Prosperous, County Kildare
|
Prosperous An Chorrchoill
|
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Prosperous
|
|
| Coordinates: 53°17′18″N 6°45′06″W / 53.28828°N 6.75172°WCoordinates: 53°17′18″N 6°45′06″W / 53.28828°N 6.75172°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Kildare |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 2,248 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | N827273 |
Prosperous (Irish: An Chorrchoill, meaning "the smooth forest") is a village in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is within the townland of Curryhills, at the junction of the R403 and R408 regional roads, about 40 km (25 mi) from Dublin. Its population of 2,248 makes it the 14th largest town in County Kildare.
The English name of Prosperous was given when the village was founded in the late 18th century by Sir Robert Brooke. The village takes its Irish name from the townland lying to the east, Corrchoill or an Chorrchoill (meaning "the smooth forest"), anglicised variously as Corr[y]hill[s], Curr[i]hill[s] and Curryhills. An alternative meaning is "The wood of the small round hill" 4 and this makes sense topographically as there is a low hill immediately to the east of the village. The village extends into the surrounding townlands of Ballinafagh, Killybegs, Curryhills and Downings (north, south, east and west, respectively).
The town of Prosperous owes its origin to the vision and ideals of Robert Brooke (East India Company officer) . The late eighteenth century was a time of attempted industrial development in Ireland and the industry upon which Prosperous was founded in 1780 was cotton manufacturing. The name chosen by Brook for his industrial town could only be the product of a confident dream. A close parallel to the development of Prosperous was Stratford-on-Slaney in Co. Wicklow, founded by Henry Stratford, Earl of Aldeborough in 1785 as a textile centre. Despite huge investment and, in the case of Prosperous, much building and an initial population of 4,000, both industrial ventures were failures. Stratford practically disappeared and Prosperous declined to such an extent as to be described by Lewis in 1837 as ‘little more than a pile of ruins' situated 'in a low marshy spot, surrounded by bogs and without water of importance nor reasonable hope of its revival' and more recently as a ‘straggling village labouring under its resounding name'.
...
Wikipedia