The history of Glenamaddy
Uí Díarmata, the market of the 1820s, the workhouse, the ballroom, the song, the closing banks. 6 moments, in order.
- Middle Ages
Uí Díarmata
The town stands in the medieval kingdom of the O'Concannons; the parish began at Boyounagh to the north-west. The name may be the valley of the dogs or the valley of the black plain, for the turlough that dries each year.
- 1820s
A church and a market
The town did not grow until a church was built and regular markets began; shops and pubs went up around the square and on the four roads, and a workhouse followed on the Creggs road in 1853.
- 1904 to 1924
Church, hall and mill
St Patrick's replaced the old church in 1904, St Bridget's Town Hall opened in 1909 and a mill at Leitra gave work from 1924. Cattle, pigs, sheep and feed were sold at the markets that filled the town.
- 1949 to 1970
The Esker Ballroom
Built in 1947 on the Kilkerrin road and at first refused a licence, it held its first dance in April 1949 and then every second Sunday, one of the most popular in the country, until marquees beat it in 1970 and it became a nightclub.
- 1981
Four Country Roads
Big Tom's hit named the town.
- 2002 to 2022
Fewer people
The community school was formed in 2002 from Coláiste Seosaimh and St Benin's; the banks closed in 2006 and 2013, emigration took over 120 young people by 2015, and the census of 2022 counted 557.
Where this comes from
Every paragraph above summarises a statement in Wikipedia, "Glenamaddy", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, as it read on 2026-09-19. Follow it for the footnotes. Nothing has been added from memory.