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Shannonvale (, or Béal an Mhaigh Shailigh, meaning "mouth of the dirty plain or field") is a village in West Cork, County Cork, Ireland. The village is located 2.5 km north of Clonakilty and 3 km south-west of Ballinascarthy on the old Clonakilty to Bandon road. The main N71 road to Cork from Clonakilty is 1 km east of the village at Shannonvale cross and is connected from Ballyvahallig cross in the centre of the village. The townlands of Grillagh, Templebryan South, Templebryan North, Carriganookery and Beanhill South all make up Shannonvale today.

Argideen River
The Argideen River, runs through the village from the west to the east and splits the village horizontally in the centre.

Templebryan Stone Circle
On the hill into Shannonvale from Clonakilty there are steps in a stone wall enabling access to the field in which stands Templebryan Stone Circle. The stone circles, of which Cork County has most in Ireland, were built as places of worship during the Bronze Age about 4,000 years ago. At Templebryan, there are 5 standing stones with a smaller stone in the centre and a larger 6ft stone. it is believed that it was originally 10 stones and the ‘Cloch’ stone in Cloch na Coillte is among them, from which derives the name for Clonakilty.

In the next field uphill from the stone circle, an Ogham stone ( with Ogham markings, ancient irish writing ) stands the ruins of the tiny chapel within a circular enclosure in an early Christian church site. The Ogham script, the first Irish attempt at a written language, is based on Latin and appeared about the 4th century. Lying nearby to the Ogham stone is a large stone with a Bullaun or ‘wart well’ as it was believed to cure warts. Bullauns predated Christianity by many centuries. Legend has it that this stone always holds water even in the summer and that the water rises and falls with the tide.

Kilnagross Church
Kilnagross, is a church which was of the Church of Ireland denomination and is located 1 km east of the village on the north bank of the Argideen river. The church's current building was built in 1870 and it was deconsecrated in 1990. Henry Ford’s great-grandfather William Ford is buried in the churchyard at Kilnagross. Henry Fords father William Ford was born in the townland of Madame, Ballinascarthy 2 km north of Shannonvale in 1826 before they emigrated to Michigan, USA.

Battle of The Big Cross
The Battle of the Big Cross took place on June 19th 1798 at the crossroads at the north of the village, on the old road to Ballinascarthy. It is known as “the only place in all Munster where a blow of some sort had been struck during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. There is a commemorative plaque at the crossroads today and in Asna Square in the centre of Clonakilty there is a commemorative statue celebrating the Battle of the Big Cross. The road which leads to the east of the Big Cross towards Kilnagross church is still called Bóthairín na Fola, “the little road of blood” today.

The differing accounts as how the battle unfolded are as followed. In 1798 a detachment of Westmeath Militia was stationed in Clonakilty with Lieut.Col. Sir Hugh O’Reilly as their commanding officer. Many of them were Irish sworn members of the United Irishmen and according to themselves ready at the first opportunity to join the local men in an uprising. News of the disaffection got through to the higher authorities and on the afternoon of June 18th, 1798, orders arrived that the regiment was to transfer to Bandon the following morning. This news reached the Irish, so they made plans for the attack, hoping that the fire response from the British would be, at most, a token one.

They assembled at the Big Cross, a spot about half a mile north of Ballyvahallig cross on the road to Ballinascarthy, where the actual attack was described thus by Sir Hugh O’Reilly, in a report to the Government: “I have the honour to report to you that a party of the Westmeath regiment consisting of two hundred and twenty men, rank and file with two six pounders under my commands, were attacked yesterday on our march from Clonakilty to Bandon near a village called Ballynascarty by the rebels who took up the best position in the march.

The attack was made from a height on the left of our column of march with very great rapidity and without any previous notice, by between three hundred and four hundred men as nearly as I can judge, armed mostly with pikes and very few firearms. We had hardly time to form but very soon repulsed them with considerable loss when they retreated but not in great confusion”. Whilst the Irish were preparing to make a second attack, they were surprised and came under heavy fire from a detachment of the Caithness Legion under Col. Munro, which was on its way from Bandon to replace the Westmeath men in Clonakilty. The combined enemy fire left at least one hundred Irish dead and the remainder retreating in disorder.

The traditional account of the battle differs from that of O’Reilly in some aspects. According to the traditional account, after the first repulse Tadhg an Asna led a group of pike men in an attack on the six pounders which they succeeded in capturing. Victory seemed at hand when Tadhg seized the reins of O’Reilly’s horse calling on him to surrender but at that crucial moment he fell to the ground having been shot in the back by a Militia sergeant named Cummins. Confusion followed the death of their leader and this was quickly followed by the arrival of the Caithness Legion.

Another local tradition is that Tadhg was acquainted with a member of the Westmeath Militia named White whose support was promised. As Tadhg approached the enemy he called out the man’s name but using the Irish pronunciation the world used was “Fight” and immediately the response came “If ’tis a fight you want, you’ll get it.” and fire opened immediately. The support expected from the Westmeath Militia did not materialise and thus ended another sad episode in the history of Ireland.

