Cloyne
Cloyne is a small town to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork. It is also a see city of the Anglican Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese. St Colman's Cathedral in Cloyne is a cathedral church of the Church of Ireland while the Pro Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, Cobh Cathedral of Saint Colman, overlooks Cork Harbour. Cloyne is within the Cork East Dáil constituency.
History
The first evidence of settlement in Cloyne is a 4000-year-old portal dolmen that lies to the West of the town. The bishopric of Cloyne was founded by St. Colman Mac Léníne, as his principal monastery in the sixth century. The origin legend Conall Corc and the Corco Loígde claims that the land for the foundation of the monastery was not given by the local king, but by Coirpre mac Crimthainn, who was king of Munster from the Eóganacht Glendamnach:The Danes plundered Cloyne in 822, 824 and again in 885 when, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, the Abbot and Prior of the monastery were killed. The Annals of Inisfallen mention that in 978 A.D. the people of Ossory plundered Cloyne and that in 1088 A.D. Diarmait Ua Briain devastated it. Cloyne was recognised as a diocese at the Synod of Kells in 1152. The only major action of the Irish War of Independence in Cloyne was on 4 May 1920 when Irish Republican Army volunteers of the Fourth Battalion attacked the local Royal Irish Constabulary barracks. The volunteers at first failed to gain entry but succeed in setting fire to the building, which resulted in the entire surrender of the garrison. The prisoners had their hands tied before being ordered to march the road to Midleton while the flying column made their escape.
Climate and geography
Cloyne is situated approximately 7.6 kilometres from the major town of Midleton. The town is located at the bottom of a valley and is surrounded by large hills to the North and South as well as the Celtic Sea to the East and Cork Harbour to the West.Being only 2 miles from Cork harbour and 3.5 miles from the open ocean, Cloyne has a mild climate with few extremes of temperature. The highest recorded temperature was 31.1 °C, on 3 August 1995 and the lowest was −7.1 °C, recorded on 2 January 1979 and also on 13 January 1987.
The climate of Cloyne is mild all year round, with an average of only six days of frost each year. Snow is almost unknown, especially in recent years, although a fall of 4 cm did occur on January 10, 2010, the first significant snow since March 1993. A severe cold spell in December 2010 produced some further light snowfalls but this period was much more notable for the persistence and severity of frost, with the record for the lowest temperature on record being threatened at times, but never actually broken; the absolute minimum being −6.6 °C on Christmas morning. 2010 was also the frostiest year on record, with 62 days recording an air frost, over 10 times the average.
Rainfall averages around 1041 mm per annum, with the wettest weather usually occurring between October and January. The driest year ever recorded was in 1975 when 583.7 mm fell, while the wettest was in 2009 with 1433.4 mm. In common with the rest of Ireland, rainfall in Cloyne has increased over the past 10 years or so, with the sharpest rises in average being in the summer months. Winter rainfall has actually decreased slightly in the same period.
Notable people
- The philosopher George Berkeley was appointed the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cloyne in 1734, where he remained until his retirement in 1752. His monument is prominent in the north transept of the cathedral. The year after arriving in Cloyne he wrote The Querist, the first of three volumes containing questions on the social and economic problems of Ireland. Further pamphlets on Ireland followed, with appeals for religious toleration. He was known in the town as a dedicated pastor as well as a scholar, who personally ministered to the sick and destitute of the parish.
- Cloyne was the birthplace of the great Texas architect, Nicholas Joseph Clayton. Clayton and his widowed mother moved to the United States in the 1840s and eventually to Galveston, Texas. He quickly gained prominence in Galveston and Texas in the 1870s into the 1910s as a talented builder. The historic district of Galveston features many of Clayton's buildings that survived the ravages of storms and fires through the years.
- The explorer Cynthia Longfield was born and lived in Cloyne up until her death on 27 June 1991. Longfield also served as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps during World War I. She is buried in Cloyne Cathedral.
- Sir John Madden was born in Cloyne on 16 May 1844. Madden later emigrated to Australia with his family in 1857 and served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria before his death in 1918.
- Cloyne has produced a number of modern-day hurlers for Cork including Donal Óg Cusack, Cork's former inter-county hurling goalkeeper, as well as Diarmuid "The Rock" O'Sullivan and his brother Paudie O'Sullivan.
- Cloyne is also notable as the native-place of the great Cork hurler, Christy Ring. Ring was born and grew up in Cloyne where he learned to hurl before joining Glen Rovers in Cork city. But he is buried in Cloyne where he is commemorated by a statue.
Places of interest
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census, people of Irish ethnicity make up 86.2% of the population with mostly Polish and British people making up the rest. In terms of religion, 87% of Cloyne's population are Roman Catholic, 7% belong to other religions and 6% state no religion. 601 persons could speak the Irish language and 71 people could speak Polish.Economy
The land around Cloyne is extremely rich and fertile, being mainly of limestone base. This makes it very suitable for agriculture, with many acres of wheat and barley harvested each year. The underlying limestone rock also gives rise to a spectacular network of caves under and to the south of the town. The cave, which is the biggest in Cork, are estimated to be up to 7 km long. A large section of the main street collapsed into the caves during the 20th century. Cloyne Cave is accessible from the grounds of Cloyne House on Rock Street.. The town boasts a number of pubs and small shop's in the centre of town while there is also a Thai and traditional Irish restaurant in the town.Education
The local primary school is St. Colman's National School.Sport
is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. They play in the traditional kit of red and black stripes. The club has two grounds known locally as the "old" and "new" pitches.Churchvilla FC is the local soccer club. The club was formed in 1968 and has since grown to 150 players in both juvenile and senior teams.