| Portumna Port Omna |
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WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
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| Irish grid reference M853042 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Connacht | |
| County: | County Galway | |
| Elevation: | 60 m | |
| Population (2002) - Town: - Environs: |
2,015 1,920 |
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Portumna (Port Omna in Irish - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a town in the South-East of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth The Irish grid reference system is a system of geographic Grid references commonly used in Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Poetic description This dinnseanchas poem named Ard Ruide (Ruide Headland poetically describes the kingdoms of Ireland Since the late 16th century the Island of Ireland has been divided into 32 counties ( Irish language contae or condae County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe is located on the West Coast of Ireland. The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe is located on the West Coast of Ireland. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Árann is a County in Ireland situated in the Province of Munster. The town is located to the West of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg. The River Shannon ( Sionainn or Sionna in Irish) is at 386 km (240 miles the longest river in Ireland. Lough Derg ( Loch Deirgeirt in Irish) is the third-largest Lake (or Lough) in Ireland (after Lough Neagh and Lough This historic crossing point over the River Shannon between counties Tipperary and Galway has a long history of bridges and ferry crossings.
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Portumna Bridge
Portumna is currently served with a five-span road bridge over the Shannon. This was designed by C. E. Stanier of London, and completed in 1911, with a central section resting on Hayes's Island which divides the river into two channels. The steel structure of the main bridge and pivotting swing bridge over the navigation channel are of technical and engineering interest, and it is the largest early-twentieth century swivel bridge in Europe. A swing bridge is a Movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring at or near to its center about which the turning
The Shannon at this point consists of two channels divided by Hayes Island, the one on the North Tipperary side being about 79 m (260 ft) wide, and that on the Galway side being about 73 m (240 ft) wide. Each channel is spanned by three pairs of mild-steel plate girders, either 24 m (80 ft) or 27 m (90 ft) in length, resting on 3 m (9 ft) diameter concrete-filled cast-iron cylinders.
Waterways Ireland have recently applied (on 18 Dec 2007) for planning permission from Galway County Council to undertake works to refurbish the bridge. During the works, it is envisaged that the bridge (and, as a result, the N65 road) will be closed for approximately 9 days from the end of October to early November 2008. This will likely cause serious inconvenience for the users of the bridge and will necessitate long detours during this period.
Portumna Castle
The town is famous for Portumna Castle and for the lords that lived there. The castle is actually a great semi-fortified house and was built before 1618 by Richard Burke or de Burgo, the 4th Earl of Clanricarde. It was the main seat of the de Burgo family for over 200 years, until it was gutted by fire in 1826. For the game see 1826 (board game. Year 1826 ( MDCCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display
Following extensive conservation and restoration work, the ground floor of the castle is now open to the public. The conservation works on other parts of the castle are ongoing. To the north of the castle are formal, geometrically laid out gardens. There are also exhibitions in the castle itself and the Gate House. The castle now also includes the recently restored 17th century walled kitchen garden. Following its original plan the garden has been organically planted with fruit trees, flowers, herbs and vegetables.
The castle is scenically located about 200 metres North of Portumna (or 'New') Harbour on Lough Derg, with Portumna Forest Park to the West and the town of Portumna about 300 metres to the North and East.
As with many historic buildings a number of local legends have grown up around the castle. One local legend goes that a child fell out of the upper windows. An irish wolf hound raced to break the childs fall and saved the child. A marker stone now rests on the site.
Marine Tourism
Portumna is a well-known tourist destination for boaters, golfers and anglers thanks to its natural amenities. As the town is at the junction of the River Shannon and Lough Derg, there are a number of harbours, two of which are on the Portumna side of the river. The River Shannon ( Sionainn or Sionna in Irish) is at 386 km (240 miles the longest river in Ireland.
These are Connacht Harbour, accessed via the river, which is beside Bridge Road, on the eastern side of the town, and Portumna (or 'New') Harbour which is on the northern shore of Lough Derg beside Castle Avenue, adjacent to the castle on the southern edge of the town.