After the battle, the local Yeomanry dragged the bodies of the dead rebels to Clonakilty and left them for days in front of the Market House after which they were thrown into a hole in the strand known as the Crab Hole which later became known as the Croppy Hole. According to tradition Tadhg’s body was dragged after a horse and suffered the grossest indignities from the Yeomanry and the local loyalists before being deposited at the Market House. Tadhg's body was eventually retrieved by family members and he is buried in Ballintemple Graveyard 6 km to the south of Shannonvale.

The Sunday following the Battle in Kilgarriffe Church at Old Chapel Lane the Rev. Horatio Townsend, Vicar of Kilgarriffe and chief magistrate of Clonakilty addressed the community as follows: “Deluded though still dear countrymen, your eyes have hitherto been blinded by passion and your understanding perverted by artifice, you shut your ears against the voice of reason, your despised the admonitions of authority and you rejected the counsels of your true friends … Reflect with remorse and repentance on the wicked and sanguinary designs for which your forged so many of those abominable pikes. Yield up to justice your leaders and instigators, surrender all your illegal weapons, return to you habitations and resume your industrious employments…”

By no stretch of the imagination could the Battle of the Big Cross, be described as major military engagement. At best it was a hurriedly arranged attach by enthusiastic but ill-armed and ill trained civilians on a force, admittedly smaller in number, but having the advantages of superior weapons and military training. Enthusiasm was no match for superior skills and so the Battle of Big Cross ended in defeat for the Irish and the death of many of them, among whom was Tadhg an Asna O’Donovan, the only man whose name has survived in song and in tradition. But probably most important of all was the fact that despite what could be described as a reign of terror which prevailed in the Clonakilty area and indeed throughout West Cork during the period 1796-’98, and the widespread searches for arms, it was remarkable that any group of men could even consider and arrange an attack on British troops.

The battle is also commemorated in a song in the Irish language, "Cath Bhéal an Mhui Shalaigh", by Padriag O’Scolai, Ardfield, who took part in the battle, and was widely sung whilst Irish remained the spoken language of Ardfield and other areas. ‘Dá rithfeadh leanar dtreada, mo lean, go dtigeadh an oíche, ‘se sealy a bhead go sciosmhar, agus buíonta Bhéal Áthain Droichead Banndan taobh leis mo lean do gheobhadh an sceimhle ‘S narbh fhios fo dtigeadh an oíche go ndeanfaí orthu an lámh.”

Shannonvale House and Mills
In 1780 Richard, Earl of Shannon bought 25 acres and a house on the banks of the Argideen River in the townland of Grillagh, two miles north of Clonakilty. For some time he had been concerned to improve the facilities for bleaching the coarse linen which was produced in the surrounding countryside, and so he established a public bleaching green at what is now known as Shannonvale.

The first mention we have of Shannonvale House is in 1786 to a house in this area as “Mount-Shannon, the seat of Dr. Calnan”

There was a good supply of running water on the site from the river and when, in 1788, it was passed into the ownership of Robert Pratt esq, he decided to build a flour mill there.

In 1799 it became a cotton mill under Mr James Sadlier. Then in 1823 Messrs James & Thomas Allen bought the property and replaced the mill. They sank a new tail race, thus trebling the water power. During these years, up to 8,000 sacks of flour were exported from the factory through Ring Pier 7 km to the south.

At the time of Griffith's Valuation, the Misses Newman were leasing this property to T. & J. Allen, The house was valued at £25 and the mill at £225. Lewis records it as the seat of T. Allin in 1837.

Thomas Bennett bought the mill in 1852. In 1890, a private railway siding was laid down to connect the mill with the main line. The line was less that a mile long and so hardly merited the use of a locomotive engine. Instead, the two wagons were pulled by horse. This was the last horse drawn in the country and the last horse was ‘Paddy’, a placid grey who worked the line for over fifteen years until it closed in 1961.

The mill was gradually modernised. The old waterwheel was replaced by turbines in 1933. In 1935 the mill was bought by the Cork Milling Company ( Rank Company ) bringing to an end three generations of Bennett ownership. In 1961, all the railways in West Cork were closed, including the horse drawn line. It became increasingly apparent that small mills could not survive long. Shannonvale was no exception and closed in 1963.

The Great Famine
Not much is known about the Famine in Shannonvale but West Cork was badly effected by the Great Famine which occurred between 1845 - 1850. We know that Shannonvale and its environs must have been effected and we can see this by looking at The Census of Population (1851) for the townland of Grillagh in which it gives some idea of the effects of the Famine in the area. In 1841 the population recorded was 195 and 33 houses. In 1851 these figures were; population 66 and 12 houses.

