Birr (; , meaning "plain of water") is a town in County Offaly, Ireland. Between 1620 and 1899 it was called Parsonstown, after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse. Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town with a carefully preserved Georgian heritage. Birr itself has graceful wide streets and elegant buildings. Many of the houses in John's Place and Oxmantown Mall have exquisite fanlight windows of the Georgian period. The town is known for Birr Castle and gardens, home of the Parsons family, and also the site of the Leviathan of Parsonstown, the largest telescope in the world for over 70 years, and a large modern radio telescope.
Access and transport
The town is situated near the meeting of the Camcor and Little Brosna rivers, the latter flowing on into the River Shannon near Victoria Lock.
The Ormond Flying Club has been in operation at Birr Airfield for over 30 years. The area has been linked with aviation for some time – as a British Army airstrip was previously near the current field.
Birr lies on the N52 and N62 national secondary roads. The routes are combined as they pass through Birr. The R439, R440 and R489 regional roads also terminate in the town.
Bus Éireann provide public transport services to the town. The Athlone to Limerick service regularly passes through the town daily. Kearns privately owned bus service provides a number of direct bus services to Dublin from Birr.
Birr railway station, the terminus of a branch from the Limerick–Ballybrophy line at Roscrea, opened on 8 March 1858 and closed on 1 January 1963.
History
Ancient history
A monastery was founded here by St Brendan of Birr. It produced the MacRegol Gospels, named after the abbot at the turn of the 8th/9th century and now to be seen in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The Synod of Birr, held in 697, was the occasion on which the Cáin Adomnáin, or law of innocents, was pronounced.
In Gaelic Ireland, Birr was located in the O'Carroll territory of Éile. This petty kingdom () formed an area that now forms the south of County Offaly and the northeast of County Tipperary. The Tuatha was subject to the overkingdom () of Munster and formed a border with the Kingdom of Meath to the east. The boundary between Ely O'Carroll and the ancient Meath is co-terminous with the present boundary between the Diocese of Killaloe and the Diocese of Meath. The O'Carroll family had a castle located at the present site of Birr Castle. Following the Plantations of Ireland, Birr was located in the Barony of Ballybritt following the formation of King's County (now County Offaly) in 1556.
The town itself is an old market and former garrison town dating to the 1620s.
Crotty Schism
The town was also the location of the Crotty Schism, one of the few schisms to affect the Catholic Church in Ireland in the 19th century. The ruins of a church on Castle Street were the result of the Crotty Schism however it is now in a derelict condition after it fell into disuse following the end of the schism. The church is known locally as Crotty's Church. In recent years it has become a hub for social dancing.
Birr Barracks
Birr Barracks became the depot of the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) from 1881. The barracks at Birr was burned down in 1922 during the Irish Civil War and the outer perimeter wall is all that remains.
Annalistic references
See Annals of Inisfallen. AI664.1 Kl. Death of Cúcen Máthair, and of Diarmait, son of Aed Slaine. [AU 665]. Fighting in Birra. AI822.1 Kl. Mac Riaguil, abbot of Birra, rested.
Features
Georgian Birr
Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town due to the preservation and wealth of Georgian architecture in the town. The earliest Georgian-style buildings dating from the 1740s are located in Emmet Square and Emmet Street (then known as Cumberland Square and Cumberland Street). The column in the centre of the square dates from 1747 and was built to carry the statue of the Duke of Cumberland, known as the Bloody Duke and the victor of the Battle of Culloden. The statue was removed in 1915 as it was in danger of collapse. The Oxmantown Mall was laid out in the early 19th century and was designed as a promenade leading from Birr Castle gates to the Church of Ireland. The mall is tree lined on one side with the Georgian houses on the other. John's Mall was also built during this time also with fine Georgian buildings. The area is also known as the chains due to the sturdy chain railings enclosing the central plots in the centre of the Mall. Birr Town Council meets here in a building known as John's Hall built in the style of a Greek Temple.