Mitchelstown (IE)

From Stamps of the World
GB issue of Plate 23 1d Red with Mitchelstown upright MX of 1840. The town would be issued in 1844 with the Irish numeral 330 by the Post Office.
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Mitchelstown (Irish: Baile Mhistéala) is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 km from Cork, 59 km from Limerick and 10 km from Fermoy. The River Gradoge runs by the town into the River Funshion, which in turn is a tributary of the River Blackwater.

The name of Mitchelstown originates from the Anglo-Norman family called 'St Michel' who founded a settlement close to the site of the present town in the 13th century. The parish was originally known as 'Villa Michel'. The modern name comes from the Anglicized version of the later Irish derived Ballyvisteala or Ballymistealy. A nearby earlier settlement was established in the townland of Brigown (from Irish: Brí Ghabhann, meaning 'slope / hillock of the smiths'), it was known by this name and had monastic origins being founded in the 7th century by Saint Fanahan (Fionnchú "White Hound"), a warrior monk famed in medieval times for his fiery temper.

The town is best known as a centre for cheese production.

The town evolved from a huddle of cabins and lane-ways beside Mitchelstown Castle. Evidence would suggest that the castle was built first and that the village and town came later, probably in the late 13th or early 14th centuries. In the 1770s, the medieval town was replaced by the present town which is situated east and south of King Square. It was laid out in a grid pattern of two main streets intersected by a number of smaller streets.

The Mitchelstown massacre occurred in the late 1800's when tenants protested against landlords and held a rent strike. Intentions of the police to record the greivances were mis-interpruted and the crowd turned on the police before re-inforcements were made. After attacking the police and its headquarters police fired shots and three people were killed and several were wounded.

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Ireland Era 1922 -present

Great Britain Era -1922

GB 1842 cover sent from Mitchelstown to Cheltenham
reverse: GB 1842 cover sent from Mitchelstown to Cheltenham