Tullamore (; ) is the county town of

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hon ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained Gold Medal status in the National Tidy Town Awards in 2015 and also played host to the World Sheep Dog Trials in 2005 which attracted international interest in the region. The

Tullamore Show The Tullamore Show is a one-day agricultural and livestock show held on the second Sunday of August each year near the town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The programme of the Tullamore Show includes cultural events, commercial trade exh ...

is held near the town every year. The town's most famous export is

Tullamore Dew Tullamore Dew, rendered in most branding as Tullamore D.E.W. (typically with the dots de-emphasised using colour and font size), is a brand of Irish whiskey produced by William Grant & Sons. It is the second-largest-selling brand of Irish whis ...

– an

Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...

distilled by

Tullamore Distillery The Tullamore Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery located in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. Built by William Grant & Sons at a cost of €35 million, the distillery officially opened in September 2014. It is the first new distillery to ...

– that can be traced back to 1829. The original distillery was shut down in 1954, with the brand later being resurrected and produced at the Midleton Distillery, in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. However, the brand's new owners,

William Grant & Sons William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the ...

, invested in a new distillery near Tullamore, bringing whiskey production back to the town in 2014.

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Tullamore was within the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

territory of

Firceall Firceall () was an ancient Gaelic Irish territory which formed the most south - westerly part of the ancient Kingdom of Meath. O'Molloy was chieftain of the territory. Firceall itself comprised the ancient baronies of Ballycowan, Ballyboy and ...

ruled by the O'Molloy clan. Firceall was part of the

Kingdom of Meath Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all o ...

. The Tullamore area was part of the first English

plantations in Ireland A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

during the 1550s when land was confiscated from the native Irish and colonized with English settlers. Firceall was divided into the baronies of

Ballycowan In Ireland Counties are divided into Civil Parishes and Parishes are further divided into townlands. The following is a list of townlands in County Antrim, Northern Ireland: __NOTOC__ A Acravally, Aganlane (also known as Parkmore), Aghaboy, ...

Ballyboy Ballyboy or Ballaboy () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is about two kilometres east of Kilcormac. Prior to the Plantations of Ireland, Ballyboy was ruled by O'Molloy in a territory known as Firceall which was allied to the Kingdom ...

and

Eglish Eglish () is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about 6 km southwest of Dungannon, in the Mid Ulster District Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 93. The village has grown in a dispersed form and ...

, with Tullamore located in Ballycowan. The Tullamore area, comprising some 5,000 acres, was granted by the English to Sir John Moore in 1622. At that time the Tullamore estate included a ruined castle, ten cottages and two water mills. Sir Robert Forth, who leased the lands from Thomas Moore (son and heir of Sir John), built a mansion house c.1641 in what is now the Charleville

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

. Charles Moore, Lord Tullamore, grandson of Thomas, eventually regained possession of the estate and when he died in 1674 it went via his sister to Charles William Bury. Charles William was later (1806) created the 1st

Earl of Charleville Earl of Charleville was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came in 1758 when Charles Moore, 2nd Baron Moore, was made Earl of Charleville, in the King's County. The title Baron Moore, of Tullamore in the ...

in a second creation of the title. On 10 May 1785, the town was seriously damaged when the crash of a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carrie ...

resulted in a fire that burned down as many as 130 homes, giving the town the distinction of being the location of the world's first known

aviation disaster An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

. To this day, the town shield depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes. The event is yearly commemorated by the Phoenix festival which celebrates Tullamore's resurrection from the ashes following the accident. The Grand Canal linked Tullamore to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in 1798. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, a clash between troops of the

King's German Legion The King's German Legion (KGL; german: Des Königs Deutsche Legion, semantically erroneous obsolete German variations are , , ) was a British Army unit of mostly expatriated German personnel during the period 1803–16. The legion achieved t ...

and a regiment of British Light Infantry who were both stationed in the town, became known as the Battle of Tullamore. Tullamore became county town of

in 1835, replacing

Daingean Daingean (; or ), formerly Philipstown, named after King Philip II of Spain, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town of Daingean h ...

