Carrigtwohill

Carrigtwohill ("Carraig Tuathaill" in Irish) is a town in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland with a population of 4,869 (2006). It is located east of Cork city alongside the N25 road and is part of Metropolitan Cork. Due to its rapid growth in recent years, a railway station is on target for a 2008 opening connecting the surrounding suburbs of Cork with the city centre through the development of the Cork Suburban Rail.

Many large corporations have premises in the I.D.A. Business Park to the west of the town, including GE Healthcare, Stryker, Sifco, Millipore and Proscon. However the town was dealt a major blow in October 2007 when the biotechnology giant Amgen scrapped indefinitely its partially constructed plant at Ballyadam on the outskirts of Carrigtwohill. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/health-SP/idUSL0315246720071003 Amgen shelves plans to build drugs plant in Ireland | Reuters ] ]

Many new housing developments are currently under construction in Carrigtwohill, including Castlelake to the west, and Cul Ard to the north.

Gaelic Athletic Association is very strong in Carrigtwohill. The GAA have excellent facilities in the town, with a modern gymnasium, added to three playing pitches, one of which is floodlit. Carrigtwohill have an intermediate premier hurling team. In 2007, they won the Cork County Premier Intermediate Hurling championship, leading to promotion to Senior grade next. The minor team also won the Minor 'A' Hurling championship that year in a double victory for G.A.A. in the town.

History

In his book "Church and Parish Records" (1903), the Rev. J.H. Cole of the Church of Ireland said that the name Carrigtwohill is derived from "Thuahill" meaning left handed, or North. It is so called because, whereas most of the rocks in that part of the country run east-west, the rocks at Carrigtwohill run north-south.

As early as 1234, Carrigtwohill appeared in written documents as "Karrectochell" and "Carrigtoghill", and in 1289 as "Carigthottel".

Places of interest

*The huge rock from which Carrigtwohill derives its name is about half a mile north-eastwards of the village itself, and is in the townland of Carrigane. The rock is honeycombed with caves; some are very large and extend for miles underground where very beautiful stalactites are to be found. Tradition has it that a goat once entered one of these caves, emerging in the townland of Ballintubrid, a few miles southwards. The cave where the goat emerged is called "Poll an Gabair", meaning The Goat’s Hole.

*The village is the home of the ruins of Barryscourt Castle. The castle was originally built in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 16th century. The castle grounds house a cafe and a gift shop.

Transport

The original Carrigtwohill railway station was opened on 2 November 1859, closed for goods traffic on 2 December 1974 and fully closed from 6 September 1976. [cite web | title=Carrigtwohill station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-08-30] A new station is planned for 2008.

External links

* [http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/2006PreliminaryReport.pdf/ Census 2006 preliminary report]
* [http://www.carrigtwohillcommunity.ie Carrigtwohill Community Council ]
* [http://www.carrigtwohillresourcecentre.ie/ Carrigtwohill Family Resource Centre ]
* [http://www.carrigtwohillunited.com/ Carrigtwohill United AFC, soccer club]
* [http://www.carrigtwohillgaa.com/ Carrigtwohill GAA Club]
* [http://homepage.eircom.net/~carrigbc/cbchome.htm Carrigtwohill Badminton Club]
* [http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricSites/South/BarryscourtCastleCork/ Heritage Ireland - Barryscourt Castle (Cork)]

See also

*List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
*Fota Island

References