Bruff
Bruff
An Brú | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Mural on Crawford's Street depicting the Flight of the Earls | |
  Bruff Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 52°28′37″N 8°33′00″W / 52.477°N 8.55°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Limerick |
| Population | |
| • Total | 803 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
| Irish Grid Reference | R647369 |
| Website | https://www.visitbruff.com |
Bruff (Irish: An Brú[2]) is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork road (R512). The town lies on the Morning Star river, with two bridges in the town itself. The horseshoe lake of Lough Gur is nearby. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.[2]
Name
[edit]The town's official name in Irish is An Brú, historically written as Brugh. Older spellings in English, dating from 1200 onward, include Bru, Brugh, Browe, and Broff, Brown, Braun, Braff, Bruno, An Bru’ Because of its close association with the Anglo-Norman de Lacy family, the town's name was also rendered in Irish as Brú an Léisigh; it is believed that a modern name for the town, Brú na nDéise, is a corruption of this name that was popularised from the early 1900s on.[2]
History
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Historical artefacts found around the area date back to the Stone Age, with various buildings up to the early Christian era still extant. Bruff is the hometown of the American missionary and bishop John Joseph Hogan. In the sixteenth century, it was granted to the Standish family, from whom it passed by inheritance to the Hartstonge Baronets, and ultimately to the Earl of Limerick.[3]
The town suffered heavy fighting in the Battle of Killmallock during the Irish Civil War. Near the Catholic Church, there is a large statue of Sean Wall, commander of the East Limerick Irish Republican Army and chairman of Limerick County Council until his death on 6 May 1921 during the War of Independence.[citation needed]
The former seat of the O'Grady family, Kilballyowen, is near Bruff.[citation needed]
The US President John F. Kennedy was a descendant of the Fitzgeralds of Bruff.[4] His daughter, Caroline Kennedy, visited the town in May 2013 with her husband and son.[citation needed]
Sport
[edit]The town has Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Pitch & Putt, hockey, soccer, and rugby union clubs.
The rugby club, Bruff R.F.C., is the home club of John Hayes, the Ireland rugby union international. The GAA club, Bruff GAA, won the Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship in 2014.[5] Bruff is also home to Limerick F.C.'s Kirby O'Sullivan Sports, Social and Business Park.
Development and economy
[edit]Bruff town has been classified as a satellite town of Limerick City. Major expansion for the town is laid out in the development plan published by Limerick County Council in 2012.[6]
Ard Scoil Mhuire, the only secondary school in the town, has been closed down, its former campus is now home to the Kirby O'Sullivan Sports, Social and Business Park.
Tourism
[edit]Bruff's Cultural and Arts Society organises an Annual Summer Festival, an event held annually since its inception in 2006. It includes the Morning Star Rose Competition and the Morning Star Escort Competition (since 2008).[citation needed] The Sean Wall Committee organise a "Bloomsday in Bruff" festival every year on 16 June. A number of murals have been painted on the walls of buildings in the town.[citation needed]
There are four pubs (one with a restaurant), two restaurants, a Eurospar, a Centra, a pharmacy, a B&B and a post office in the town.[citation needed]
Accommodation in the town is provided in what used to be the old AIB Bank, known as "The Old Bank",[7] which had also served as the Garda station in the town.
People
[edit]- James David Bourchier (1850–1920), journalist, Balkans correspondent of The Times
- Paul Browne (1989–), hurler.
- George Clancy (1881–1921), Mayor of Limerick.
- George Clancy (1977–), international rugby union referee.
- John Crimmin (1859–1945), Victoria Cross recipient.
- Marie Curtin (1985–), Republic of Ireland women's international footballer
- Seán Finn (1996–), hurler.
- Anthony O'Riordan (1966–), hurler.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Population and Actual and Percentage Change 2011 to 2016". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "An Brú/Bruff". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ National Library of Ireland Collection List 121 "The Limerick Papers"
- ^ "the select surnames website". selectsurnames.com.
- ^ "Bruff are Greenhills Hotel Premier Intermediate Hurling champions". Limerick GAA website. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ "Bruff Local Area Plan 2012–2018" (PDF). Limerick County Council. 25 June 2012. p. 9. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ^ "Bed and Breakfast Limerick B&B Limerick B and B Limerick Accommodation The Old Bank Bruff Limerick". theoldbank.ie.
External links
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