. Tullamore has a long history of whiskey distilling, with two distilleries known to have operated in the town in the 1780s, though closed some years later. Subsequently, a new distillery was established by Michael Molloy, on the site of one of the old distilleries in 1829. When Molloy died, the distillery first passed to his brother Anthony, before eventually making its way into the hands of his nephew, Bernard Daly. When Daly died, his son, Captain Bernard Daly took ownership of the business. With an estate in Terenure, Captain Daly left the day-to-day running of the business to Daniel E. Williams, the distillery's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

, under whose careful watch the distillery grew and prospered, and launched

, the whiskey which bears his initials. Williams brought electricity to Tullamore in 1893. The distillery installed the town's first telephones and introduced motorised transport. Williams ran various commercial businesses throughout the

Irish midlands The Midland Region (coded IE063) is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. It consists of the territory of the counties of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. The Midland Region spans 6,524 km2, 9.5% of the total area of the sta ...

– drinks businesses, tea importing, seed and grain retail, and a network of 26 general stores. Following this period, Prohibition in the United States, an economic war with Britain in the 1930s, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

all harmed the industry. Tullamore was one of many Irish distilleries affected by a general decline in Irish whiskey sales worldwide. After World War II, Desmond Williams, grandson of Daniel E. Williams, used modern marketing techniques to re-establish Irish whiskey in world markets. In 1947, Desmond Williams also developed

Irish Mist Irish Mist is an Irish whiskey-based liqueur produced in Tullamore, Ireland, by the Irish Mist Liqueur Company Ltd. In September 2010 it was announced that the brand was being bought by Gruppo Campari from William Grant, only a few months after ...

, an Irish

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged bey ...

made from a blend of whiskey, herbs and honey, using a recipe alleged to have disappeared in the late 17th century and to have been rediscovered in a manuscript 250 years later. Williams also capitalised on the

Irish coffee Irish coffee ( ga, caife Gaelach) is a caffeinated alcoholic drink consisting of Irish whiskey, hot coffee and sugar, which has been stirred and topped with cream (sometimes cream liqueur). The coffee is drunk through the cream. Origin Differen ...

concept, and promoted blended whiskeys along with Tullamore Dew.

Culture

The Tullamore Phoenix Festival was an annual celebration of art, culture and heritage first held in August between 2000 and 2007. Festival events included hot air balloons, concerts, street entertainment, a parade, and fireworks. The ''

Queen of the Land Festival The Queen of the Land Festival is an annual festival in County Offaly, Ireland, hosted by Offaly Macra na Feirme in which young women compete for the title "Queen of the Land" based on their "appearance, personality, energy, confidence, dress sen ...

'' takes place in Tullamore each year on the second weekend in November. Primarily a personality contest, it seeks to find the best examples of a modern Irish woman. It is organised by Offaly Macra Na Feirme. Each year about 25 girls between the age of 17 and 35 compete to be crowned Queen of the Land. The festival provides a host of entertainment throughout the town over the weekend, primarily at night. An annual

takes place on the second Sunday of August every year. It was cancelled in 2007 and 2008 due to heavy rain, though it ran again in 2009. Agriculture was originally the show's main focus, but this has broadened to include entertainment, food, crafts, lifestyle, trade stands, food and refreshments, fashion and entertainment. Hugh Lynch's Pub on Kilbride Street has been operating as a public house since the early 1800s. In the early 1900s it was bought by the Williams Group, founders of the D.E. Williams Distillery, and run as a public bar and grocery, along with many other outlets in the

Irish Midlands The Midland Region (coded IE063) is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. It consists of the territory of the counties of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. The Midland Region spans 6,524 km2, 9.5% of the total area of the sta ...

