Kilmacthomas
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Kilmacthomas Coill Mhic Thomáisín
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|---|---|
| Town | |
 Kilmacthomas
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| Coordinates: 52°12′25″N 7°25′21″W / 52.206816°N 7.422491°WCoordinates: 52°12′25″N 7°25′21″W / 52.206816°N 7.422491°W | |
| Country |
 Ireland
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| Province | Munster |
| County | County Waterford |
| Elevation | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | S392060 |
Kilmacthomas or Kilmactomas (Irish: Coill Mhic Thomáisín), often referred to locally as "Kilmac", is a town on the River Mahon in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on the R677 immediately north of the N25 national primary road from Dungarvan to Waterford.
The town has a population of some 1768 people. The chief tourist attraction of the locality are the Mahon Falls.
During the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, in December, 1649, Oliver Cromwell, marched from Waterford to Kilmacthomas during the Siege of Waterford. The weather was wet and stormy and the river was in flood, so the army couldn't cross. Two nights were spent in the field that is now the public park. Cromwell was said to have described Waterford county on his march from Waterford to Kilmacthomas in the winter of 1649 as being a craggy and desolate place.
Daniel O'Connell passed through Kilmac' on a campaign trail and he wrote:
In the early 1870s the influence of the industrial revolution reached Kilmacthomas when the Waterford to Mallow railroad came to town. There is an example of a stone viaduct in the town spanning the Mahon River.Although the last passenger services ceased in the late 1960s the railway continued to operate with the haulage of oil and magnesite for another couple of decades. This railway is now disused. The viaduct at Kilmacthomas has been preserved, and is part of the Waterford Greenway, which opened in 2017.
The village is situated on the River Mahon, the eastbank is known as Kilmacthomas and the westbank as Gruaigeshuneen. The postal area of Kilmacthomas can include Newtown, Ballylaneen, Lemybrien, Kill, Mahon Bridge, The Nire, and Kilrossanty. The N25 bridge over the River Mahon is named after local sporting hero Percy Kirwan.
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Wikipedia