641 to 1650. Indeed, during the Cromwellian period, Oliver Cromwell's son, Henry, stayed for a time in Killeglan Castle. With the final subjugation of the native Irish after 1690, and the imposition of religious persecution in the Penal Laws, a new land-owner named Thomas Carter gained possession of the Killeglan lands. He did not live there, and the castle fell into dis-repair and eventually into ruin. The Carter family held high office in Irish politics during the 18th century but their fortunes waned in the early 19th century. When the Carter estates were sold in the 1840s, the Killegland lands were bought by Frederick Bourne.

Frederick Bourne was a rich entrepreneur who made his fortune from roads and transport. Before 1820 in Ireland roads were almost non-existent. Government regulations allowed for considerable spending on roads, and the subsequent improvements ensured greater post-coach services. Bourne owned a coach company and financed road-building, collecting revenue from tolls. He financed a ten-mile (old Irish miles) section of road from Dublin to Killegland. He decided to build a small town with an inn, a hotel and other small businesses to make money from travellers. He built this village near his ten-mile tollbooth and named the place after his favourite tree, and himself, i.e. Ash and Bourne. This began in 1820.

Bourne's idea was a success. However, by 1850 rail was taking business from the roadways, and the Bourne family fortune declined. In 1821 the population was 133, by 1841 it was 411. The Irish famine took a toll from 1845 to 1851, and the population declined. Frederick Bourne left his land at Killegland, and his village of Ashbourne, to his son Richard in 1844. Richard lived in the village, and his first home is now the Ashbourne House Hotel on Frederick Street. Later he built a modest house on Castle Street near where the last remains of the Wafre and Segrave tower house were. Richard married the daughter of a wealthy local family, Elizabeth Mangan, and had several children. The eldest, Thomas, became his father's heir and the last landlord of Ashbourne. He left Ireland and went to live in Northfleet, Kent, England, in 1899. The land was sold to the local tenants.

Ashbourne's main street

Ashbourne was a small village with a population under 400 until 1970. Then, in response to the growing population of nearby Dublin, a new scheme of houses was built in Ashbourne, based on the American open plan scheme rather than with fenced-off gardens. The population of the town was 8,528 as of the 2006 census, a 34% increase on the previous census in 2002. The population in 2013 was recorded at 14,000 people approximately, making it Meath's second largest town after Navan and the largest town in the new Meath East Dáil constituency, which elects 3 TDs to the Dáil.

This growth coincided with a change in Ashbourne's demographics, with the 2006 census showing that over 12% of Ashbourne's population was born outside Ireland.[3] The Lithuanian community is the second largest minority in Ashbourne after people from the United Kingdom. Almost one fifth of all non-Irish born in the town are from Lithuania. Lithuanian language services are held in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The Polish community in Ashbourne is the second-largest in Meath after Navan.

Ashbourne House Hotel

There is an 18-hole golf course, (founded 1991), on the outskirts of the town and several sports clubs in the town, including a Gaelic Athletic Association club, Donaghmore-Ashbourne, originally founded as Donaghmore in 1923 at the Wootton, and now with a new facility with pitches and clubhouse, with an indoor astro turf and two full-size Gaelic pitches opened at Killegland in 2006. There is also a rugby union team who play their matches at the Ashbourne rugby club (founded 1974) which has also has a new pitch and a small astro pitch which is sometimes used for 5-a-side soccer.

There are also a number of soccer teams (including Ashbourne United, & Killegland FC), a cricket club Ashbourne cricket club behind the community centre,[4] and a judo club.

There is a community centre, opened in 1981 and upgraded in 2017, which has a sports hall with a full size basketball court, 3 badminton courts, squash court, handball & racquet ball court, and changing facilities and meeting rooms. The community centre is used by sporting organisations, including the St Andrews athletics club who also have facilities in the Arkle Pavilion in Greenogue on the outskirts of Ashbourne, Ashbourne Archers,[5] who run archery training courses and weekly shoots in the indoor hall of Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA.

The International Baseball Centre (IBC) is located in Ashbourne behind the Ashbourne District Community Centre. The IBC is Ireland's only international standard baseball diamond, and home of the Ashbourne Baseball Club. The field has been the host of the International Baseball Festival (IBF) since 2015.

Fairyhouse Racecourse is located 10 km from Ashbourne. Tayto Park opened in 2010 and has approximately 50 acres of activities,[6] including one of Europe's largest wooden roller coasters, The Cú Chulainn Coaster, which opened in June 2015.[7]

The town's first cinema opened in Ashbourne Retail Park on 19 June 2009. The Sunday Tribune reported that the six-screen, 1,000-seat facility, which was Showtime Cinemas' first opening, has wall-to-wall screens, rocker seats, full digital projection and 3D capability.

Council offices and Library

A series of shopping streets have been built as part of a scheme to give Ashbourne the type of retail centre more in keeping with other towns, these shopping facilities are in Ashbourne High Street and the crescent. Up until recently commercial development in the town was stifled given the fact that the town was bisected by a busy national primary route, the N2, on to which all commercial development was focused. This restricted the town's potential to attract high street retailers due to a lack of suitable sites and the associated traffic hazards of the N2. In 2002, a local area plan for the town was completed which provides for the future development of Ashbourne. The plan provided for a major expansion of Ashbourne westward into the townland of Killegland adjoining the new N2 Ashbourne bypass. It led to the introduction of residential units, a retail park, community facilities and industrial units. The town is being planned westward, further into County Meath, as the Fingal County boundary is only 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) from the east side of the town, which decreases to approximately 600 metres (2,000 ft) at the north end of the town, in the townland of Rath.