, from which they sold their growing whiskey brand "Tullamore Dew". It has been in the Lynch Family since 1971. The national Fleadh Ceoil was held in Tullamore for the very first time in August 2007. It returned in 2008 and returned for the third time from 21 to 23 August 2009. The

National Ploughing Championships The National Ploughing Championships ( ga, Comórtas Náisiúnta Treabhdóireachta) or NPC, previously known as The National Ploughing Championships Machinery & Livestock Exhibition, is an outdoor agricultural show in Ireland incorporating a ...

, Europe's largest Outdoor Exhibition and Agriculture Trade Show, was held in Screggan, Tullamore in 2016. The total attendance figures for the 2016 Championship came to a record-breaking 283,000. The show returned to Screggan in September 2017.

Places of interest

The Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre on the banks of the Grand Canal focuses on the distilling, canal and urban history of the town. Audio visual and self-guided tours are available. Charleville Estate is located on the edge of the town. One of Ireland's most splendid Gothic buildings,

Charleville Castle Charleville Castle is a Gothic-style castle located in County Offaly, Ireland, bordering the town of Tullamore, near the River Clodiagh. It is considered one of the finest of its type in the country. History The first mansion house to be bui ...

, stands in this parkland setting which contains the King Oak, one of the biggest and oldest oak trees in the country. The castle is said to be haunted and was featured on series 1 of

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named S ...

's ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. Following complaints, the broadcast regulator, Ofcom, ruled that it was an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and "should not be taken seri ...

''. The oak woodland is botanically an important survivor of primeval stock. The park was the location of the annual Tullamore Agricultural Show. However following the cancellation of the show for two consecutive years due to heavy rainfall the event was moved to a new location with improved drainage in the

Blue Ball Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

area, south of the town. Tullamore is used as a base for the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

to the south of the county. Just south of Tullamore are the unique '

Lough Boora Boora Bog ( Irish ''Portach na Buaraí'') is a cutaway peat bog situated in County Offaly, Ireland. Peat was harvested for fuel between the 1950s and 1970s, and the land is now being reclaimed for agricultural and eco-tourism use. There was a ...

' parklands. The boglands are a landscape for a wide range of flora and fauna. The wetlands and wildlife wilderness of Lough Boora now hosts some of the most innovative land and

environmental sculpture Environmental sculpture is sculpture that creates or alters the environment for the viewer, as opposed to presenting itself figurally or monumentally before the viewer. A frequent trait of larger environmental sculptures is that one can actually en ...

s in Ireland. The artists, inspired by the rich natural and industrial legacy of the boglands, have created a series of large-scale sculptures that are now part of the

park

Sculpture in the Parklands The Sculpture in the Parklands is a land and environmental sculpture park located in Lough Boora, County Offaly, Ireland. The park is open to the public 365 days of the year and admission is free. Sculpture in the Parklands was founded by s ...

. 10 km west of Tullamore is the village of Rahan. The remains of what was once a large monastery settlement founded by St.Carthage or Mochuda in the 6th century, can be seen in the village. Within 5 minutes drive is the

Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses e ...

of Durrow. In the middle of the 6th century, a monastery was founded here by

Saint Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

. The monastery is famous for an illuminated manuscript, written here in the 7th century, known as the

Book of Durrow The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229 Its origin ...

. There are four metal sculptures located on the N52 Tullamore bypass funded under the percentage for arts scheme where 1% of the budget is allocated to roadside art. Sculptor

Maurice Harron Maurice Harron (born 1946) is a sculptor from Derry, Northern Ireland. Harron was educated at St Columb's College. At the Ulster College of Art and Design in Belfast, he studied sculpture. Much of his work is public art sculpture and he has wo ...

created the figures presenting symbols of learning and sanctity. From the north the 1st figure holds up a

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

, the 2nd a book, the 3rd a

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...

and the 4th shows the release of a flock of birds representing souls. The figures are located on

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ame ...

ridges that the new roadway cuts through. There are also a number of churches in the town, including Tullamore Catholic Church, Tullamore Presbyterian Church and St. Catherine's Church of Ireland church.

