Athea
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Athea Ryn Áth an tSléibhe
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| Village | |
 Athea Ryn
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| Coordinates: 52°27′39″N 9°17′22″W / 52.460926°N 9.289327°WCoordinates: 52°27′39″N 9°17′22″W / 52.460926°N 9.289327°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Limerick |
| Population (est.) | |
| • Urban | 110 |
| • Rural | 1,977 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | R282336 |
Athea (Irish: Áth an tSléibhe, meaning "mountain ford") is a village in west County Limerick, Ireland. Athea has a church, and the town is the centre for the Catholic parish of Athea, encompassing several townlands.
Conn Colbert, the youngest man to be executed by the British after the Easter Rising in 1916, was born in the parish of Athea in 1888.
The folklorist and historian Kevin Danaher was born and raised about a mile outside the town. There were also a number of other famous people from Athea, including the Ahern brothers of Olympian fame, David Quaid served with the Royal Munster Fusiliers from 1897–1909 he fought at the battles of Belmont, The Modder River and the Relief of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War in South Africa 1899–1902, he later served with his regiment in India under Lord Kitchener. David Quaid is buried in the "Old Graveyard" in Templeathea.
The community was dependent on agriculture and a creamery was built near the river which acted as the centrepoint for local trade. A primary school was built near the creamary to cope with the rising younger population. Over time, cottages and workshops lined the main road to create the village of Athea. New local roads were built to neighbouring Moyvane and off the main Listowel-Limerick and Glin-Abbeyfeale roads. The river was the primary water source as well as its use for drainage.
The Catholic population were forbidden to practice their faith under British rule. For this reason the first church wasn't built in Athea until the early 19th century. Locals did congregate each Sunday at a Mass rock east of the village.
Athea is situated on the river Galey and the crossroads of the R523 (Reens - Listowel) and R524 (Glin - Abbeyfeale) regional roads. It is a 3 km east of the Limerick/Kerry border in the rolling hills of west Limerick and is one of the highest settlements in the county. Its highest point is in the Parkanna townland where, at 220 m above sea level, surrounding towns and counties can be seen.
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