Adare

Desmond Castle, Adare

A castle or fortress is said to have first been built with an ancient ring-fort, by the O'Donovans, rulers of the region into the 12th century, and afterwards to have passed into the possession of the Kildare branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, who may be responsible for the majority of the remains of the present fortress (which occurred with Croom Castle, also on the Maigue). Desmond Castle, as it is popularly known (after the FitzGeralds of Desmond), stands on the north bank of the Maigue. An extensive renovation has been in progress on the castle since 1996 and supervised tours are offered in the summer months. This is one of a series of significant Desmond properties, which also include Desmond Hall and Castle in Newcastle West, another castle in Askeaton and Castle Matrix near Rathkeale, further west in County Limerick.

Augustinian Abbey, with the castle of the Fitzgeralds and the Franciscan Abbey, 1842

Adare's Augustinian Priory was founded in 1316 by John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare. The Priory was suppressed in the reign of Henry VIII. In 1807, the church of the Priory was given to the local Church of Ireland congregation as the parish church.[3] In 1814, the refectory was roofed and converted into a schoolhouse. Between 1852 and 1854, a second restoration of the church was undertaken by Caroline, Countess of Dunraven.

The Franciscan friary, also known as the friary of St Michael the Archangel,[4] was founded in 1464 by Thomas Fitz-Maurice, 7th Earl of Kildare and his wife Joan, and completed two years later. It is currently a ruin and is located inside the Adare Manor Golf Club.[3]

Trinitarian Monastery

The Trinitarian Order established their only monastery in Ireland in Adare in 1230.[3] It is believed that the Trinitarian monks who came to Adare may have come from Scotland. The Abbey was restored in 1811 by the first Earl of Dunraven as the Catholic Parish church.

Adare Manor is a mansion located on lands on the banks of the River Maigue and the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. The present building was built in the early 19th-century in a Tudor-revival style, while retaining part of an earlier structure. It is now the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, a luxury resort hotel, reopened after an extensive restoration in October 2017.

Tír na nÓg, a historic thatched cottage in Adare, pictured here in 2013. Built as part of the Dunraven estate in 1835–70, it was destroyed by a fire in June 2015.[5]

The main street combines typical Irish architecture with the English styled buildings and infrastructure purpose-built for the Dunraven estate as an estate village. Examples of the latter architectural forms include the thatched cottages near the entrance to Adare Manor. The later 20th century additions were designed by Detmar Blow.[6]

There are four primary schools in Adare: St Joseph's National School (Catholic, boys),[7] Our Lady's Abbey National School (Catholic, girls),[8] St Nicholas' National School (Church of Ireland, mixed)[9] and Shountrade National School (Catholic, mixed). The village's secondary school, Adare CBS, closed in 1973.

The main Limerick-Tralee road, the N21 passes through the village, causing persistent heavy congestions. In late 2015 a corridor for the long-delayed bypass was chosen that realigns the N21 road north of the village as part of a new dual carriageway planned to link Foynes port to Limerick.

Adare is a stop on Bus Éireann's Limerick-Tralee/Killarney bus service and Dublin Coach's Dublin-Tralee/Killarney service. Both run hourly.

The disused "Limerick-Foynes" railway line passes 800 metres (half a mile) to the north-west of the village.[10] Adare railway station, opened on 12 July 1856 by the Limerick & Foynes Railway company, was closed to passengers on 4 February 1963 and to freight on 2 December 1974. The line to Foynes continued to carry freight traffic until it was mothballed in 2001 and has seen no trains since 7 May 2002 when the annual Irish Rail weed spray train visited the line. The line, designated an engineers siding, is still officially open for traffic.[11]