Economy

As the county town of Offaly, many government services are located here such as the headquarters of

Offaly County Council Offaly County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Uíbh Fhailí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Offaly, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housi ...

, the Midlands Regional Hospital and HSE services. Government departments located in the town include the

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine ( ga, An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara) is a Department of State (Ireland), department of the Government of Ireland. According to the department, its mission is to "lead the sustainable dev ...

and the Department of Education and Skills. Tullamore has traditionally been an important industrial, retail and services centre for County Offaly. When the Grand Canal opened in the late 18th century, it offered increased connectivity to the town and offered an increased market for goods produced in the area.

, a brand of

Irish Whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...

was first distilled in the town in 1829. Tullamore was connected to the national railway network in 1854 by the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the l ...

company, now

Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national Rail transport in Ireland, railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal In ...

. Tullamore is also located near the boglands of the

Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen ( ga, Móin Alúine) is a large raised bog in the centre of Ireland between the rivers Liffey and Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometers (370 square miles) stretch into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County La ...

. This provided employment through the work of

Bord na Mona Cucerdea ( hu, Oláhkocsárd, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the sou ...

. Agriculture is also important to the local economy. A number of industrial estates are located in the town. For example, in Srah Industrial Estate, employers include multinationals like

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German privately held audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephone accessories and aviation headse ...

, GeneMedix,

Covidien Covidien was an Irish-headquartered global health care products company and manufacturer of medical devices and supplies. Covidien became an independent publicly traded company after being spun off from Tyco International in 2007. It was purch ...

, Isotron and Zannini.

Retail

The Bridge Centre, is one of the main shopping areas in the town centre, with shops including

Dunnes Stores Dunnes Stores is an Irish multinational retail chain that primarily sells food, clothes and household wares. In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain also has operations in Spain, and formerly in England and Scotland. The f ...

, Vero Moda, and Holland and Barrett. The Tullamore Retail Park on the Portarlington Road also has a mix of shops including

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

Heatons Heatons is an Irish department store, established in 1946. The store specialises in fashion, homeware and sporting goods. They have 21 stores around Ireland, 20 in the Republic of Ireland and one in the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen. Th ...

, Petmania, Harry Corry and Woodie's DIY. In September 2016,

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Str ...

opened in the town centre. This is the largest outlet outside of Dublin city centre and Cork.

Media

From 1975 until 24 March 2008 Tullamore was the home of

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

's principal medium-wave

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

, broadcasting the AM version of Radio 1 on 567 kHz, at a power of 500 kW. Before this, the main transmission centre had been sited near

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

. Tullamore is also home to the headquarters of

Midlands 103 Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local independent radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath. The station's offices and main broadcast studios are in Tullamore, County Offaly. It also ...

. It is home to a number of local newspapers including The Tullamore Tribune and The Offaly Independent. Tullamore features in several books by the best-selling author

Lyn Andrews Lyn Andrews (born 1943) is the pen name used by British novelist Lynda M. Andrews. Her stories centre mainly around Liverpool and Ireland. Early life Andrews was born and raised in the Liverpool suburb of Fazakerley,

Demographics

The population of Tullamore (and its environs) rose by 28.8% from 1996 to 2006 from 10,029 to 12,927. The population, of the 2011 census, was 14,361.

Transport and access

Tullamore railway station Tullamore railway station serves the town of Tullamore in County Offaly, Ireland. The station lies on the Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Westport or Ballina line. History The station first opened in Tullamore on 2 October 1854. Awards ...

, first opened on 2 October 1854, is served by trains on the Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Westport/Ballina inter-city routes. In association with the

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

urban centres,

and

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmea ...

, Tullamore forms part of what is known as the

Midlands Gateway Midlands Gateway, also known as ''Lake-Counties Gateway'', is an area centered between the Irish airports, of Dublin, Shannon, and Knock. The principle urban centres in the Midlands Gateway include Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar. The count ...

