Mullingar Business - About Mullingar Town

Mullingar
HISTORY and TIMELINE
by
Ruth Illingworth (Contact Ruth)
Chair: Mullingar Historical and Archaeological Society

The town of Mullingar was founded by the Normans 800 years ago. The history of human settlement in the area goes back, however, to at least the late Bronze Age 3,000 years ago. What is now Mullingar's main street was part of an east-west roadway in use since early Christian times and the oldest known surviving stone building in Mullingar urban area is a souterrain dating back to the seventh or eight centuries.

There were important early Christian monastic settlements at Lough Ennell and Lough Owel associated with Saints Colmán and Loman. The name, Mullingar, An Muileann Cearr, 'The Lefthandwise Mill" is a reference to a miracle associated with Saint Colmán. Mullingar was also close to the Royal Fort of Malachi II, High King of Ireland 1014-1022. Coins found in Lough Ennell also indicate a Viking presence in the Mullingar area 1,000 years ago.

Norman Mullingar was founded by the Petit family in the last decades of the twelfth century. The Norman settlement was a Manor and Borough with a castle, a parish church, Augustinian and Dominican monasteries, a hospital and a Frankhouse. The population of the Borough was a mixture of Gaelic Irish and French, English, Welsh, Flemish and Breton immigrants. Mullingar was 'an important resting place for travellers and traders, and the recently discovered Augustinian graveyard provides evidence that Mullingar people undertook pilgrimages to Santiago De Compostela in Spain, some 600 years ago.

In 1542, Henry VIII made Westmeath a County and Mullingar became the County Town. Henry's reign also saw the dissolution of the two Mullingar monasteries and the establishment of a Protestant community in the town. Mullingar suffered badly from Irish raids and from disease at this time. In 1575, Plague decimated the population and, in 1597, the town was completely burned by the O'Neills.

During the seventeenth century, the Cromwellian Land Settlement dispossessed many of the old English landowning families of the area and they were replaced by new English and Scottish settlers. Mullingar families were among the thousands of Irish Roman Catholics who emigrated to mainland Europe. In 1661, the Manor of Mullingar was granted to Sir Arthur Forbes, Earl of Granard, whose family would own the town for 200 years. In 1690, the Williamite army occupied Mullingar and stockpiled it with weapons and provisions for the campaign against the Jacobites.

By the eighteenth century, Mullingar was a major centre for the sale of wool and the local livestock fairs attracted buyers and sellers from all over Ireland and beyond. The town was rebuilt following a disastrous fire in 1747 and seems to have had a degree of prosperity. The majority of the population were Roman Catholic and by the 1760s, despite the Penal Laws, they had built a fine slate roofed parish chapel. There was also a substantial Church of Ireland community, and by the early 1800s, there were some Presbyterians and Methodists too.

The late eighteenth century saw the building of many 'big houses' for the local Protestant Gentry around Mullingar. The finest of these residences was Belvedere.

The nineteenth century brought a transport revolution to the town with the arrival of the Royal Canal in 1806 and the railway in 1848. Mullingar was also an important coach stop.

The rise of a Roman Catholic middle class and an active Clergy led to the building of a Cathedral in 1836 and the founding of schools by the Presentation and Loreto Sisters and the Christian Brothers. There was also a Church of Ireland National School.

Nineteenth century Mullingar was an important military centre and many British army regiments were stationed in the town. Many of the soldiers married local women and settled in town. The army also supplied a source of employment for locals and men from Mullingar served all over the British Empire.

In 1858, Lord Greville purchased the town and his family remained Landlords until the 1920s. In 1868, Lord Greville leased a Right of Way to the War Minister for 10,000,000 years - the longest lease in the world.

As well as a Cathedral, a military barracks, a railway station and the canal, Mullingar in the 1800s also had an infirmary, a workhouse, a jail, a courthouse, a market house, a post office and a police barracks. There was also a racecourse. The town was lit by gas from 1859 and a telegraph office opened in 1853. Mullingar Town Commissioners were founded in 1856. A District Dispensary opened in the 1850s,as did St. Loman's Mental Hospital. Sports played in the town included Rugby, Cricket and Gaelic games. Confraternities, Temperance Clubs, Freemasonry and the Foresters provided a social life and welfare.

Poverty was also a feature of 19th century Mullingar. There was much poor housing and periodic outbreaks of Cholera and other disease. A lack of sufficient employment and the ravages of the Great Famine led to an upsurge of emigration to Britain, America, Australia, Canada and Argentina. Changing agricultural practices, recession and unjust land laws led to many evictions and much violence in parts of the rural hinterland during the 1860s and 1870s.

The twentieth century began with the arrival of the first motorcars and electric light in Mullingar. James Joyce visited the town in 1900 and recorded his impressions of Mullingar in his novels, 'Stephen Hero', and 'Ulysses'.

During the First World War, scores of Mullingar men served in the armed forces and many were killed or injured. The town was also a major military training depot.

During the 'troubled times' of 1916-1921, many people from Mullingar, a largely Nationalist town, took part in the struggle for Irish Self Government. Sean McEoin was shot and wounded while trying to escape arrest in Mullingar in 1921.

Early in 1922, the British Army left Mullingar and the Irish Army took over the barracks. Mullingar would remain an important garrison for the rest of the century. The first Gardaí arrived at the end of 1922. Mullingar escaped the worst of the Civil War, although there were a number of deaths and other serious incidents.