Killegland Street, Ashbourne's retail area

Of the streets developed in Ashbourne's "new" town centre, Killegland Street, has become a new commercial street containing a number of varied retail units along with a new library and council offices. Car parking in the town has been expanded thanks to both a large underground car park beneath Killegland Street (extending from Tesco to the Civic Offices) and a multi-storey car park above the retail units on the south end of the street.

Bridge Street is an existing street between the Broadmeadow River and the Ashbourne House Hotel which contained just three dwellings and no retail outlets eight years ago now has five shops, a large hotel, dozens of apartments and a supermarket there. This is typical of the high pace of development in Ashbourne in the past decade.

Dunnes Stores

A large supermarket has opened a large store on the former Dardis & Dunns seed merchant site on the northern end of Frederick/Main Street as part of the Ashbourne Town Centre development and is accessible from both Frederick Street, across from Ashbourne's original town centre and Killegland Square, linking the new retail area to the established centre in the town.

In 2007, Ashbourne Retail Park Limited applied for planning permission for an extension to the park.[8]

According to Ríocht na Mídhe, the journal of the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, on 28 April 1916 a group of Fingal Volunteers estimated to number 45 men, under the command of Thomas Ashe, a national school teacher in Lusk, and second in command Richard Mulcahy, attacked the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Ashbourne. The barracks were usually manned by a sergeant and four constables but given the level of fighting in the Capital, reinforcements had been called in from surrounding barracks and so on the day of the attack, there were 10 RIC men stationed there.

The rebels advanced on the barracks disarming two RIC men who were setting up a barricade outside the barracks. With these two men disarmed and captured, Ashe called on the remaining officers to surrender and immediately a siege situation turned into a shoot out. With little sign of capitulation on the RIC's part, it is believed the use of a home-made grenade resulted in them offering to surrender by waving a white handkerchief.

However, before they could emerge the hoot of a car horn was heard to the north west. County Inspector Alexander Grey must have received word of the siege as he assembled between 54 and 67 men at Slane in 17 motorcars which were rushed to Ashbourne to put down the uprising. The rebels spread out and rushed along the Slane road to stop the convoy reaching Rath Cross and spreading out. The RIC reinforcements took heavy fire from the rebels from all sides. The firefight lasted many hours before volunteer reinforcements arrived from Boranstown. The RIC eventually surrendered to the volunteers. However, given that the uprising in Dublin had been put down the Fingal volunteers eventually gave themselves up two days later. Thomas Ashe and his men were sentenced to death for their part in the attack, but this was later commuted to penal servitude for life.

The uprising at Ashbourne was not seen favourably in the local media at the time, with the Meath Chronicle calling it a "tragic blunder". Navan Urban District Council passed resolutions of sympathy. A number of local Catholic priests (Curragha & Ratoath) also spoke out against the attack. However, condemnation turned into sympathy with the execution of a number of prominent 1916 rebels who had fought in Dublin.

President of Ireland, Sean T. O'Kelly, unveiled a memorial at Rath Cross Roads, Ashbourne, on Easter Sunday, 26 April 1959 which commemorates the Battle of Ashbourne. The story was covered on the front page of the Irish Times the next day. The memorial designed by Con O'Reilly and Peter Grant commemorates the battle and John Crenigan and Thomas Rafferty who were killed. The monument has two images: on one side the figure is in the form of Christ, on the other side is a rebel. This monument is known locally as The Rath Cross.

It bears the following inscription;

ERECTED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE FINGAL BRIGADE OLD IRA TO COMMEMORATE THE VICTORIOUS BATTLE WHICH TOOK PLACE NEAR ASHBOURNE 28 APRIL 1916 WHERE VOLUNTEERS JOHN CRENIGAN & THOMAS RAFFERTY GAVE THEIR LIVES DESIGNED FROM THE POEM "LET ME CARRY YOUR CROSS FOR IRELAND LORD" COMPOSED BY THEIR LEADER COMMANDANT THOMAS ASHE

On Easter Monday 2016, the State staged a number of national commemoration events. Rath Cross was one of only four such venues outside of Dublin City to be so honoured.

On 25 September 2016, the monument was completed by the addition of two side figures; One representing the Volunteers in uniform, the other a family.

The Roman Catholic parish of Ashbourne extends south to Newtown Commons, east to Greenoge, north to Rath and west to Harlockstown. The Church of the Immaculate Conception is located in the centre of the town. In 1981, the parish was joined to Donaghmore, which has its own church 2 km (1 mi) to the south-east of Ashbourne.

Ashbourne is home to Longhorns Rugby League Club which was formed in 2005 and plays its home matches at Ashbourne Rugby Club. Longhorns were All-Ireland Rugby League champions in 2017, and received an invitation from the Rugby Football League to enter the 2018 Challenge Cup. Longhorns were drawn away to fellow amateurs West Hull, of the National Conference League Premier Division. The Ashbourne team scored two tries in a 58-10 defeat on 28 January 2018.

Ashbourne is the home of the Ashbourne Baseball Club, an amateur baseball club that competes in the Irish Baseball League. The club fields teams in the Little League division as well as teams in the A and B divisions of the adult league. Up until 2019, the teams competed solely under the name, “Ashbourne Giants”. Home games are played at the International Baseball Centre, an international standard baseball field located behind the Ashbourne District Community Centre.

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashbourne, County Meath.

• Ashbourne Chamber of Commerce