Crinkill (), sometimes spelt Crinkle, 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 Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, close to Birr. Crinkill was designated as a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

by the Central Statistics Office for the first time in the 2016 census, at which time it had a population of 682 people.

History

The village originally grew up around a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

military barracks, Birr Barracks, which was constructed around 1805. However, the barracks was abandoned by the British army around the time of Irish independence, and was burnt down in July 1922 as a result of the civil war that followed. Today only the ruins of the outer wall remain. In 2013, the Regimental Association of the

Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foo ...

erected a memorial to commemorate the regiment's strong linkages with the area.

Features

The Thatch, a 200-year-old thatched restaurant and bar in the center of Crinkill, has been in the same family ownership for nearly 200 years. The Thatch has won several awards, including the Offaly Pub of the Year and the All Ireland Pub Of The Year in 1999 and 2001.

Education

Crinkill National School is the local national (primary) school.

Sport

The village is home to Crinkill

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

and Handball Club. Together with neighbouring clubs Carrig and Riverstown the club fields teams at all levels in the name of CRC Gaels. Kevin Breen, a member of the East Tennessee State University cross country team known as the Irish Brigade, is a native of Crinkle. Breen was member of the ETSU team that placed second in the 1972 NCAA Division One cross country championships in Houston, Texas. He competed for Tullamore Harriers and has won Irish National Track championships medals.

References

{{reflist Towns and villages in County Offaly