Mullingar
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Template:Infobox Irish Place Mullingar (An Muileann gCearr in Irish, meaning "the left-handed mill") is the administrative centre of County Westmeath, Ireland and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath, as well as having a town council.The town and its hinterland have a combined population of some 23,000 inhabitants (Council estimate, March 2005), with just over 15,000 living in the legally-defined area of the town and its immediate environs.
The town had a proud tradition of cattle-trading up until 2003, when its cattle market was finally closed for development of a mixed commercial and residental scheme called the Market Point. The fame of the fine beasts to be seen at the Mullingar marts spawned the popular Irish phrase "beef to the heels like a Mullingar heifer" (an unkind remark about ladies with less than slender ankles).
Mullingar is also famous for the neighbouring lakes, Lough Owel and Lough Ennell, which attract many anglers, as well as Lough Derravaragh. Lough Derravaragh is best known for its connection with the Irish legend of the Children of Lir. After being turned into swans, the four children of King Lir spent three hundred years on Lough Derravaragh before moving to other locations around Ireland. In recent times one of Mullingar's major exports has become the items of fine pewterware produced by the firm of Mullingar Pewter located near the town.
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Transport
Roads
Mullingar lies on national primary route N4, the main Dublin - Sligo road, 79 km (49 miles) from the capital. The town is served by a Bus Éireann service to Dublin and Athlone where passengers can catch connecting buses.
The town currently suffers from heavy afternoon traffic partially caused by a lack of off-street parking (however an underground carpark has recently been constructed to help solve this problem). The town is bypassed and a ring road is nearing completion in a bid to further alleviate traffic. A new road to Athlone is also in the planning stages.
Waterways
In the 19th century the town was served for a time by the Royal Canal - however displaced first by the railway and then the car, it is no longer commercially used for the transport of goods or people.
Railways
The Midland Great Western Railway line to Mullingar from Dublin opened in stages from 1846 to 1848, arriving in Mullingar on 2nd October 1848. This was to a temporary station, adjacent to the greyhound stadium. The original mainline ran from Dublin (Broadstone) to Galway via Mullingar and Athlone, the Mullingar to Galway section opening in August 1851. The present station opened with the branch line Longford on 14th December, 1855.
There were two secondary stations in Mullingar, Canal Crossing cattle bank was on the Sligo Line and on the Athlone Line, Newbrook racecourse had its own station. This was unique in that it was a two platformed station with both platforms on the Down Line.
Nowadays, the line to southeast to Longford and northwest to Sligo is the mainline, Galway is accessed from Heuston Station via Portarlington and the line between Mullingar and Athlone is disused. Mullingar station is served by national rail company Iarnród Éireann's Arrow commuter services to Dublin and InterCity trains to/from Sligo. Calls have been made for the line to Athlone via Moate to be reopened to facilitate more services between Galway and Dublin.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland have a secondary base in the town.
Industry
Mullingar contains several industrial estates including Lough Sheever Corperate Park and the Lynn Industrial estate. Two of the towns major manufacturing plants - Penn tennis balls and Tarkett [1] - both closed in the early 2000's causing many job losses. However newer industries have absorbed the job losses - including P.E.M. Engineering [2], Trend Technologies [3],Taconic International [4], and Mullingar Pewter [5] which are all sizeable operations. The town is also home to a Van Nelle (Ireland) (a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco) tobacco factory which has provided employment for many years and Iralco - an automotive component manufacture is located near the town. The town recently won a ?25m Lidl Warehouse and distribution center which will employ between 100 and 150. There is currently talk of building an IDA Business Park in the town. A major addition to the towns telecommunications infastrucure - a broadband network - was completed in 2004 - this is expected to increase the areas attractiveness to large multinational companies.
Commerce
Image:Mullingar2.jpg Mullingar has a vibrant commercial sector. It has expanded rapidly in recent years from just a few shops on the main streets of the town - Oliver Plunkett St., Austin Friars St., and Mount St. - to several major shopping areas. There is an out of town retail park at Lakepoint (about a mile from the town center), the shopping center 'Harbour Place' near the town center and a new development at the Green - the site of the former Avonmore and Pennys units.
The town has a good mix of chain stores (Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Pennys, Lidl, SuperValu, Boots and more) and local retailers. The town also has branches of all the major banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland etc. and building societies - First Active, EBS etc.
Mullingar also boosts a Farmers Market which is held every Sunday and a small market which is located around the Pennys parking lot near the Green.
Tourism
Mullingar's main tourist attractions are its lakes - Lough Owel and Lough Ennell - which are popular among anglers - and Belvedere House and Gardens which is heavily promoted for its beauty. The town has several hotels - the Greville Arms Hotel, Bloomfield House Hotel and the 4 star Park Hotel which houses a conference centre among others.
Notable citizens and buildings
- Mullingar is the home town of the well-known singer Joe Dolan and of Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair.
- Mullingar is the home town of author and Joycean scholar Leo Daly, whose books include, "The Rock Garden", and "James Joyce and the Mullingar Connection"
- Patrick Graham, one of Ireland's most highly rated artists, was born in Mullingar in 1943
- Mullingar's most famous building is the cathedral of Christ the King, the cathedral of the Diocese of Meath.
Image:Mullingar.jpg
And of course, the excellent optician Mr.Brendan Egan. (Mr. Specs, reading champion runer-up 1974 & 1976).
