Shannon Town
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Shannon Sionainn
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| Town | |
View over Shannon, with the industrial area on the left and the housing on the right.
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 Shannon
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| Coordinates: 52°42′49″N 8°52′07″W / 52.713731°N 8.868628°WCoordinates: 52°42′49″N 8°52′07″W / 52.713731°N 8.868628°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Clare |
| Dáil Éireann | Clare |
| EU Parliament | North-West |
| Mayor | John Crowe |
| Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 9,673 |
| Irish Grid Reference | R402624 |
| Website | www |
Shannon (Irish: Sionainn) or Shannon Town (Baile na Sionnainne), named after the river near which it stands, is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It is a satellite town of the nearby city of Limerick, and was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limerick and Ennis. It is the location of Shannon Airport, an international airport serving the Limerick/Clare region in the west of Ireland.
Shannon is a new town. Spearheaded by Brendan O'Regan, it was built in the 1960s on reclaimed marshland alongside Shannon Airport, along with the Shannon Free Zone industrial estate. The residential areas were intended as a home for the thousands of workers at the airport, surrounding industries and support services. Population growth was never as fast as planned throughout the first few decades of the town's existence. This was partly due to the proximity of 'friendly' places to live, such as Ennis town and Limerick city, or even the nearby village of Newmarket-on-Fergus.
The 'planned' nature of this town did not necessarily result in a successful town. It was lacking in facilities, and the town's shopping centre was also of poor design. Shops fronted onto pedestrian malls that were originally uncovered, allowing estuary winds and rain to strike at shoppers. The early low-cost housing (tower-block flats located in Drumgeely, near the airport) was poor-quality terraced housing.
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