A number of historically significant buildings were erected in Mullingar during the first half of the twentieth century. Most notable was the Cathedral of Christ the King, built between 1932 and 1936. The County Hall (now Arts Centre) and County Council buildings were built between 1910 and 1913 on the site of the old jail. St. Finian's College opened in 1908 and the County Hospital in 1936.

The second half of the century witnessed Mullingar's increasing prosperity. The town remained an important market town, but it also acquired a strong industrial and technology base for the first time. New schools, churches and businesses were built and the town expanded dramatically in all directions. The last two decades of the twentieth century saw Mullingar's population almost treble and improved transport links made it almost a suburb of greater Dublin.

As Mullingar saw out the old Millennium and welcomed in the new, the town was more prosperous than at any time in its history.

Ruth Illingworth (Contact Ruth)
Chair: Mullingar Historical and Archaeological Society

1000BC

Bronze Age Settlement in Mullingar area.

550 - 800 CE

Early Monastic Settlements at Lynn and Portloman. Many raths, souterrains and roadways in Mullingar area.

800 - 1050

Viking Trading Post along River Brosna. Royal Palace of King of Ireland at Lough Ennell.

1170 - 1200

Town of Mullingar founded by Norman Petit Family.

1202

First Mention of Mullingar Parish Church.

1207

First Grant of Fair to Mullingar

1227 - 1237

Augustinian and Dominican Monasteries Founded

1539 - 1540

Monasteries Dissolved

1542

Mullingar becomes County Town of Westmeath

1597

Mullingar burned during Nine Years War by the O'Neills.

1642 - 1649

Mullingar a supply deport for Catholic Confederation.

1661

Mullingar granted to Sir Arthur Forbes, Earl of Granard.

1690 - 1691

Williamite Army occupy the town.

1737

Earliest Roman Catholic Parish Registers

1747

Mullingar destroyed in accidental fire.

1755

Roman Catholic Parish Church built.

1770

County Infirmary built in Mullingar.

1806

Royal Canal reaches Mullingar. Methodist Meeting House open.

1811

Military Barracks opens.

1821

Presbyterian Chapel opens.

1825

Church of Ireland Parochial National School opens.

1825 - 1826

Presentation Convent and School opens.

1828 - 1829

Jail and Courthouse rebuilt

1832

Cholera epidemic in Mullingar.

1836

First Cathedral built.

1840

Workhouse opens.

1841/1843

Daniel O'Connell visits Mullingar.

1846 - 1849

Great Famine causes hundreds of deaths in Mullingar - poor law union.

1848

Railway reaches Mullingar.

1852

Telegraph Office opens at railway station.

1855

St. Loman's Hospital opens.

1856

Christian Brothers School opens.
Mullingar Town Commissioners founded.

1858

Lord Greville purchases town from Earls of Granard.

1859

Market House built.

1868

Lord Greville leases a Right of Way to the War Minister for 10,000,000 years, the world's longest lease.

1878

Masonic Hall opens.

1881

Loreto Convent and School founded.

1885

Last execution in Mullingar Jail.

1888

Church of Ireland Parochial Hall opens.

1899

Westmeath County Council set up.

1900

James Joyce visits Mullingar.
Electric light first used in Mullingar at railway station.
Vocational Schooling begins in Mullingar.

1901 - 1905

First motorcars and cycles registered in Mullingar

1908

St. Finian's College opens.

1910

Jail demolished.
County Council offices and County Hall built on the site.

1913

County Hall opens.

1914 - 1918

Scores of Mullingar men serve in World War One.Town a training depot for Kitchener's Volunteer Army.

1919 - 1921

War of Independence brings Black and Tans to town.
Police Barracks burned.
Sean McEoin arrested in Mullingar by British and wounded as he tries to escape in 1921.

1922 - 1923

British Army withdraws from Mullingar and first Gardaí arrive in Mullingar.
Patrick Columb of National Army shot dead as Civil War begins.
Novelist and Anti-Treaty supporter, Annie MP Smithson arrested in Town. Two men executed in Army Barracks for armed robbery (last executions in Mullingar's history).

1932 - 1936

Cathedral of Christ the King built. Opened in 1936

1933

Cusack Park and Greyhound Stadium opened.

1936

County Hospital opened.

1939

Cathedral consecrated.

1939 - 1945

Town serves as a major military base during World War Two. Several Mullingar people also serve in British Armed Services.

1951

First Fleadh Cheoil held in Mullingar.

1953

Vocational School (now Community College) opens.

1961

Newbrook Racecourse closes after 109 years.

1971

Northern Irish Refugees cared for in Mullingar.

1975 - 1976

Lynn Industrial Estate opens.

1979

Bellview School opens.

1987

St. Paul's Church opens.

1994

Mullingar Bypass opens.

1997

Famine Memorial erected at Dominick Place.

1998

Mullingar Arts Centre opens.
Round Tower at Irish Memorial Peace Park, Belgium, built using stone from Mullingar Workhouse.

2000

Mullingar celebrates Third Millennium
Statues erected of two monks to commemorate Augustinian Monastery.

Ruth Illingworth (Contact Ruth)
Chair: Mullingar Historical and Archaeological Society

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Ruth llingworth,
Chair Mullingar Historical
and Archaeological Society,
4 Millmount Road,
Mullingar,
Co. Westmeath.
Ireland.

Telephone:-
Local: 044 - 48597
International: +353 44 48597