Milltown, County Galway
| Milltown Baile an Mhuillin | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 | |
  Milltown Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 53°36′54″N 8°54′02″W / 53.6150°N 8.9006°WCoordinates: 53°36′54″N 8°54′02″W / 53.6150°N 8.9006°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Galway |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | M369689 |
| Website | http://milltowngalway.com/home.html |
Milltown (Irish: Baile an Mhuilinn) is a small village in County Galway, Ireland. It is situated on the banks of the River Clare, 47 km from Galway City, 11 km from Tuam on the N17 road to Sligo.
The local community have carried out substantial works to improve the amenities for the village, by providing a beautiful river walk (National Waterside award winner 2000), competing in the Tidy Towns competition each year, and providing a Slí na Sláinte rural walk, children's playground, tennis courts, picnic area and car parking facilities. Their efforts have been rewarded by the National Tidy Towns Organisation by being awarded the tidiest town in the county for seven consecutive years, including 2002.
Milltown Community Council has been very active in promoting and developing their parish, the most significant achievement to date being the building of a Community Centre, which is a place for the young and old to learn, enjoy and participate in many varied activities.[1]
Transport
Milltown railway station opened on 30 April 1894 and closed on 17 June 1963.[2] Milltown was one of the stations on the Western Railway Corridor. It was located between Tuam and Claremorris. There are plans to re-open the line and station with funding from the Irish government's "Transport 21" programme.[3]
Sport
Milltown GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. Milltown is located in the north of County Galway which is the county's Gaelic football stronghold. Notable Milltown players include Noel Tierney, Diarmaid Blake, Tomás Tierney and Gay McManus.
Amenities
Milltown is noted for trout and salmon fishing. The park in the centre of Milltown has tennis courts and a playpark for children with swings and slides. There is also a 550-metre walk along the River Clare, for which the Local Development Association has won a number of awards.[4] It also has a 4.5 km Slí na Sláinte scenic rural walk, for which it won first place in County Galway in the National Tidy Town Awards for 8 years from 1996-2003. A telescope which belonged to John Birmingham is on display at the Milltown community museum.[5]
People
Milltown was the birthplace of a number of noted people:
- William Connolly (born 1839), famed Irish piper
- Richard W. Dowling (1838–1867), commander at the Second Battle of Sabine Pass in the American Civil War
- John Birmingham (1816-1884), astronomer, poet and geologist
- M. J. Molloy (1914-1994), playwright / folklorist
- JJ Conlan - renowned musician who traveled County Mayo with his family
- Michael Lohan - one of the pioneers of the Gaelic Revival among Irish Americans at the end of the 19th century
- Jim Carney (poet) -poet, journalist and presenter
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.tuam-guide.com/milltown.htm
- ↑ "Milltown station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ↑ http://www.west-rail-ie.co.uk/
- ↑ Milltown Ireland Milltown Galway Milltown County Galway Milltown Co Galway
- ↑ http://galwayastronomyclub.blogspot.com/2008/08/galways-forgotten-starjohn-birmingham.html