Skibbereen Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Skibbereen An Sciobairín
Town
New Bridge over the River Ilen
Skibbereen Location in Ireland
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Cork
Population (2016)
• Total	2,778
Time zone	UTC±0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing key	P81
Telephone area code	+353(0)28
Irish Grid Reference	W119334

Skibbereen ( Irish: An Sciobairín) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The name "Skibbereen" (sometimes shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The River Ilen runs through the town; it reaches the sea about 12 kilometres away, at the seaside village of Baltimore. As of the Census of Ireland 2011, the population of the town (not including the rural hinterland) was 2,568. Skibbereen is in the Cork South-West (Dáil Éireann) constituency, which has three seats.

History
- Famine
People
Culture and leisure
Demographics
Sport
Education
Notable people
Images for kids
See also

History

Prior to 1600 most of the land in the area belonged to the native MacCarthy Reagh dynasty - today McCarthy remains the town's most common surname.

Famine

500 years after the Black Death, the region again experienced a significant famine in the years 1845-52, a time referred to as The Great Hunger or Great Famine (Irish: an Gorta Mór). The Skibbereen Heritage Centre estimates that 8,000 to 10,000 victims of 'The Great Famine' are buried in the famine burial pits of Abbeystrewery cemetery close to the town. While there is some question on the accuracy of census data from the famine era, records indicate a drop of population from 58,335 in 1841 to 32,412 in 1861.

Site of Famine Burial Pits at Abbeystrowery

Skibbereen is also the name of a song about the Famine, and the impact it and the British Government had on the people of Ireland. The song, known as Dear Old Skibbereen, takes the form of a conversation between a father and a son, in which the son asks his father why he fled the land he loved so well.

A permanent exhibition to commemorate the memory of the victims of the Great Famine is sited at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre. Skibbereen was also the focal point of Ireland's first National Famine Memorial Day on 17 May 2009. The town was selected as it was in one of the areas worst affected by the Great Famine. The National Famine Commemoration Committee agreed that the centerpiece of the memorial day would rotate between the Four Provinces on an annual basis.

People

1798 memorial

Marian Barry, Irish trade unionist.
Agnes Mary Clerke, astronomer and writer was born in Skibbereen
Seamus Davis, physicist and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences was born at Skibbereen
Tony Davis, former gaelic footballer and analyst for RTÉ's The Sunday Game
Jeremy Irons, the English actor, has long maintained a fishing cottage in Skibbereen
Percy Ludgate, designer of an analytical engine was born in Skibbereen
Kieron Moore, actor
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, worked in Skibbereen and established O'Donovan Rossa GAA club
Jasper Wolfe, politician, Teachta Dála and solicitor
Don Wycherley, actor
Gary O'Donovan, Olympic silver medallist (rowing – lightweight double sculls, 2016)
Paul O'Donovan, Olympic silver medallist (rowing – lightweight double sculls, 2016)

Culture and leisure

Arts Festival

The Skibbereen Arts Festival occurs annually, taking place at the end of July and including community based projects as well as a mix of national and international films, theatre, visual art and music acts.

Music

A number of different music events are held each year, with several bars and venues in town (including "Baby Hannah's") hosting musical acts.

Beaches

Just outside Skibbereen is Tragumna beach, and the town's location near the coast means that sea fishing, scuba diving, sailing, and kayaking are possible locally.

Demographics

As of the 2016 census, in terms of ethnicity, the Skibbereen Urban and Skibbereen Rural electoral divisions were 75.6% white Irish, 18.8% other white ethnicities, 0.6% black, 1.2% Asian, 1% of other ethnicity, and 2.9% with no stated ethnicity. As of 2016, 5.4% of Skibbereen's urban population identified with a UK nationality, compared to an average of 2.6% for the county as a whole.

In terms of religion, the 2011 census returns recorded the population as being 79% Catholic, 11.5% other stated religion, 7% with no religion, and 1.5% not stated.

Sport

O'Donovan Rossa GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. The local secondary school St. Fachtna's was a finalist in 1982 and a winner in 1991 of the Hogan Cup for Gaelic football.

Skibbereen Rowing Club is situated on the outskirts of the town, and is one of the most successful clubs in Ireland. Club members Paul and Gary O'Donovan won silver at the 2016 summer Olympics in the men's lightweight double sculls, the first Olympic medal won by Irish rowers. Paul O'Donovan and fellow club member Fintan McCarthy subsequently won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

A.F.C.Skibbereen is the local association football (soccer) club, with other sports clubs including Skibbereen Golf Club, Skibbereen Rugby Club, and Skibbereen Athletics Club.

Education

There are four primary schools located in the town, including Abbeystrewry National School (a mixed school), Gaelscoil Dr O'Suilleabhain (a mixed Irish-speaking school), St. Patrick's Primary School (boys), and Scoil Naomh Seosamh (girls)

Until 2016, there were three secondary schools: Rossa College (mixed sex), St Fachtna's De la Salle (boys), and Mercy Heights (girls). The three schools merged into one school called Skibbereen Community School which opened in September 2016.

Notable people