. Tullamore lies on the N52

national secondary road A national secondary road ( ga, Bóthar Náisiúnta den Dara Grád) is a category of road in Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national ...

. This connects to Birr in the southwest of the county and continues towards

which is located to the northeast. At

Kilbeggan Kilbeggan () is a town in the barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath, Ireland. Geography Kilbeggan is situated on the River Brosna, in the south of County Westmeath. It lies south of Lough Ennell, and Castletown Geoghegan, north of the bounda ...

(about 12 km north of Tullamore) the N52 forms an interchange with the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

which connects

and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

. The N80

connects Tullamore with

Killeigh Killeigh (, meaning "church of the field") is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located around south of the county town of Tullamore, on the N80 national secondary road; the Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga ...

Mountmellick Mountmellick or Mountmellic () is a town in the north of County Laois, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-wester ...

and

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above ...

, travelling in a southwards direction. A number of

regional roads In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

run through the town such as the

R420 The R420 GPU, developed by ATI Technologies, was the company's basis for its 3rd-generation DirectX 9.0/OpenGL 2.0-capable graphics cards. Used first on the Radeon X800, the R420 was produced on a 0.13 micrometer (130 nm) low-''K'' photolithog ...

connecting Tullamore to

Moate Moate (; ) is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. The name ''An Móta'' is derived from the term motte-and-bailey, as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here. The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the m ...

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...

and Portarlington, and the R421 which connects to

Kinnitty Kinnitty () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 regional roads. Name and location The village derives its name from the myth that the head of an ancient princess is buried beneath ...

N52 Tullamore Bypass

In 2009, Tullamore was bypassed by re-routing the N52 away from the town centre. The bypass is to the east of the town,N52 Tullamore Bypass Scheme
�
www.nra.ie
and is a single carriageway which leaves the previous N52 approximately southwest of Tullamore, intersecting with the

N80 road The N80 road is a national secondary road in Ireland that runs southeastwards from its junction with the N52 and R443 in the town of Tullamore in County Offaly, to the N30 at Ballynahallin, just north of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, a ...

, crossing over the Grand Canal, before rejoining the original N52 north of the town. A spur was constructed from the northern section of the route to the Tullamore Western Relief Road R443 creating in an almost-full orbital route around Tullamore. The N80 now terminates at its junction with the N52. The scheme began construction in April 2008, and was officially opened in late 2009 by then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

Sport

Tullamore has a number of sporting organisations, including

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, th ...

, association football,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

and athletics clubs.

are represented by

Tullamore GAA Tullamore GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The club is concerned with both hurling and Gaelic football and competes in Offaly GAA competitions. History Honours * Offaly Senio ...

, Ballinamere GAA and Durrow GAA. Tullamore GAA won four senior football championships and one senior hurling championship in the early 21st century. Between football and hurling championships, Tullamore is the most successful club in the history of

Offaly GAA The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Uíbh Fhailí) or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly. Sepa ...

. Ballinamere won the intermediate hurling championship in 2013, and therefore play senior hurling along with Tullamore. Durrow partakes in the senior 'B' football championship.

O'Connor Park O'Connor Park ( ga, Páirc Uí Chonchúir) is a GAA stadium in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. It is one of the principal grounds of the Offaly GAA Gaelic football and hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team ga ...

is the Offaly GAA home stadium for both the Offaly

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of pla ...

teams. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 following an upgrade in 2006. The ground consists of a covered stand on one side of the pitch, with terracing on the other three. A stand was built in 1991 but replaced by the current structure in 2006. It seats 7,000 people and also includes a press box and a special section for wheelchair users.

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

(soccer) is represented by Tullamore Town F.C. This club was founded in 1941 and have teams in the Leinster Senior League, Combined Counties League (2nd team Women's and Youths) and the Midland Schoolboys League. Tullamore Rugby Club was founded in 1937 and is based in

Spollenstown Glassan or Glasson (), also ''the Village of the Roses'' is a small village in rural County Westmeath, Ireland. It is north of Athlone, on the N55 national secondary road, not far from the shores of Lough Ree. History and layout The village ...

