History of Tullamore
Tradition gives Tullamore an existence in the early years of the Christian era. There is the story of Cahir Mhór, Irish Chieftan from A.D. 120 to 123, who was said to have thirty sons, the eldest being called Ros Railghe - Ros of the Rings. Ros's descendants fromed the clan of Hy Failghe, who occupied a large tract of land in the midlands. The tribal name exists today in the name of the county - Offaly.
Nestling in the valley, under the heathery crest of the Slieve Bloom mountains, the clan had thier meeting place - the great assembly, Tullach Mhór. Nowadays we call it Tullamore. It is the county capital, a prosperous market town for a rich grain growing district and was for hundreds of years the location of a famous whiskey distillery.
The town of Tullamore was from the 1620's owned by the Earl of Charleville.
Tullamore was, until the 1700's only a village, but in 1716 the town growth received a considerable boost when an army barracks was established in the area of the present Garda Station. At the same time, the town's proprietors - the Moore family (later Earls of Charleville) - built a large house in the O' Carroll Street area (also known as Henry Street) and began to show an interest in the development of the town.
From the 1720's to the 1760's expansion took place in the Bridge Street, High Street, O' Connor Square and Patrick Street areas. However the town was badly hit by a fire in 1785, caused by an air baloon, which destroyed about 100 houses or perhaps one third of the town's housing block. This did not affect the town's rapid growth during this period and up to about 1815 in common with many other towns in Ireland.
Thomas Acres, a building speculator, was responsible for building most of Columcille Street (off William Street), Cormac Street and O' Moore Street.
The coming of the Grand Canal in 1798 provided Tullamore with direct access to Dublin and a cheap form of transport for commodities. The town boomed and Harbour Street, Church Street and Crowe Street were erected. At this point, c. 1812 to 1815, progress slackened and there were few schemes until the 1830s when O' Carroll Street was erected and additional houses in Church Street and Cormac Street were built. The 1830s marked the end of a fifty year period of expansion during which the town had achieved county town status. When the assizes were transferred from Daingean to Tullamore in 1833 a county jail and courthouse were built. Electric light arrived in 1893.
Tullamore has a long whiskey distilling tradition. Tullamore Dew is a world famous whiskey originating from Tullamore. "The Glass of Tullamore" achieved wide fame in Ireland and indeed across the world. At first exports went to the old British colonies via Liverpool and other trading countries. The world famous "Irish Mist" was also produced in Tullamore and continued this long tradition.