The War of Independence
There is a plaque dedicated to Irish War of Independence Volunteer Timothy Whooley "Tadhg O h-Uallaig" (aged 20) located at Templebryan Cross in the south of the village who was accidentally shot and killed during the war of independence on the 27th of March 1921.

Whooley, a member of the Second or Clonakilty Battalion of the West Cork Brigade, ‘was on duty at Shannonvale Cross on the Bandon road. He was armed with a “Peter the Painter”, which he placed on the ground. The gun was picked up by one of his colleagues, who knew little of the intricacies of the weapon, and before anyone could realise what was happening, Tim Wholly [sic] was shot through the head and died almost immediately. The enemy forces learned of the occurrence within a short time. They searched every house in the area but failed to find the body. They arrested the man who fired the shot, but in the absence of the body, or apparently any definite information, they were unable to charge him.’

Volunteer Whooley was one of the seven children of Deerymeeleen farmer John Whooley and his wife Julia. Volunteer Whooley is buried in Ahiohill Churchyard at his familys gravestone.

Phairs Pub
"Phairs Pub" is Shannonvales only public house and currently the centre of the village and village life. Located at Ballyvahallig cross overlooking the Argideen river the pub owes its establishment to Shannonvale House and Mills which were established a few years later in the late 1700s. The original pub dates from the early 1800s. Like every good up and coming industrial centre it needed its house of ill-repute where the locals could spend some hard earned cash. The reputation of the original pub was complete when the local vicar cursed the pub saying that grass would be growing outside the pub door within the year, the owner solved the problem by placing a 4 foot square 3 inch thick metal plate at the entrance to the pub which can be seen today.

While we now know this pub as Noel Phairs, Noel Phair inherited the pub from his father before him who took ownership of the premises after the civil war. Previous owners are known to be of Scottish extraction and originally arrived when the local flour mill was opened.

Named Noel Phair after the indefatigable character Noel Phair. Noel Phair has a memorial garden in his honour across the road from the pub due to all his positive contributions to the village. Noel Phair was involved in everything that happened in the village from 1950 to the turn of the 21st century. From organising events and celebrations to road bowling, hare coarsing, tug of war teams, honouring the fallen heroes of the past and ensuring the survival and good behaviour of its inhabitants.

The pub is still the centre of Shannonvale village life where local club meetings, celebrations and events occur.

Sport
Clonakilty Rugby Club is located 1 km east of the village at Shannonvale Cross on the main Clonakilty to Cork road and their club grounds is called The Vale. Clonakilty R.F.C.'s highest achievement was winning the AIB Division Three League in 2005/2006 with a number of players from Shannonvale representing the team.

Shannonvale also has had many successful Gaelic Footballers more so than Hurlers who played for Clonakilty GAA and Cork GAA over the years. However Shannonvale once had their own Hurling team who competed in the first West Cork Hurling Championship in 1905 against Clogagh. Hurlers from Shannonvale now play with Clonakilty GAA.

Irish Road Bowling is also popular in the village and has and has had some fantastic bowlers in its history. The road which runs north west from Ballyvahallig Cross towards Fourcuil and Garranecore is a popular bowling road in the South West Bowling division.

Shannonvale used to have its own hockey team which was founded in 1904 and survived until 1933. They played at the Big Cross and also where the present rugby grounds are, at the Vale. The mill workers were paid a shilling extra per week to play and had plenty of competition from several West cork teams as well as big names like Harlequins,Mallow,Midleton, Catholic Institute etc. A ladies team was also formed.

Cricket was was also played in the early 1900's until its popularity died out in the region.

There is a Shannonvale 10km in the village every summer beginning and ending at Phair's Pub. There is no soccer club in the village but most residents either play for Clonakilty AFC or Lyre Rovers FC in the West Cork League.

West Cork Technology Park
Located 1 km east of the village at Shannonvale cross is West Cork Technology Park. The park employs around a 1,000 people with companies in the park including PGi, SouthWestern – Part of Capita plc, Global Shares, West Cork Development Partnership, Crowley & McCarthy Chartered Accountants, Shannonvale Fibre Tubes among others. However this has led to increased traffic in the village and so far local authorities have not provided the infrastructure to deal with the increased traffic or ensure walking is safe in the village.

Notable people

 * Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon(1727-1807) was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament. He represented Dungarvan and Cork County, and succeeded his father as Earl of Shannon. He was responsible for establishing Shannonvale house and the public bleaching green. From him the village received its name Shannonvale. The Earl of Shannon and his descendants owned land in and around Shannonvale up to the late 1800s with the introduction of the Land Acts (Ireland).
 * Captain George Forster Sadlier was a British army officer and took part in the European exploration of Arabia. James Sadlier married Joanne Forster and their son George was the first European to cross Arabia from east to west in 1819, publishing the book, Diary of a Journey Across Arabia from Al Qatif in the Persian Gulf to Yanbu in the Red Sea, During the Year 1819 in 1866.