. The Tullamore 1sts team was successful in 2012 as Ulster Bank All Ireland Jnr Cup Champions. Tullamore Harriers caters for athletics in the town, and was founded in 1953. Other leisure facilities include the Aura Leisure Centre Tullamore, located on Hophill Road, which has a full gym suite and a 25-metre swimming pool. Tullamore Golf Club has been situated at Brookfield since 1926 and has an 18-hole championship parkland golf course. It was rated among the top 25 parkland courses in Ireland in ''Backspin'''s 2014 Irish

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

Course Rankings.

Education

Tullamore has several primary schools. There are several Catholic schools, a Church of Ireland school, a Gaelscoil and an Educate Together school. There are three secondary schools in the town; Tullamore College, a coeducational, multidenominational vocational school, the Sacred Heart School, a Catholic all-girls school and Coláiste Choilm, a Catholic all-boys school.

People

Notable current and former residents of Tullamore include: *

Conor Brady Conor Brady is an Irish journalist, novelist and academic. He was the editor of ''The Irish Times'' between 1986 and 2002. Early life Brady was born in Dublin and spent his early childhood in Tullamore in County Offaly, Ireland. He received hi ...

, former editor of ''The Irish Times'' *

Yvonne Farrell Yvonne Farrell (born 1951) is an Irish architect and academic. She is the co-founder, together with Shelley McNamara, of Grafton Architects, which won the World Building of the Year award in 2008 for their Bocconi University building in Milan ...

(born 1951), architect *

Gerald Gardner Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist. He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary ...

(1922–2009),

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

and social activist whose statistical analysis led to the banning of

classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements use ...

segregated by gender in a 1973 ruling by the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

* Michael Kelly (1929-2021), Jesuit missionary active in the fight against AIDS in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

Alfie Lambe Alphonsus Lambe ( Tullmore, Ireland, 24 June 1932 – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 21 January 1959) known as Alfie Lambe was an Irish-born Roman Catholic lay-missionary and envoy of the Legion of Mary to South America. Background Born at Tullamore ...

(1932–1959), missionary and founder of

Legion of Mary The Legion of Mary ( la, Legio Mariae, postnominal abbreviation L.O.M.) is an international association of members of the Catholic Church who serve it on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, as a Marian movement by the layman and c ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...

(born 1947), traditional Irish musician and performer * James Nolan (born 1977), middle-distance athlete, silver medallist at the 2000 European Indoor Championships *

Sister Genevieve O'Farrell Sister Genevieve O'Farrell (born Mary O'Farrell; 22 March 1923 – 29 December 2001) was an Irish educator and member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. She served as the principal of St. Louise's Comprehensive College in Belf ...

(1923–2001), Irish educator and college principal *

Tom Scully Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally ...

(1930–2020), priest and manager of the county football team *

Pat Burke Patrick John Burke (born December 14, 1973) is an Irish former professional basketball player. Burke (whose family moved from Tullamore, Ireland, to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was three years old) competed in the National Basketball Association ...

, the first Irish-born player to play basketball in the NBA.

Gallery

File:Hugh Lynch's Pub Kilbride Street Tullamore Co Offaly.jpg, Hugh Lynchs Pub File:Tullamore Court Hotel, March 2011 (02).JPG, Tullamore Court Hotel File:Grand Canal at Bury Quai Tullamore Co. Offaly - geograph.org.uk - 1365144.jpg, Grand Canal File:Collumcillie Street Tullamore Co.Offaly - geograph.org.uk - 1365228.jpg, Columcille Street

References

External links

Tullamore

Tullamore Chamber

Tullamore Show

{{Authority control County towns in the Republic of Ireland Towns and villages in County Offaly