About Clonfad Civil Parish

Tyrrellspass is the centre of population in the civil parish of Clonfad (Cluain Fada = long meadow).

Tyrrellspass (Bealach an Tirialaigh ) is a Georgian village in County Westmeath, Ireland, the oldest building in the village being a Norman castle (tower house) built by the Tyrrell family. 

There are several churches, and a vibrant community which has had great success in the National Tidy Towns Competition, winning the overall award in 1969.  The name of Tyrrellspass came from the pass through the boglands in the area.  Tyrrellspass is still surrounded by beautiful boglands, including Cloncrow bog, which is a Special Area of Conservation. 

Tyrrellspass has had some fame in history due to the Battle of Tyrrellspass in 1597. The Gaelic side, led by Captain Richard Tyrrell, ambushed and defeated the English army. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the main village as it exists now was built, much of it designed by Jane Countess of Belvedere. 

Archaelogy

An Early Christian monastic site was discovered at Clonfad during excavation in advance of recent road works in the area. Exciting evidence of handbell metalworking was found at the site. The monastic development started with St. Etchen in the middle of the sixth century and apparently destroyed near the end of the ninth century.

See http://www.nra.ie/Archaeology/ArchaeologyIrelandArticles/ArchaeologyIrelandArticles-PDFformat/file,3458,en.pdf for detailed information on the excavation and http://www.nra.ie/Archaeology/Seanda-NRAArchaeologyMagazine/file,16857,en.pdf for more information on reconstruction of a bell such as that made at Clonfad.

Churches

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Stephen is close to  Tyrrellspass Castle. The Parochial House is attached to it. It is one of three RC Churches in the Parish of Castletown Geoghegan, the others being Castletown and Raheenmore. It is open all day every day with Sunday Vigil Mass at 6.45 on Saturday evening and Sunday Mass at 10am.

The Church of Ireland Church of St. Sinianﾒs is on the north side of the village green.  It is one of the churches in the parish of Tullamore, and the rectory is in Tullamore. 

Sporting success

Tyrrellspass has an excellent GAA senior football team. The team won the Westmeath Senior Championship in 2006 and defended their title in 2007. In the 2007-2008 Leinster Championship they progressed as far as the final, where they were beaten by the eventual All Ireland Club champions St. Vincents of Dublin.  National school children have also had football success.

Facilities in the area

• Everything Tyrrellspass Has On Show (ETHOS) http://ethostp.wordpress.com/
• The beautiful New Forest Golf Resort is about a mile outside the village.

Location

Tyrrellspass is located about 80 km from Dublin and is situated on the R446 (formerly the N6) road just off the M6 Dublin-Galway Motorway.  It is also on the N52 between Mullingar and Tullamore.

What others have said about Tyrrellspass

ﾓWith its combination of natural beauty, aesthetic appeal and community spirit, Tyrrellspass is a true Tidy Towns champion , p97 The Tidy Towns of Ireland -Celebrating 50 years at http://www.tidytowns.ie/u_documents/The_Tidy_Towns_of_Ireland.pdf

More information on the place names in Clonfad Civil Parish can be found at:  http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/townlands/index.cfm?fuseaction=TownlandsInCivil&civilparishid=2458&civilparish=Clonfad&citycounty=Westmeath