Kinnegad facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kinnegad Cionn Átha Gad
Town
Kinnegad Main Street, the former N4
Kinnegad Location in Ireland
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Westmeath
Elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Population  (2016)	2,745
Irish Grid Reference	N595453

Kinnegad or Kinagad (Irish: Cionn Átha Gad, meaning head of the ford of withes) is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is on the border with County Meath, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital, Dublin.

From 1996 to 2016, there was a considerable increase in Kinnegad's population, from 517 to 2,745 inhabitants. According to the 2016 census, approximately 79% of the town's housing stock (715 out of 907 households) was built between 1991 and 2010.

School

The town has a large national school, St. Etchen's Kinnegad N.S. The school consists of two separate buildings, Scoil Etchen Naofa (built in 1984) and the Cardinal Glennon building (built in 2008). Renovation was necessary due to an increase in population. The school now caters for up to 560 young people each day. It is run by the Catholic Church but non-Catholic children can attend the school.

Transport

Kinnegad is primarily a commuter town, serving Dublin via the N4 and the M4 motorway. Citylink and Bus Éireann both serve Kinnegad towards Dublin, in addition to private company Kearns. There is no railway station in the town; it was served by the station at Hill of Down (which was originally called Kinnegad when it opened in 1847) until its closure in 1947. There are plans to reopen the train station at Killucan, which would serve both Killucan and Rathwire and Kinnegad, but this is unlikely before extra capacity is available on the Dublin-Sligo railway line.

Church

The Catholic Church of St. Mary's is located in Kinnegad. It is part of the Diocese of Meath, the bishop of which is Michael Smith. The parish priests of Kinnegad are Monsignor Eamonn Marron and Father Tom Gilroy. There are bullet holes visible in the stations of the cross in the church which were made by the Black and Tans in the 1920s. The church building is the tallest in the town, although the Lagan Cement facility which is outside the town at Killiskillen, is taller.

Sport

The main sports team in the town is the Coralstown/Kinnegad Gaelic Football Club, which has teams for both male and female players aged from under eight through to senior level. The colours of the team are red shirts and socks, and white shorts. The clubhouse has four dressing rooms, toilets, and a gym. The team has three football pitches.

The town also has an association football club, Kinnegad Juniors Athletic Football Club, which was founded in 2005. Kinnegad Juniors play at Lagan Park on the Killucan Road, Kinnegad. The club caters to boys and girls from the ages of 6–19 and also boasts a senior men's and women's team.

Education

The town has a large national school, Saint Etchen's Kinnegad N.S. The school consists of two separate buildings, Scoil Etchen Naofa (built-in 1984) and the Cardinal Glennon building (built-in 2008). The renovation was necessary due to an increase in population. The school now caters for up to 560 young people each day. It is run by the Catholic Church but non-Catholic children can attend the school.

There has been a campaign by the Kinnegad Steering Group during the 2010s in favour of the development of a secondary school in the town, but as of 2019 this has yet to materialise.

Images for kids

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  St. Mary's Church of the Assumption, Kinnegad

See also

In Spanish: Kinnegad para niños