Horseleap is a town situated upon the
OffalyCounty Offaly is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the of Kingdom of Uí Failghe. Offaly is the 18th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 23rd largest in terms of population...
,
WestmeathCounty Westmeath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster.Westmeath is the 23rd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 22nd largest in terms of population. It is the sixth largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and eighth largest in...
county border in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, along the
R446The R446 road is one of Ireland's newest regional roads, having being classified following the opening in 2006 of the N6 High Quality Dual Carriageway which by-passes part of the old route....
, formerly the main Dublin to Galway road. The village itself possesses a church, primary school, a garden centre, a pub, and a petrol station. Horseleap dates back to the 12th century steeped in Ui Neill,
GeogheganCastletown-Geoghegan in County Westmeath, Ireland, lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. Castletown was the seat of the Geoghegan family of the medieval Barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath. The family were descendants of the Southern Ui Neill. They were major...
history.
The village was originally known as Ardnurcher , also sometimes spelled Ardnorcher or Ardnocher; the name probably derives from the legend that
Conchobar mac NessaConchobar mac Nessa is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha .-Birth:...
was killed here.
Discussion
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Horseleap is a town situated upon the
OffalyCounty Offaly is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the of Kingdom of Uí Failghe. Offaly is the 18th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 23rd largest in terms of population...
,
WestmeathCounty Westmeath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster.Westmeath is the 23rd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 22nd largest in terms of population. It is the sixth largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and eighth largest in...
county border in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, along the
R446The R446 road is one of Ireland's newest regional roads, having being classified following the opening in 2006 of the N6 High Quality Dual Carriageway which by-passes part of the old route....
, formerly the main Dublin to Galway road. The village itself possesses a church, primary school, a garden centre, a pub, and a petrol station. Horseleap dates back to the 12th century steeped in Ui Neill,
GeogheganCastletown-Geoghegan in County Westmeath, Ireland, lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. Castletown was the seat of the Geoghegan family of the medieval Barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath. The family were descendants of the Southern Ui Neill. They were major...
history.
History
The village was originally known as Ardnurcher , also sometimes spelled Ardnorcher or Ardnocher; the name probably derives from the legend that
Conchobar mac NessaConchobar mac Nessa is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha .-Birth:...
was killed here. The origin's of Horseleap's present name dates back to 1192. The Norman lord Brian Fitzgerald had been riding through the lands neighbouring his castle in Danore. He came across members of the Mac Geoghan clan who had long disputed De Lacy's claim to the lands. Following a dispute,
De Lacyde Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendents of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and traveled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...
was forced to flee on horseback from the
Mac GeoghansCastletown-Geoghegan in County Westmeath, Ireland, lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. Castletown was the seat of the Geoghegan family of the medieval Barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath. The family were descendants of the Southern Ui Neill. They were major...
. On approaching his castle he discovered that the drawbridge was raised forcing De Lacy's horse to jump the castle's moat. De Lacey survived the jump and escaped almost certain death at the hands of the Mac Geoghan clan.
The battle of Ardnocher took place here in 1329 between the forces of Thomas Butler and William MacGeoghegan. MacGeoghegan won and Butler and many of his soldiers were killed.
Transport
The
Midland Great Western RailwayThe Midland Great Western Railway main line extended from Broadstone in Dublin to the Midlands, and onwards to Galway and Clifden in what is now the Republic of Ireland.-Inception:...
once maintained a railway station here. Horseleap railway station opened on 1 December 1876, closed to passenger and goods traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 July 1965.
--Modern Day--
Apart from the story of how it got its name Horseleap also has a new story of modern day interest. The 12 foot high bronze statue of the prancing horse that stands on the village green was actually made in Italy by Ferrari. In the nineties the Ferrari formula one racing team made a present of one of these statues of its famous logo to each of their F1 drivers. This one was shipped to Ireland in 1999 to be given to Eddie Irvine who had finished as runner up in the World championship for Ferrari that year. It was stored in a barn in County Tyrone and was to be a surprise to Irvine. However just before this was to take place Irvine told Ferrari he was leaving them to join the Jaguar team. Ferrari never told Irvine about the statue and it stayed in the barn for a year until a local farmer from Horseleap was up in Tyrone buying cattle and was told about it. A delegation from the village was then dispatched to make the case that they had the ideal home for this statue and that they wished to purchase it. They bought the statue for a fee less than it cost to make and it was erected in 2000.