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Púcas & Piseogs
Púcas & Piseogs
This walking tour will take us from the site of the town’s Workhouse, calling into St Bride’s Church, through Market Square up to the old Railway Station. We pass St Bridget’s Church and the Old Gilson School and return back to the Square and the Republican Monument.
The Oldcastle Workhouse which opened in 1842 was the last and most expensive of five such operating in Meath. It was built to shelter 600 people who, if healthy, were expected to work for their food and board. During WW1 the buildings were used as a detention camp for German and Austrian nationals.
St Bride’s Church is located on the highest point in the town. There are references to a late medieval church and castle erected by John Plunkett, which is said to have been on the site of the present Church of Ireland church. The church contains a number of interesting memorials of local families as well as pews and other objects from the nearby church at Loughcrew.
Oldcastle Railway Station - the railway reached Oldcastle in 1863 and for the following 100 years till its closure in 1963 made a great contribution to the social and economic development of the town. It opened up new markets to Oldcastle producers and enabled ordinary people to travel with relative ease and comfort.
St Brigid’s Catholic Church is thought to be one of the most splendid in the diocese of Meath - a far cry from the ‘mass house’ described in the1780s by the then Bishop of Meath as being in a ‘scandalously neglected state’. The present church was opened in 1904 and contains among other things a relic of St Oliver Plunkett and a number of Harry Clarke stained glass windows.
The Gilson Endowed School is a Palladian-style limestone building designed by Charles Cockerill, architect to the Bank of England. The school was ‘endowed’ by Oldcastle native Laurence Gilson to offer non-denominational free education to the children of the parish. The school was founded in 1832 with equal Catholic and Protestant representation on its Board and functioned as a school until the 1950s.
The Square - Although the town of Oldcastle was not, so to speak ‘on the map’ in medieval times, we do know that it was a market centre from at least the 15th century. A letter to the English Parliament in the 1400s complains that ‘Irish merchants’ had set up other markets in which were likely to threaten the one in Oldcastle.
The Republican Monument is testament to area’s involvement in Ireland’s War of Independence and Civil War in the first half of the 20th century. Oldcastle was visited by, amongst others, Padraig Pearse where he spoke about the Gaelic League and the growing Irish Nationalist movement.
Oldcastle Railway Station - the railway reached Oldcastle in 1863 and for the following 100 years till its closure in 1963 made a great contribution to the social and economic development of the town. It opened up new markets to Oldcastle producers and enabled ordinary people to travel with relative ease and comfort.
St Brigid’s Catholic Church is thought to be one of the most splendid in the diocese of Meath - a far cry from the ‘mass house’ described in the1780s by the then Bishop of Meath as being in a ‘scandalously neglected state’. The present church was opened in 1904 and contains among other things a relic of St Oliver Plunkett and a number of Harry Clarke stained glass windows.
The Gilson Endowed School is a Palladian-style limestone building designed by Charles Cockerill, architect to the Bank of England. The school was ‘endowed’ by Oldcastle native Laurence Gilson to offer non-denominational free education to the children of the parish. The school was founded in 1832 with equal Catholic and Protestant representation on its Board and functioned as a school until the 1950s.
The Square - Although the town of Oldcastle was not, so to speak ‘on the map’ in medieval times, we do know that it was a market centre from at least the 15th century. A letter to the English Parliament in the 1400s complains that ‘Irish merchants’ had set up other markets in which were likely to threaten the one in Oldcastle.
The Republican Monument is testament to area’s involvement in Ireland’s War of Independence and Civil War in the first half of the 20th century. Oldcastle was visited by, amongst others, Padraig Pearse where he spoke about the Gaelic League and the growing Irish Nationalist movement.
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Walking Tour of Oldcastle
The Gilson School, endowed to the town of
Oldcastle by Laurence Gilson
Oldcastle by Laurence Gilson
St Brigid's Catholic Church contains two Harry Clarke stained glass windows.
This tour starts from the Kraft Kaffee, Tourist Information Point, Oldcastle, every Saturday from May - August departing at 10.30am.
The tour lasts approximately 2 hours and costs €8 (€6 concession). No booking required - for further details get in touch.
The tour lasts approximately 2 hours and costs €8 (€6 concession). No booking required - for further details get in touch.
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