The History Of Edenderry
The History Of Edenderry
- The name is a combination of two words Eadan and Doire meaning the hill- brow of the Oak Woods. Many years ago the hills which dominates the Eastern end of the town was almost completely covered in trees., mostly oak.
- The town itself it only about 200 years old although records show that in 1540 the castle on the hill was occupied by a family called Cooley.
- In the 16th century, it had the name of Coolestown, after the family of Cooley or Cowley, who had a castle here, defended in 1599 against the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion. This subsequently passed by marriage to the Blundell family and was sacked in 1691 by the army of James
The Blundells' land passed subsequently to the Marquess of Downshire who reversed the earlier opposition of the Blundell sisters to the establishment of a branch to the Grand Canal to Edenderry and paid for the £692 cost of the project,which was completed in 1802.
By 1716 there was thriving woolen cloth manufacturing, established by Quakes, which employed around 1,000 people. By 1911 the town had grown to 2,204 people. Other industries included the factory of Daniel Alesbury who made a variety of woodwork as well as the first car manufactured in Ireland, the Alesbury, in 1907.