Maynooth - History, Bond Bridge Redevelopment

53º23N 6º35W, pop (2001e) 10 000. Historic town in Co Kildare, E Ireland; located 25 km/15 mi W of Dublin; birthplace of George Barrington; railway; university; Maynooth College (1795) training seminary for priests; castle (1175) was home of the Fitzgeralds (earls of Kildare) and the political capital of the country during 15th–16th-c; St Mary's Church (originally 13th-c); rapidly growing commuter town for Dublin; service and retail centre.

For the Canadian town, see Maynooth, Ontario.

Maynooth (Maigh Nuad in Irish) is a town located in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is located on the R148 road between Leixlip and Kilcock, with the M4 motorway bypassing the town.

Two third-level educational institutions -- St. Patrick's College, Maynooth founded by King George III in 1795 and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth founded in 1997 -- are located in the town.

Despite the lower figures quoted by census results, the true population of the town is anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000.

History

The town is a major historical centre, with Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster.

The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-gothic revival style.

In the 1920s, the town was the unofficial home to the King's representative in Ireland, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, who declined to take up official residence in the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, and whose family operated a hardware store in the town until 2005, the only store with an Irish language name in the town for many years.

The famed Connolly's Folly is also near the town, although it is arguably in Celbridge, as it is much closer to it, but is covered by Maynooth's very large town boundaries. Amenities

The town is the main retail and other service centre for North Kildare and South Meath, with branches of SuperValu, Tesco Ireland, Aldi and Lidl, as well as a wide variety of non-chain stores. In October 2005, Dunnes Stores opened a major shopping centre off the town's main street, Manor Mills.

The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann western commuter rail services, as well as a being served by the Sligo InterCity service.

In the mid-1980s the town gained some minor fame for having the first callcard phones in Ireland.

Bond Bridge Redevelopment

Rebuilding work on the historic Bond Bridge, built in 1798, on the road to Rathcoffey is nearing completion (September 2006).

The opening of a relief road linking the housing estates on the Rathcoffey road to the Straffan road allowed the start of the bridge renovation.