Collon

Collon (Irish: Collann)[2] is a village and townland in the south west corner of County Louth, Ireland, on the N2 national primary road. The village is home to the Cistercian Abbey of New Mellifont, and to Collon House, ancestral home of the Foster family.

For other uses, see Collon (disambiguation).
Collon

Collann
Town
The Foster homestead at Collon
Collon
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°46′43″N 6°28′52″W
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Louth
Elevation
128 m (420 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
896
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceO001820

Facilities

The Church of Ireland parish church at the lower end was built in 1810 to a design by Daniel Augustus Beaufort who was the rector between 1789 and 1821. There is a memorial in the graveyard at the front of the church to men of the parish who died during the 1914–18 Great War, inscribed on the front is the name of Lt. James Emerson V.C. who was born in the village. The church has been described as "dramatic and atmospheric" and hosted the 2008 Ardee Baroque Festival.[3]

The Foster family, who came to Ireland from Cumberland in the seventeenth century, were for several generations the dominant influence in Dunleer, which they represented in the Irish House of Commons. Collon House, the family seat was built about 1740 by Antony Foster, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and extended in the 1770s by his son John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel, the celebrated "Speaker Foster". The gardens of Collon House were known for their variety of trees and shrubs.

At one point there was a Russian language school in the village, which was founded by White Russian emigres, Nicholas Couris and his wife. It is rumoured that the British spies Philby, Burgess and Maclean visited the school as part of their Russian language training.

Collon is home to an animal sanctuary where animals are homed until suitable accommodation is found.

The village is home to three longstanding public houses; Matthews Bar (est. 1896), Watters Bar (est. 1954) & Donegans Pub.[4] [5]

Sport

Mattock Rangers, a local GAA club, were Louth Senior Football Champions in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2010.

In 2015 Mattock, amalgamated with Hunterstown Rovers and Glen Emmets, won the under 21 county championship by defeating Noaimh Finbarrs/O'Connells on a scoreline of 0-15 to 0-06.[6] In 2019, the club won the Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Sapmap Area - Settlements - Collon". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. April 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. "Collann / Collon". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Commission. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. Irish Ties, 20 October 2008, page14, article by Eileen Battersby
  4. https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7795913,-6.4867724,3a,41.6y,303.26h,93.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYgLt2pckf1z-MSAfgLj-RQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
  5. https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7777758,-6.4843209,3a,50.5y,158.6h,89.12t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sTOTJivBdwvG0bG7UiCzPEQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
  6. http://talkofthetown.ie/mattock-rangershunterstown-roversglen-emmets-combination-clinch-louth-u-21-title/
  7. "Mattock Rangers defeat Kilkenny kingpins in Leinster final". Irish Examiner. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
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