Maynooth

Maynooth (Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Pontifical University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St Patrick's College. Maynooth is also the seat of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference and holds the headquarters of Ireland's largest development charity, Trócaire.

Location and access
Maynooth is located on the R148 road between Leixlip and Kilcock, with the M4 motorway bypassing the town. Other roads connect the town to Celbridge, Clane, and Dunboyne. Maynooth is also on the Dublin to Sligo rail line and is served by a commuter train service.

Etymology
Maynooth comes from or Maigh Nuadhad, meaning "plain of Nuadha". Maigh Nuad is the modern spelling. Nuadha was one of the gods of the ancient Irish, corresponding to Nudd of Wales and Nodens of ancient Britain and Gaul.

History
Maynooth was a long-term centre for the Geraldine family, who dominated Irish affairs in various periods.

In the 1920s, the town was the unofficial home to the King's representative in Ireland, Governor General 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.

Historical features
The town has, at either end of the main street, Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The castle was overrun in 1535, after the rebellion of the Earl.

The village is just inside the western edge of The Pale. Ronan Gallagher was kicked out of Maynooth in late 2013. He is also getting kicked out of Sligo.

The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College and some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-Gothic revival style. The "new range" of buildings was erected by A. W. N. Pugin in 1850 under a commission from then college president Laurence F. Renehan, while the College Chapel was designed and completed by James Joseph McCarthy during the presidency of Dr. Robert Browne in 1894.

The famed Conolly'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 extensive town boundaries. It was known to be the gateway to the west as the main route from Dublin.

There are three old monastic settlements in the vicinity of Maynooth, including Laraghbryan and its cemetery, Taghadoe and its Round Tower and Grangewilliam(Donaghmore).

Population
The population of 12,510 makes it the fifth largest village in Kildare and the 35th largest in Ireland. Measurement can be difficult as much of the village's population is transient – students at NUI Maynooth or St. Patrick's College, or temporary employees at the nearby Intel and Hewlett Packard facilities (both located in Leixlip).

Education
Two third-level educational institutions – St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, founded under King George III in 1795 to educate Ireland's Roman Catholics, and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, separated from St. Patrick's College in 1997 – are located in the town. They share campus space and many facilities. NUI Maynooth is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city. There is one secondary school (Maynooth Post Primary), and four primary schools: a girls' school, a boys' school, an Educate Together school, and an Irish-speaking school.

Kildare VEC has received patronage authority to build a second secondary school, albeit their desire is to split the existing one to senior and junior schools instead.

Amenities
The town contains a fire station, in addition to the area's part-time Garda station, a health centre, a branch library and a Credit Union. In the mid-1980s the town gained some minor fame for having the first callcard phones in Ireland.

Churches
Maynooth is served by two churches named St. Mary's, one St. Mary's Church of Ireland(Anglican) which is incorporated into the walls of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, and St. Mary's Roman Catholic church where the Kilcock Road, turns into Maynooth Village, serving the Maynooth Parish of St. Mary's and Ladychapel. Also close by is the former Moyglare Church which is used as the Church of Ireland, Meath & Kildare Diocesan Centre. Maynooth Community Church is a congregation linked to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

Economy
The town is the main retail and 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. This centre contains a number of other high street names, such as Easons and Elvery's Sports. Tesco is open 24 hours, Dunnes Stores also formerly did so. On 18 January 2007 Tesco Ireland announced plans to demolish its existing store in Maynooth (the same store having been demolished and rebuilt only seven years previously) and build a larger shopping centre, anchored by a Tesco Extra store, on a neighbouring site. The new centre is known as Carton Park, after nearby Carton House. The Tesco Extra portion of the new shopping centre opened on 3 November 2008, with Heatons, Sports World, Next Children and Boots. A number of shops that formed part of the former Maynooth Shopping Centre remain open on the old site.

Canal
Maynooth is on the Royal Canal, navigable from central Dublin to this point, now used mostly for leisure purposes. It provided an important stopping point before Dublin in the period directly before the coming of the railways to Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. The harbour, known locally as Dukes Harbour is roughly triangular in shape and on the north side of the canal, opposite the railway station is a popular fishing area.

Rail
Maynooth railway station is one of the busiest in the Dublin / Kildare region, serving as it does two major educational institutions. The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann Western Commuter trains, as well as being served by the Sligo InterCity service.

Bus
Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann services also serve the town. A number of private operators also serve the town, linking it with nearby towns and cities.

Golf

 * GUI National Golf Academy is located in Maynooth. It has a driving range, putting green and short game area, as well as lessons.

Pitch & Putt
Elm Hall Golf Club, Celebridge provides two 18 hole Pitch & Putt courses. Societies from Maynooth play Pitch & Putt every Sunday morning.

Rugby
The North Kildare Rugby Club is the local rugby club and is situated about 3 km from Maynooth on the Kilcock road. Additionally, the nearby rugby club NUIM Barnhall is run in connection with the University in Maynooth. It is, however, sited in and more commonly associated with Leixlip.

Maynooth Native Bob Casey is a professional rugby player and Ireland international. Casey has represented Ireland at Schools, U19, U21, Ireland 'A' and U25 levels. He made his senior debut against Australia in 1999. Casey has six caps for Ireland. When he played for Ireland against Canada in May 2009, it was his first cap since 2000. He Currently Plays for London Irish.

He has also played for the Barbarians.

Gaelic games

 * Maynooth GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club and compete in the senior football championship in Kildare since 2009.

Soccer

 * Maynooth Town F.C. is the local soccer club.

Horseracing

 * Maynooth is home to the thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation, Moyglare Stud Farm.

Athletics
Le Chéile Athletic Club