Clonbullogue
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Clonbullogue or Clonbolloge () is a village in
County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...
, Ireland.


Location

The village is located at the junction of the R401 and R442 regional roads. The '' Figile River'' runs through the village under the R442 near its confluence with the ''Philipstown River''. Between the village and Edenderry, 11 km to the north, lies the
Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen () is a large raised bog in the centre of Republic of Ireland, Ireland between the rivers River Liffey, Liffey and River Shannon, Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometres (370 square miles) stretch into counties County Offaly, ...
. Clonbullogue is located near the point where three counties— Offaly,
Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...
and
Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...
meet. The village is on an island of pasture land in the bog of Allen. The area is marked on the Cottonian map 1653 of Leix & Offaly as Clanbolg. In the
1659 Events January–March * January 14 – In the Battle of the Lines of Elvas, fought near the small city of Elvas in Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War, the Spanish Army under the command of Luis Méndez de Haro s ...
Census, Robert Shallcross was listed as the titled person in the area. In 1679, Charles II granted this area to the Purefoy family and for a time the village was called Purefoy's Place. In
1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of ...
, the village was burned—the only part of Offaly to suffer this fate during the Rebellion. Two of the Wexford leaders, Colonel
Anthony Perry Anthony Perry (c. 1760– 21 July 1798), known as the "''screeching general''" was one of the most important leaders of the United Irishmen, United Irish Wexford rebels during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, 1798 rebellion. Background Perry was ...
and Father Mogue Kearns were captured here and were later hanged at Edenderry for their part in the 1798 Rebellion. In 1883, Father Comerford wrote: "''The village of Clonbullogue which is situated on the Little Barrow presents a decayed and ruinous appearance, some of the larger houses having been burned during the rebellion of 1798''".


Population

As of the 2016 census, the population of the village was 436. The village population expanded in the 1950s to accommodate the workers employed to develop the area's bogs as an energy resource under the guidance of the Irish state company Bord na Móna. The village population suffered severe declines from famine, poverty and emigration from the mid-1840s. In 1861 the population of the village was 110, and by 1871 had fallen to 79.


Heritage

Antiquities in the area include the Clonkeen stone. This is said to be 340 million years old and legend has it that the stone was thrown from Croghan Hill by Fionn MacCumhaill. Other sites includes the remains of a togher at Ballykilleen, the ruins of Cloncrane Church, a ring-barrow at Shean and a sheela-na-gig from Ballynowlart and Clonsast. The last was an important religious site in early monastic Ireland.


Clonbullogue airfield

Clonbullogue airfield is owned and operated by the Irish Parachute Club who are based at the field. The airfield has one east–west grass strip runway which is 770m long and 18m wide. There are six aircraft based on the field, most of them owned by the Irish Parachute Club. The airfield is located about west of Clonbullogue village and lies under a restricted airspace designated EI-R16. On 13 May 2018 a plane from this airfield carrying 16 parachutists crashed, killing the pilot and a seven-year-old boy.


Sport

Clonbullogue soccer club known as Saint Patricks won the Division 2 league in 2004. GAA club won the junior championship in the 1980s and played intermediate until 2013 when they were relegated to junior again. They won the junior A championship again in 2015 promoting them to intermediate once again.


People

With the conquest of Ireland from the Cromwellian wars onwards, Clonbullogue was extensively planted by colonialists. Quaker families were common under the plantations. Present day local family names can reflect these plantations. In 1731, Rev. Boyle Travers, Protestant Rector of Rathangan and Clonmore (which includes part of this area) noted, "I bless God for the comforting assurance I have that there is no reputed friary, nunnery, friars, nuns or Popish schools". * Eamon Broy, former Garda Commissioner, was born near Clonbullogue in
1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...
and is buried in a nearby cemetery. * Alex Dunne, motorsport racing driver, winner of the 2022
F4 British Championship The F4 British Championship (full name Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA, formerly known as F4 British Championship certified by FIA — powered by Ford (2016–21), MSA Formula (2015)) is a single-seater motorsport seri ...
* Jasper Robert Joly 1819–1892, was born at Clonsast. He donated his extensive library of 23,000 printed volumes and unbound papers to the Royal Dublin Society in
1863 Events January * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing ...
. When the National Library was established the Joly collection formed the nucleus of the new national institution.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland


References

{{County Offaly Towns and villages in County Offaly