civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
within the
barony of Galmoy
Galmoy () is a barony in the north western part of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is one of 12 baronies in County Kilkenny. The size of the barony is . There are 12 civil parishes in Galmoy. While it is named after the village of Galmoy, t ...
. It is located in the north west of
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the ...
, along the boundary with
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...
, in
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
,
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 ...
.
Access
The town lies on the
R639
The R639 road is one of Ireland's regional roads. Once designated the N8 national primary road (and before that some fractions were designated as the T6 and others as the T9), it was reclassified in stages as the R639 following the progressi ...
. The M8 motorway runs just west of the town, from which both Urlingford and nearby Johnstown are accessed via junction four. Urlingford is a bus hub, with major operator JJ Kavanagh and Sons based there. Situated from
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 ...
and from Cork, Urlingford has long been a resting point for travellers halfway between the Republic of Ireland's two largest cities. As a result, until September 2013 the
Bus Éireann
Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subs ...
Dublin to Cork bus service called here. It is now replaced by route 828 which connects with express buses at
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 ...
The Irish name ''Áth na nUrlainn'' means "ford of the slaughter" and has been anglicised as ''Aghnenurlin'', ''Aghnenoorlin'', ''Awnanoorlin'' and similar.
History
In 1526, Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, gave possession of the lands of Urlingford to John Tobin and Nicolas Mothing (chaplins). The earlier settlement was focused around the castle, church and graveyard.
The town had an organised planned growth with traditional plot patterns. It was built over a cut-over bog, an extension to the Templetuohy Bog, much of which has been reclaimed. Urlingford is a linear town around the focused primary axis, the Main Street. In 1837 it was the centre of manufacture of coarse stuffs, flannels, and worsteds, and carries on an extensive retail trade with the surrounding districts.
The town was recorded on
Griffith's Valuation
Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868.
Griffith's background
Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examinat ...
in 1864. Urlingford has taken part in the Tidy Towns Competition.
Rivers
A minor tributary of the River Nore, the River Goul, enters the town from the southeast. It sources 6 kilometers away from the town in the Slieveardagh hills. The river passes under the Main Street and towards the bridge at Urlingford Castle (and mill).
Buildings
There is a library in Urlingford which is based in the old courthouse.Urlingford Castle and mill are located in Urlingford.
Sport
Emeralds GAA
Emeralds GAA is a junior Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Urlingford, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The club was founded in 1972 and almost exclusively fields teams in hurling.
They spent 14 seasons in intermediate grade in Kilkenny b ...
is a junior
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...