Everything about Ballyragget totally explained
Ballyragget is a small
town with a population of 1,451 people in
County Kilkenny,
Ireland. It is located north of
Kilkenny on the
N77.
Béal Atha Raghad means 'Mouth of Ragget's Ford'. The name 'Ragget' is
Anglo-Norman in origin, and denotes a once-prominent
Norman landowner Richard le Ragget who held these lands in the early part of the 13th century.
Older names of the
settlement include 'Donoughmore' ('Large Church') and an even more
ancient 'Tullabarry' - the name of a
Celtic or possibly pre-Celtic tribe which held their seat in the vicinity. There is some debate as to the meaning of Donoughmore. The very first Journal of the
Kilkenny Archaeological Society "Old Kilkenny Review, Number 1 (1946–1947). January 1948" has an article about Ballyragget and its environs and states the belief that Domhnach Mór means Big Sunday and relates to the fact that thousands of people congregated at the now ruined church in Donoughmore for its opening on a Sunday and the name stuck.
Ballyragget is the birthplace of
Mabel Esmonde Cahill, a champion
tennis player who in the nineteenth century won the U.S. Open and held the singles, doubles and mixed titles for 1891-92.
Location
The
River Nore flows beside the town, which nestles in a wide alluvial valley between the
Castlecomer Plateau and several hills to the west, including 'Knockmannon' and 'The Ballock'. The Nore passes by one of the most significant ancient sites in North Kilkenny south of Ballyragget at
Rathbeagh. The statistical Ballyragget Geographical Area is recorded by the CSO as containing 26.67 km².
To the north lies the town of
Durrow in
County Laois, to the south the River Nore flows on towards
Kilkenny City.
The town itself is dominated by a large
medieval keep, fallen into disrepair, and its adjoining walls. This tower dates roughly from the time of
Queen Elizabeth I. A large
Catholic Church also sits on a rise overlooking the town's central square.
Demographics
Statistics available from the
Central Statistics Office of Ireland show that Ballyragget's population had reached 1,451 persons in the 2006 census. The figures show that there was a 14.1% increase in population from 2002 to 2006. The Ballyragget
Electoral Area contained 15,417 people in 2006. These figures correspond to a section of North Kilkenny, including
Castlecomer,
Freshford and
Urlingford.
The majority of residents in Ballyragget are nominally
Roman Catholic, although there are minority
Protestant and non-religious populations.
Local economy
Agriculture and the
Agri-Food Industry are the largest employers, with the large
Glanbia factory across the river dominating the town's industry for the past forty years. The plant at Ballyragget is the largest multi-purpose integrated dairy plant in Europe, and Glanbia plc can trace its roots to the Avonmore
co-operative founded in Ballyragget in the 1960s.
A large percentage of the town's residents are employed in the services sector in nearby Kilkenny City and in
Carlow, with some also commuting to
Dublin.
Politics
Local politics is at present dominated by
Fine Gael and
Labour, with four of the five local authority seats having gone to those parties in the 2004 local elections.
Fianna Fáil retains strong historical support in the region however, and local politics is best described as conforming to the
'Civil War' cleavage common to many other rural towns in Ireland.
At national level, Ballyragget, as part of the
Carlow-Kilkenny constituency, is represented by 5
Teachtaí Dála in
Dáil Eireann. The current representatives, who were
elected on the 24th May 2007 for a five year term, are:
Ballyragget is represented along with the rest of the
Ireland East constituency by three MEPs in the
European Parliament. They are:
Liam Aylward (Fianna Fáil - UEN)
Avril Doyle (Fine Gael - EPP)
Mairead McGuinness (Fine Gael - EPP)
Ballyragget today
The town is currently undergoing a significant expansion as a large number of new homes, along with shops and other services, have been constructed in its environs.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ballyragget'.
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