Rathgormack is a rural area of Co. Waterford. The population of the area, including Clonea-Power is around 1,800 people. Most people are engaged in farming or in agricultural-related industries producing
milk, beef, lamb, wool, bacon, cereals and timber. Tourism in the area is becoming more and more popular.
Rathgormack now has a Hiking Centre which can accommodate 20 people with a fully equipped self-catering kitchen.
I haven't had much time to do anything with the site for over a year but THIS is important.
Mary Flynn from Knockanafalla is a finalist for the Guinness Champion of Fans for 2006. She is Waterford's only representative and is up against the likes of fair weather fans from Cork and Kilkenny. A emailing frenzy is under way to help Mary to the prize of tickets for 2 years to Croker and a bit of spending money. Currently there is an opinion poll running on the Guinness website at the Champion of Fans link. Mary is currently second and needs everyone to submit a free vote or votes to help her to the top.
The important dates to remember are the 28th of August to September 3rd when the PHONE VOTE will take place. Tell everyone you know with a phone or internet to follow Mary's progress and vote for her. Mary also features on the GAA show on TG4 on Monday nights.
Mary & Michael are sending this link to any Rathgormack-clonea people with an email. Please forward on this link to anyone you know.
Congratulations to Mary Greene, Knock-na-Creha. Mary was elected the Mayor of Waterford County Council at the County AGM in June 2006.
Mary has become the first person from Rathgormack/Clonea-Power to be awarded the honour. Representing Fine Gael since 1999 on the Council, Mary was the first representative from the Parish in over 50 years.
Rathgormack co-hosted the Slovakian National Team for the Special Olympics in Summer 2003. Rathgormack shared the responsibility of entertaining the athletes from the Eastern European country in the week prior to the games with Clonea & Carrick-on-Suir. The Slovakian
Alot of Irish people have seen some of the area on RTÉ television when Meath mad-man Hector Ó hEochagain decided to buy a horse and make a television series about owning a racehorse.
The man he picked to train the horse was local trainer Pat Flynn, and with a small budget, they went to the Newmarket sales and purchased Traverse , a horse with a habit of losing.
The horse was brought back to Ballingarra and trained to be a 5-6 furlong horse. Well "Only Fools Buy Horses" turned out to be a better programme than the horse for a while but, eventually Traverse came good and won its first race at Ballinrobe in August 2003, ridden by the young Athlone-man, Sean Cleary. Sean tragically died a couple of months later from a fall in Galway.
If you want to find out more about buying a horse of your own or follow Traverse's progress follow this link to Pat Flynn Stables.
Hollywood legend Stanley Kubrick made some of the 1976 Academy Award-winning film, Barry Lyndon, in the area. The film was nominated for seven 'Oscars', winning four.
Some of the outdoor scenes were filmed in and around Glenpatrick, the scene shown on the left has Carrigseegowna in the background. The film starred Ryan O'Neal, Steven Berkoff and Leonard Rossiter.
These pages have been online since January 1997.
They cover the major social interests of the parish which are (besides Kennedys' pubs)
Gaelic Football &
Hurling.
Other topics included are the history of the area and also the local scenic beauty which is found in the
Comeragh mountains.
The site contains lots of photos of the villages Rathgormack and Clonea.
The photos of the Comeraghs on the internet can be found here.
There are now LOTS of Rathgormack people on the net, ex-pats and locals, alike. You can find alot of them here.
Hopefully this site gives you a flavour of the various aspects of the area which makes Rathgormack what it is - the Comeraghs and natural environment of the area, the wealth of ancient and historical sites - castles, abbeys and burial sites. There is much more to see and do such as golfing, shooting, angling and horse-riding in the local area.
The Comeraghs are located in the heart of Rathgormack. They are one of the finest ranges in the country and have a great mix of mountain features.
There's the long and precipitous Knockanaffrin Ridge (left), the shadowy depths and glacial amphitheatre of Coumshingaun, the magnificent plateau, the falls in Coum Mahon, the tremendous variety of the Nire Valley as well as the wealth of flora and fauna.
Read more about the Comeraghs at this excellent site host by the De La Salle Scout Unit.
Those of you, living in the Waterford area, interested in walking the Comeraghs and other mountains in the South-East on a regular base should surf onto this interesting site, The Comeragh Mountaineering Club, based in Waterford City. It is one of the premier Mountaineering and Hill Walking Clubs in the South of Ireland.
The Rathgormack Hiking Centre nows caters for the needs of hill walkers and rock climbers with competitively priced accomodation. The centre has a multipurpose sports hall and a climbing wall with 3 sections of increasing difficulty. Contact: Tel.: 051 646969.
These Pages have been written and maintained by Keith Kennedy.
Disclaimer: This website is of my own undertaking and does not represent any of the beliefs or ideas of any one from Rathgormack. If I offend anyone in these pages it is purely by accident and not by intent.
to the Rathgormack Homepage dedicated to the Parish of Rathgormack & Clonea, an area of North
