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Moate
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Moate is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland.
The name An Móta is derived from the term motte-and-bailey as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here (date TBC). The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the main street.
The town later became an important marketplace and Quaker village. There are several extant examples of Quaker houses on the main street, which itself is typical of an Irish marketplace (similar example in Ballymahon).
Location
The town is situated the R446 road between just beyond Kinnegad to just before Athlone.
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Encyclopedia
Moate is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland.
The name An Móta is derived from the term motte-and-bailey as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here (date TBC). The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the main street.
The town later became an important marketplace and Quaker village. There are several extant examples of Quaker houses on the main street, which itself is typical of an Irish marketplace (similar example in Ballymahon).
Location
The town is situated the R446 road between just beyond Kinnegad to just before Athlone. Until July 2008, this was the N6 road, a national primary route. Moate was a serious traffic bottleneck as traffic on Fridays lead to 5 km tailbacks. The cause is believed to be Duni crossing the road However, the M6 motorway now bypasses the town. A disused railway runs through the town, built by the Midland Great Western Railway to connect Dublin and Galway (now served by another route).
Athlone is 15 km west, along the N6.
Moate is a growing town with many new businesses being attracted to it, including a supermarket, hardware store, internet café / computer shop, and over twelve public houses. It has been the site of many new building ventures in recent years, for example at the site of the old convent there now stands a complex of apartments and shops.
Culture and heritage
The town has a long established Gaelic Football club known as the Moate All Whites, simply because the team's playing strip is solely white. Star players include the famous Paul Dunican The club's name and colour have a simple origin, as the club was born out of a meeting held in the Fr. McDonnell Hall (which stood where the new modern Carmelite Pastoral Centre is now) in the Carmelite Priory in Moate in early 1923. The team adopted the colours of the habits worn by the Carmelite White Friars, and have done so ever since.
Moate is the birthplace of artist and academic Nuala Holloway. She specialises mainly in oils, covering a wide range of subject matter. In 2006 Ms. Holloway held her first solo art exhibition at Tuar Ard Arts Centre in Moate. Ms. Holloway is also well known for currently being the only woman from Co. Westmeath to become Miss Ireland and for being a pioneer in the Irish modelling industry who appeared as a fashion and photographic model in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The town has a strong musical tradition with many young bands emerging from the town. It is the home of country singers Tony Allen (of the duo, Foster & Allen) TR Dallas and Ray Lynam. It is also the location of a recording studio that caters for all types of music. New performers on the pub scene are the rock bands Merge, Filmore East & Lesser Self.
The town's theatre and arts centre is called 'Tuar Ard' and was once the site of the St. Patricks Hall. It is a venue for plays, seminars, classical and rock concerts, and presentations.
The Dun na Sí heritage centre on the west side of town includes a genealogy centre, recreations of various types of indigenous dwellings, and preserved farm machinery.
The former gaol, part of the old courthouse, contains a small museum housing artifacts found in the area dating from the Stone Age through to the modern era.
Transport
- Moate railway station opened on 1 August 1851, closed for goods traffic on 2 December 1974 and closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1987.
- The town is well served on bus routes with the Bus Éireann number 20 bus going hourly in both the Dublin and Galway directions.
Education
Moate has two primary schools, the Mercy Convent National School (mixed) and St. Oliver Plunkett Boys Primary School.
The principle secondary school in the town is Moate Community School, which opened a new building in 2002 containing a gymnasium, four new science labs, a home economics room, art room, lecture hall, technical drawing classroom and an oratory as well as general classrooms and offices. It has approximately 1,000 students (including Moate Business College) and a staff of 72. Moate Business College, which is a PLC college, provides courses including performance arts to information technology.
Patrick Kelly Memorial Park
In December 2008 a memorial park was opened in Moate, named after the only Irish soldier to die in combat on home soil since the end of the Irish Civil War. On 16 December 1983, Patrick Kelly, who was from Moate, was attempting to free American businessman Don Tidey, who had been kidnapped by the IRA. Along with Garda recruit Gary Sheehan, he was killed in a shoot-out with Provisional IRA gunmen at Derrada Woods, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim.
People
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
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