A third private harbour has been recently established on the Tipperary side of the river at Portland House. There are also private moorings at Belle Isle harbour. Pleasure craft can be privately hired at Emerald Star Line cruisers at Connacht Harbour.
Sport
For angling enthusiasts, Portumna offers good fishing waters which have a good track record. There are several prime angling hotspots, a number of which are official match stretches located on the River Shannon itself and the Northern Shores of Lough Derg. The River Shannon ( Sionainn or Sionna in Irish) is at 386 km (240 miles the longest river in Ireland. On the river there are two main stretches near Portumna. One is downstream of Portumna and is known locally as the 'lower town stretch' or 'Rogers Island'. The other is upstream of the town and is known as the upper ESB stretch or 'Fairyhill'. The most commonly caught species include Pike, Perch, Bream, Roach and hybrids. Perca is the genus of fish referred to as perch or sometimes yellow perch, a group of freshwater Fish belonging to the family Percidae Bream is a general term for a number of species of Freshwater and marine Fish, mainly but not exhaustively drawn from the genera
The River Shannon and Lough Derg also provide a superb location for pleasure boating and watersports. During the summer months, sports such as water-skiing and wakeboarding are very popular in Portumna. Water skiing is a Sport where an individual (or more than one individual is pulled behind a Motor boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water wearing Wakeboarding is a surface Water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water behind a boat
Portumna Golf Club (founded in 1913) and its 18-hole parkland golf course (par 72), set within the 1500 acre Portumna Forest Park, is located on the western approach to the town, approx. two kilometres from the town centre on the Ennis/Gort road. Ennis ( is the County town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway History Gort takes its name Gort Inse Guaire, from Guaire Aidhneach, the sixth century King of Connacht and patron of St
The town is home to the 2006 and 2008 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship winners. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship is an annual Hurling tournament played between hundreds of senior hurling clubs in Ireland. The town's senior hurlers beat the Co. Cork champions Newtownshandrum in Croke Park on St. For more details of Cork GAA see Cork Senior Football Championship or Cork Senior Hurling Championship. Newtownshandrum GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the small village of Newtownshandrum in North County Cork. Croke Park (Páirc an Chrócaigh in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports Stadium in Ireland (fifth largest in Europe) and the principal stadium Patricks Day, 2006, (by a score of 2-8 to 1-6) and were winners again on St Patrick's Day 2008 by beating Co. Offaly champions Birr (by a score of 3-19 to 3-9). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common County Offaly (Contae Uíbh Fhailí is a County in Leinster, Ireland, bordered by seven other counties Galway, Roscommon, Westmeath This article is about Birr the town in Ireland For alternative meanings see Birr (disambiguation. In 2006 Portumna were captained by Eugene McEntee, whilst in 2008 they were captained by Ollie Canning. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Oliver 'Ollie' Canning (born 1977 in Portumna, County Galway) is an Irish sportsperson On both occasions Joe Canning (brother of Ollie) was a member of the successful team. Joe Canning (born November 1988 in Portumna, County Galway) is an Irish sportsperson
Portumna '85 Jamboree
In August 1985 the three Scout Associations in Ireland (CBSI, SAI, and NISC) held a major Jamboree at Portumna, Co. Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide Youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical mental and spiritual Scouting Ireland (CSI was a WOSM affiliated National Scout Organisation in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from 1927 to December Scouting Ireland SAI was an Irish Scouting association formed in 1908 and merged into Scouting Ireland in 2004 In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level Galway to celebrate International Youth Year. International Youth Year, or IYY, was held in 1985, to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth 'Portumna '85' was the first Irish scout camp involving all three Irish scouting organizations. It is fondly remembered by both participants and locals as 'Port-mud-na '85' on account of the muddy conditions that had to be endured by the 10,000 or so scouts and leaders, caused by the torrential rain which fell during that summer.
See also
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