Crookstown, County Cork

Crookstown An Baile Gallda
Village
Clodah Castle lies just south of the village
Crookstown Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 51°50′34″N 08°49′56″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Cork
Parish	Moviddy
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Population  (2022)[1]	183
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Eircode (Routing Key)	P14
Irish Grid Reference	W420664

Crookstown (Irish: An Baile Gallda, meaning 'town of the invader or foreigner')[2] is a small village in County Cork in Ireland, about 12 km east of the town of Macroom and about 1 km off the N22 Cork–Killarney road. It had a population of 183 at the 2022 census,[1] down from 203 in the 2016 census.[3]

History

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1991	353	—
1996	345	−2.3%
2002	320	−7.2%
2006	302	−5.6%
2011	222	−26.5%
2016	203	−8.6%
2022	183	−9.9%
[4][1][3][5]

To the south of Crookstown village is the ruin of the 16th century Clodagh Castle, once home to one of the branches of the McSweeney clan.[6] Another ruined castle, Castlemore Castle or Dundrinan Castle, lies to the north of the village.[6][7]

Crookstown Road railway station, located close to Castlemore Castle approximately 2 km from the village centre, operated as a stop on the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway from 1866 until services on the line ceased in the 1940s.[8]

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was active around Crookstown during the Irish War of Independence, and Crookstown House, an estate house owned by the Warren family was burnt-out by the IRA in June 1921. It was later rebuilt.[9] According to biographer Tim Pat Coogan, Michael Collins was likely on his way to a meeting in Crookstown when he was killed in an ambush at nearby Béal na Bláth during the Irish Civil War.[10]

Geography

Crookstown is approximately 30 km from Cork City, and 4 km from Béal na Bláth. It lies between the River Bride and River Brouen, and in 2012 was subject to flooding when both rivers burst their banks.[11][12]

Economy

Crookstown is a rural village with a number of shops, pubs and other businesses.[11]

A large mill, built c.1810 at Bellmount close to the village, was once economically important to the area.[13][14] The area is now better known for its brick and concrete factory at Castlemore.^[citation needed]

Amenities

The Crookstown area is served by a Garda station and post office.[15][16] Local sports clubs include Crookstown United (which fields teams in the Munster Football Association's 'shipping league')[17] and Crookstown Karate Club (members of which have competed in national and international competition).[18]

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References

1. "Census Mapping – Crookstown". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
2. "An Baile Gallda / Crookstown". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
3. "Census Mapping – Crookstown". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
4. "Crookstown (Ireland) - Census Town". City Population. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
5. "Census Mapping – Crookstown". Census 2011. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. Heritage Castles of County Cork (PDF) (Report). Cork County Council. 2017. p. 156. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020. Clodagh Castle near Crookstown – Tower house, probably a MacCarthy castle, but by 1584 in the hands of MacSweeneys
7. "Castlemore Castle". castles.nl. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
8. "Crookstown Road station" (PDF). railscot.co.uk. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
9. "Warren (Crookstown)". Landed Estates Database. National University of Ireland Galway. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
10. Tim Pat Coogan (2002). Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 406. ISBN 9780312295110. Collins was expected at the house of Canon Tracey of Crookstown during his last visit. The reason for the visit, it is said, was to make contact with some intermediaries [..] A stop at Crookstown would explain the seemingly inexplicably circuitous Béal na Bláth route back to Cork
11. "Plans afoot to prevent further damage to flood-prone village of Crookstown". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
12. "River Bride (Crookstown) Flood Relief Scheme". Crookstown Flood Relief Scheme. Cork County Council. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
13. "Bellmount Mills, Bellmount Lower, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 6 January 2020. Bellmount Mill is a reminder of the former economic prosperity of Crookstown, and once played a significant role in the local community
14. "Heritage Week 2017". kilmurrymuseum.ie. Kilmurry Museum. 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2020. Howard's Flour Mill/Bellmount Mills [..] was built in 1810 and was operational until 2001
15. "Station Directory - Crookstown, County Cork". garda.ie. An Garda Síochána. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
16. "Participating Post Offices - Foreign Exchange Multi Currency" (PDF). anpost.ie. An Post. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
17. "Affiliated Leagues & Clubs - Cork Business and Shipping League - Season 2019-2020". munsterfa.com. Munster FA. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019.
18. "Crookstown Karate Club members target medals at world championships". southernstar.ie. Southern Star. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.