Athlone, Westmeath

Athlone is the most central town of Ireland and is considered the heart of Ireland. There is a hydroelectric generation plant at Ardnacrusha belonging to the ESB.

1. Population (2011) : 20,138

It is on the border of counties Roscommon (province of Connacht) and Westmeath (province of Leinster).

The town was described by IDA Ireland as "the commercial capital of the Irish Midlands" and it is governed by an elected town council, which elects a Mayor.

Features:

2. Athlone Castle
   
   
   
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3. St Peter and Paul Church
4. All Ireland RTE drama festival - workshops, theatre exhibitions, events
5. Athlone Literary Festival: Celebration of the life and works of John Broderick (1924–1989)
6. American crime writer James M. Cain references Athlone in his 1937 book Serenade!
7. A new radio station i102-104fm has recently been launched.

Tourism and amenities: Lough Ree, the largest lake on the Shannon, is a short distance upstream from Athlone to the North of the town, and is popular among anglers, birdwatchers, and swimmers. The town is also home to Lough Ree Yacht Club.

8. The Golden Island Shopping Centre (1997)
9. Athlone Town Centre comprises two internal streets, with 54 shops and a hotel, and is the largest shopping and leisure centre in Ireland, outside Dublin.
10. Athlone Regional Sports Centre is a facility (established May 2002) developed by the Town Council,this facility has a swimming pool, gym and astro turf pitches.
11. Sean's Bar, located on the west bank of the river, is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest pub in Europe.
12. Companies and organisations: State Exams Commission, Élan, Biodin, Ericsson, Tyco Healthcare, Alcatel, The Department of Education, Revenue Commissioners, FÁS Midlands Region, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, IDA Ireland, and Enterprise Ireland all have bases in the town. Athlone is also a major Irish military centre, Custume Barracks on the West bank of the Shannon is the headquarters of the Western Command of the Irish Army.

Athlone hosted the European Triathlon Championships in 2010. Approximately 5,000 athletes participated in the event.

The town of Athlone is twinned with the a small village called Chateaubriant in France! Many students do language exchanges!

River Shannon

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The River is the longest river in Ireland and the British Isles at 360.5 km. It divides West Ireland from the South and East. There are only less that 20 crossing points of the river. The river is named for Sionna, a Celtic goddess.

The river flows generally southward from the Shannon Pot in County Cavan before turning west and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through the 113 km long Shannon Estuary. Limerick city stands at the point where the river water meets the sea water of the estuary.

By tradition the Shannon is said to rise in the Shannon Pot, a small pool on the slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain in County Cavan, from where the young river appears as a small trout stream. The river runs through or between 11 of Ireland's counties, including the tributary rivers Inny, Suck and Brosna, before reaching the Shannon Estuary at Limerick. Lakes on the Shannon include Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg.

The Shannon river is closely bound up with Ireland's social, cultural, military, economic and political history. As late as 1916, the leaders of the Easter Rising planned to have their forces in the west "hold the line of the Shannon". However, in the event, the rebels were neither well enough armed nor equipped to attempt such an ambitious idea.

Course of River Shannon

Depths: 0.5metres - 18m (upper)

Depths: 1m- 30m

There are many towns on the River Shannon... such as Athlone!

Blacklion

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This beautiful area of beautiful countryside has wonderful views of lakes and mountains, world-class caves, Fantastic fishing facilities, Megalithic tombs at the Cavan Burren, an excellent golf club, the source of the River Shannon, and one of Ireland's best restaurants.

Much of the area around Blacklion is now part of The UNESCO Global Geoparks Network making it the first cross border geopark in the world. A geopark is a geological heritages scenic spot of special geoscientific significance, rare natural features that are aesthetically attractive. The UNESCO Geoparks are a cultural and land treasure of Ireland.

As many people know, Blacklion is home to one of Ireland’s most well-known and successful reataurants, MacNean House and Reastaurant, owned by the famous restauranteur and celebrity chef, Mr Neven Maguire. A boy who started cooking from a young age, it came to nobody’s surprise that he became a student and later a lecturer at Fermanagh College of Catering in 1992. He has cooked in many well known and Michelin star restaurants world wide, cooking for people such as Lady Diana and Tony Blair.

In 2001 Neven and his wife Imelda took over the family business. Using his own philosophy ‘Make every meal a masterpiece’. He also uses only high quality Irish produce and home food. In 2011 he extended the house to shorten the 5 month waiting list!

I have personally ate and worked in MacNean house and it is not only a fantastic place to eat but the way the business is run is second to none. A calm and relaxing atmosphere is proved here to produce the best food. Doing as little as possible to the food is also a philosophy to his, just enhancing flavours! Not every chef is like Ramsey!

Blacklion is the source of the River Shannon... Lets see where we go with that!

So here is an update on my life in TY!

We did not get far in Bank Nationals but it was a great day! We had great fun doing silent discos, games and Aoife even won a smartphone for her dancing! It was a fabulous day!



I am also drowning in projects at the moment! They all seem to come at once! So I am starting my Geography project today so the next few blog posts will be about it! The project is that you pick anything in the world and link it to different places. There are 5 links in mine and its really interesting that it all goes together!


So firstly I will be starting with Neven Maguire and his restaurant Mac Nean house in Blacklion, Co. Cavan.


Enjoy the rain!
Caitriona xo

Bank Nationals

Bank Nationals are coming up soon which is making em nervous but excited! I have been practicing our powerpoint a lot and there is a lot to remeber! But I am really excited ! Our app is underway! There is a secret surprise coming along! And the nerves are crazy! But it will be epic! I got to thinking we are in the top twenty in all of ireland and that in itself is such an achievement. ANything after that is a much desired and excioting bonus.

Retweeeet

Last week Eriu went to Glendalough on Retreat! It was a really good day but itinvolved going out of your comfort zone. Like we had to hug crosses and stuff but I really enjoyed it! We had to stay quiet a lot of the time and we walked a lit! It was a cold and wet day which in my opinion made it better but others disagreed! On the way home there was not a word! Everyone was fast asleep! Compared to the way up were we danced and sang the whole way! Thank you Mrs L and Mr K for bringing us on a really calming day out!

Diversity!

Breithlá mo chara Laragh a bhí ann an seachtain seo caite agus cheannaigh mé ticéidí dúinn le haghaidh an ceolchoirm Diversity.Oíche den scoth a bhí ann agus dúirt ceann de na damhsórí phrása a thaitin go mór liom. 'Our Similarities make us strong, our differences make us stronger'. Cheap mé gur phrása iontach a bhí ann don idirbhliain!