Castleblayney or Castleblaney is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Letterkenny.
Council
The modern town of Castleblayney is administered by Monaghan County Council. It forms part of the Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District which elects six of the eighteen members of the council.
For over one hundred and sixty years the town had its own local or Town council until May 2014. Town government began in Castleblayney on 17 May 1853 when 21 Town Commissioners were elected on foot of a proclamation by Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, dated 10 April 1853. In 1865 the Town Commissioners voted to bring the town under the Town Improvement (Ireland) Act 1847 and in 1899 the nine Town Commissioners were replaced by an Urban District Council, re-designated as a Town Council under the Local Government Act 2001. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 brought town government to an end replaced it with the integrated municipal district (town and rural areas) and county system.
Facilities
Amenities in Castleblayney include a Community Enterprise Centre which opened in 1987.
There is one shopping centre is located in the town, of which SuperValu is the anchor tenant.
Transport
The town is served by Bus Éireann, Ulsterbus and several private coach companies.
A€120m by-pass from Castleblayney to Clontibret opened on 5 November 2007, linking Castleblayney directly to the M1 Motorway and to Dublin. The bypass consists of 16 kilometres of 2+1 carriageway.
Castleblayney is no longer served by railway. Castleblayney railway station opened on 15 February 1849, closed to passengers on 14 October 1957, and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1960.
Arts and culture
The Íontas Arts & Community Resource Centre is an arts and community facility located in a purpose-built facility in the town. It offers a wide range of arts activities, including drama, music and dance.
Sport
The local Gaelic Athletic Association club, Castleblayney Faugh’s GAC, was founded in November 1905. There are also two soccer clubs located in Castleblayney, Blayney Academy FC formed in 2010 and Blayney Rovers FC.
Education
The town has two second-level schools, Our Lady’s Castleblayney and Castleblayney College. The latter is a co-educational school which had a €5 million extension built recently.
There are five national schools in Castleblayney; Scoil na gCailíní, Scoil Mhuire na mBuachaillí, Convent Junior School, The Central School and Gaelscoil Lorgan.
