Mooncoin

Etymology

While William Carrigan recorded the meaning as unknown, according to the village's name derives from an anglicized version of the Irish "Móin Choinn", with "móin" meaning "bogland" and the "coine" suffix meaning "Coyne" or "Choinn", so, translated, it is "Coyne's Bogland". Mooncoin gives its name to a townland, and the Catholic parish of Mooncoin.

Geography

|1837|495 |1961|507 |1966| 505 |1971| 413 |1979| 684 |1981| 806 |1986| 868 |1991| 810 |1996| 855 |2002| 854 |2011| 1,002 |2016| 1,175

Mooncoin is situated in the Suir Valley, at the south of County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. The linear village, which lacks a traditional village centre, stretches along the N24 national primary road with little development north and south. It is 6 km from Waterford City and 48 km south of the county town, Kilkenny. Located in the barony of Iverk, Mooncoin is in the civil parishes of Pollrone, Rathkieran, and Ballytarsney.

The population in the 2011 census was 1,166, of which the majority (776) lived in the electoral division of Pollrone, and the remaining 390 in the Portnascully electoral division. The village includes shops, traditional cottages, large private dwellings, and a parish hall. The main street lies between the two crossroads, the western end includes the church, convent, and school. At the eastern end is a number of buildings in their own grounds, including the two schools. There are two primary schools, one for boys and one for girls, in Mooncoin along with a secondary school. To the north of the village is the Waterford-Limerick railway line.

The continued growth in the population supports a number of businesses. There are two pubs (reduced from three after Howleys closed), three convenience stores, a pharmacy, a bakery, a hairdresser, and two takeaways. There is a 24-hour petrol station on the Waterford road side of the village.

History

Historically part of the Gaelic kingdom of Osraige. Prior to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Coyne Grant and the Grant family were property owners in Pollrone, Dungooly and Ballynabooly. Following the construction of a new road, Mooncoin developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Mooncoin was the head of a Roman Catholic union or district, comprising the parishes of Rathkyran, Aglishmartin, Portnescully, Poleroan, Clonmore, Ballytarsna, Tubrid, and part of Burnchurch. The parish of Mooncoin has three churches – the main parish church in Mooncoin and two smaller churches in Killinaspick and Carrigeen.

In 1829, the Parish Priest, Rev. Nicholas Carroll, bought the Presentation Sisters a house in the centre of the village. They began teaching, and by 1842, Mooncoin had a girls' school with 200 pupils. Samuel Lewis' (1837) in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, described it as "a village and extra-parochial place" and "containing 102 houses and 495 inhabitants". The single cell church of the Assumption is Church was built in 1869, and in 1871 the Convent school was built next to the Church.

Culture

Mooncoin in song

Mooncoin has been made famous by the song 'The Rose of Mooncoin', which has been adopted as the Kilkenny GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) anthem by Paddy Grace. This is an apt acknowledgement of the village, as Mooncoin (along with Tullaroan) was one of the leading hurling teams in the country in the early years of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

The song was written in the 1800s by a local schoolteacher and poet named Watt Murphy, who met and gradually fell in love with a local girl called Elizabeth, also known as Molly. Elizabeth was just 20 years old, and Watt was then 56, but the difference in age was of no consequence to either of them. Both were intellectuals, and they would often stroll along the banks of the river Suir, composing and reciting poetry. However, Elizabeth's father, who was the local vicar, did not approve of their relationship, and she was sent away to England. Watt was brokenhearted at the loss of his beloved lady and wrote this song in her memory.

Sport

GAA

Main article: Mooncoin GAA

Mooncoin have been County Kilkenny Senior Hurling Champions twelve times, 1888, 1900, 1906, 1908, 1913, 1916, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1932, 1936 and 1965. They were also Senior County Gaelic football Champions in 1886, beating James Stephens (The Village) in a replay. The most famous and successful GAA player in Mooncoin's history was Richard 'Drug' Walsh (1878–1958). He won 7 all Ireland medals with Kilkenny and famously captained Kilkenny to three all Ireland finals (1907, 1909, 1913). Only two other people in the history of hurling have achieved this same feat: Christy Ring of Cork and Mikey Maher of Tipperary in the 1890s. The club won its first Club All-Ireland hurling title in 2022 after defeating Cork's Ballygiblin in Croke Park.

Football

Mooncoin Celtic Football Club is located in the village.

Notable people

• Rev. James B. Dollard ("Father Dollard") (1872–1946) was a Roman Catholic parish priest and noted poet.
• William Dollard (1789–1851) was the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint John in Canada.
• Darren Holden, vocalist, musician and member of The High Kings.
• Walter McDonald (1854–1920), priest, theologian and professor.
• Vicky Phelan (1974–2022), advocate for women's health.
• John Walsh (1830–1898), Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto (1888–1898).

References

Footnotes

()

Sources

References

1. (2016). "Kilkenny County Council Elected Members".
2. "Sapmap Area: Settlements Mooncoin". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
3. "MOONCOIN". Tidy Towns 1997.
4. "Raindance Website is Offline".
5. "Location".
6. "Carraig Seac B.Á.C.: NUI, 1939 (1864ls 19L) eag. R.A. Breatnach".
7. (1842). "Reports from Commissioners".
8. "Father Dollard". Digital.library.upenn.edu.
9. "Dollard, William". biographi.ca.