Kinnegad () is a town in

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

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 ...

. It is on the border with

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. From 1996 to 2016, there was a considerable increase in Kinnegad's population, from 517 to 2,745 inhabitants. According to the 2016 census, approximately 79% of the town's housing stock (715 out of 907 households) was built between 1991 and 2010.

Transport

Kinnegad is primarily a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, serving Dublin via the N4 and the M4 motorway. Citylink and Bus Éireann both serve Kinnegad towards Dublin, in addition to private company Kearns. There is no

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the town; it was served by the station at Hill of Down (which was originally called Kinnegad when it opened in 1847) until its closure in 1947. As of 2019, there were calls for the reopening of the train station at Killucan, to serve both Killucan and Rathwire and Kinnegad, but this is unlikely before extra capacity is available on the Dublin-Sligo railway line.

Education

The town has a large national school, Saint Etchen's Kinnegad N.S. The school consists of two separate buildings, Scoil Etchen Naofa (built-in 1984) and the Cardinal Glennon building (built-in 2008). The renovation was necessary due to an increase in population. It is run by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

but non-Catholic children can attend the school. There was a campaign by the Kinnegad Steering Group during the 2010s in favour of the development of a secondary school in the town, but as of 2019 this had yet to materialise.

Religious sites

The Catholic church of St. Mary's Church of the Assumption is in Kinnegad. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath. The then arch-bishop, Seán Brady, visited the church on 7 June 2009, in honour of its 100-year anniversary. There are bullet holes visible in the stations of the cross in the church which were made by the

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

in the 1920s.

Sport

The local

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

team is Coralstown/Kinnegad Gaelic Football Club, which fields teams for both male and female players aged from under eight through to senior level. The club's colours are red shirts and socks, and white shorts. The club has three pitches and a clubhouse with four dressing rooms, toilets, and a gym. The town also has an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, Kinnegad Juniors Athletic Football Club, which was founded in 2005. Kinnegad Juniors play at Lagan Park (now known as Breedon Park) on the Killucan Road, Kinnegad. The club caters to boys and girls from the ages of 6–19 and also has a senior men's and women's team.

References

External links

Strategic Development Framework for the Midlands Gateway; General statistic & regional information
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Westmeath