Mornington, County Meath
| Mornington Baile Uí Mhornáin | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
|
Maiden Tower, Mornington, and Mouth of River Boyne | |
  Mornington Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 53°43′17″N 6°17′2″W / 53.72139°N 6.28389°WCoordinates: 53°43′17″N 6°17′2″W / 53.72139°N 6.28389°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Meath |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.19 km2 (0.85 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1 m (3 ft) |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | O149759 |
Mornington (Irish: Baile Uí Mhornáin, meaning "Town of the Mariner/Fisherman") is a coastal town on the banks of the River Boyne in County Meath, Ireland approximately 5 km downriver from the Centre of Drogheda. Together with the neighbouring villages of Laytown and Bettystown it comprises the census town of Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington with a combined population of 10,889 at the 2011 Census, which is part of the wider area collectively known as East Meath.
The large townland of 1,223 acres (4.95 km2) is bounded on the north by the River Boyne and on the east by the Irish Sea. The point of land were the Boyne turns South-East before entering the sea is known locally as "The Crook".
Mornington can also refer to a larger area, a half-parish, within the Laytown-Mornington RC Parish established in 1986, formerly part of the Parish of St. Mary's in Drogheda. The area of Mornington was also considered part of the Civil Parish of Colpe, a much older name for the area at the mouth of the Boyne. It appears in Samuel Lewis's "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland" (1837) under Colpe, or Colpe-cum-Mornington.
Maiden Tower and the Lady's Finger
Mornington also contains the Maiden Tower and the Lady's Finger, two structures most likely to have been navigational aids for ships entering the River Boyne. The original name of the Maiden Tower was Mayden Tower. The area then known as Maydenhayes. The title Lord of Maydenhayes is currently in possession of Edmund J. McCormick, Jr, of Far Hills, New Jersey in the United States. The tower was already in existence by 1582 when it was proposed to build at Ringsend a tower of such height and strength as shalbe of a perpetual continuance like the tower at Drogheda.[1][2][3]
Public transport
Bus Éireann route 190 provides several daily services between Laytown and Drogheda via Bettystown and Mornington.[4] Mornington is served by rail by both Drogheda train station and Laytown train station.
Fisheries
Mornington was traditionally a fishing village based on salmon fishing and mussel dredging on the River Boyne. The mussel fishing involved a particular currach-style boat or punt and a mussel rake dredged by hand similar to that on the River Conwy in North Wales. These can be seen in these images of mussel dredging in the 1990s. In 2006 the Drogheda Port Company undertook silt dredging from Tom Roe's Point deepwater berth to the viaduct at Drogheda. Mussel fishing has been suspended since.
Religion
There is one church in Mornington, it is Roman Catholic and known as the Star of the Sea (Irish: Réalt ná Mara). It is actually sited inside the townland of Donacarney Little, and was dedicated in 1989 to replace an earlier Star of the Sea church in Mornington townland. The latter, built in 1841, is located down the road overlooking the point were Colpe stream enters the Boyne at the bridge at Mornington. It replaced in its turn a pre-Reformation church, whose ruins are located in the old graveyard adjoining. St. Patrick is said to have landed here, the mouth of the Boyne, anciently called "Inbhear Colpa", on his way to Tara, though the church was traditionally dedicated to St. Columba. A former holy well dedicated to St. John was located near the new church in an area known as "The Glen" close to the Colpe stream. Its pattern were supressed by a local priest in times past.
Sport
Boyne RFC is planning to build a state-of-the-art facility in Mornington.
Education
There are two schools in Donacarney and these are sometimes said to be in Mornington. They are Realt Na Mara BNS and Realt Na Mara GNS
A new secondary school (Colaiste na hInse) has been built in Laytown which services the east Meath area. The two existing schools are to be replaced with two newer and bigger schools, with 24 teachers each.
Title of "Earl of Mornington"
The title Earl of Mornington has been one of the greatest British aristocratic titles for centuries. Originally a British peerage, it is now a courtesy title. The current holder of the earldom is Arthur Darcy Wellesley (born 2010), the son of Arthur Gerald Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and his wife Jemma, née Kidd, who is the sister of Jodie Kidd. The father of Field-Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington was the 1st Earl of Mornington. Many places in Australia and across the world were named in honour of the second Earl, a brother of the Duke of Wellington.
See also
References
- ↑ de Courcy, J. 1996 The Liffey in Dublin. Dublin. 243
- ↑ http://www.meath.ie/Tourism/MeathsTownandVillages/Mornington/
- ↑ http://ie.geoview.info/maiden_tower_mornington_co_meath,49672081p
- ↑ http://buseireann.ie/pdf/1261645889-190.pdf
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mornington, County Meath. |
