Description
Fermoy is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. Its population is about 5,800, environs included (2006 census). It is located in the barony of Fermoy.The town's name comes from the Irish and refers to a Cistercian abbey founded in the 13th century.HistoryMedieval TimesA Cistercian abbey was founded in Fermoy in the 13th century. At the dissolution of the monasteries during the Tudor period, the abbey and its lands passed through the following dynasties: Sir Richard Grenville, Robert Boyle and William Forward. However, the site could hardly have been regarded as a town and, by the late 18th century, was little more than a few cabins and an inn.18th and 19th centuryIn 1791, the lands around Fermoy were bought by a Scotsman, John Anderson. He was an entrepreneur who developed the roads and started the mail coach system in Ireland. He designed the town and the streets remain much the same as they were originally built. In 1984, some of his descendants, living in Australia, named a winery, Fermoy Estate, after the town he established. A plaque and bust in his honour were unveiled by the town park in 2001.Garrison TownFermoy was the site of a major British Army barracks, when Ireland was under British rule. In 1797, when the army was looking to establish a new and permanent base, Anderson gave them the land as an inducement to locate in Fermoy. Anderson and the town received considerable economic benefit from the arrangement. In 1806 the first permanent barracks, the East Barracks, were built. They were located on 16½ acres of land and provided accommodation for 112 officers and 1478 men of infantry, and 24 officers, 120 men, and 112 horses of cavalry. A general military hospital of 130 beds was also built. In 1809 West Barracks was built. This also had a 42-bed hospital. When both barracks were complete there was accommodation for 14 field officers, 169 officers, 2,816 men, and 152 horses. By the 1830 s this was the largest military establishment on the island of Ireland. The town of Fermoy expanded around these facilities and retained its British military facilities until 1922, when the Irish Free State was first established.
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