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Shannon Irish:Sionainn | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 View over Shannon, with the industrial area on the left and the housing on the right | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Shannon Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:52°42′49″N8°52′07″W / 52.713731°N 8.868628°W /52.713731; -8.868628 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Clare |
| Dáil constituency | Clare |
| EU Parliament | South |
| Population | |
• Total | 10,256 |
| Time zone | UTC±0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST) |
| Eircode routing key | V14 |
| Telephone area code | 061 |
| Irish Grid Reference | R402624 |
| Website | www |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1841 | 241 | — |
| 1851 | 196 | −18.7% |
| 1861 | 156 | −20.4% |
| 1871 | 147 | −5.8% |
| 1881 | 95 | −35.4% |
| 1961 | 234 | +146.3% |
| 1966 | 1,658 | +608.5% |
| 1971 | 3,657 | +120.6% |
| 1981 | 7,998 | +118.7% |
| 1986 | 8,005 | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 7,920 | −1.1% |
| 1996 | 7,940 | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 8,561 | +7.8% |
| 2006 | 9,222 | +7.7% |
| 2011 | 9,673 | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 9,729 | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 10,256 | +5.4% |
| [1][2][3] | ||
Shannon (Irish:Sionainn) orShannon Town (Baile na Sionnainne), named after theriver near which it stands, is a town inCounty Clare,Ireland. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off theN19 road, a spur of theN18/M18 road betweenLimerick andEnnis. It is the location ofShannon Airport, an international airport serving the Clare/Limerick region in the west of Ireland, as well as being the location of one of the two bases ofShanwick Oceanic Control which overseestransatlanticair traffic control over the western portion of theNorth Atlantic Ocean.
It has a population of 10,256 as per the2022 census, the second largest town in the county.[1]
Shannon is anew town. Spearheaded byBrendan O'Regan,[4] it was built in the 1960s on reclaimedmarshland alongsideShannon Airport, along with the Shannon Free ZoneIndustrial park.[5] 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 asEnnis town andLimerick city, or even the nearby village ofNewmarket-on-Fergus.
The 'planned' nature of this town did not necessarily result in a successful town. It was lacking in facilities, and the town'sshopping centre was also of poor design. Shops fronted ontopedestrian malls that were originally uncovered, allowing estuary winds and rain to strike at shoppers. The early low-cost housing (tower-blockflats located inDrumgeely, near the airport) was poor-qualityterraced housing.
Shannon was originally located in the parish ofNewmarket-on-Fergus in theRoman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, and at first a priest in residence of the airport served the population. In 1966St. Senan's School was opened and Mary Immaculate Church was built on Corrib Drive. On 24 December 1967 theparish of Shannon was created. For a short period a group of Dominican Sisters of England had a community in the parish. In 1974 they were replaced by theSisters of Mercy. The church of Saints John and Paul was opened in Tullyvarraga in 1980.[6] Other churches are the Adoration Chapel in Shannon Town Centre and the Shannon Airport Oratory.[7]The Church of Ireland community is served by the Drumcliffe Union and the Methodist community is served by a lay pastor. Shannon is also home of Christian evangelical churches, Shannon Christian Church and New Life Christian Church.[citation needed]
St. John's Church of Ireland School was the first school established in Shannon in 1962. Christ Church Shannon opened in 1962, also serving members of the reformed faiths, but it is now closed.
Shannon was the manufacturing base ofGAC Ireland, which built almost all buses forCIÉ during its short existence between 1980 and 1986.
The population grew in the 1990s, and new modern housing developments were built. Improvements to facilities in the town included the opening of a second majorsupermarket,Lidl,[8] with the shopping centre being expanded by the addition of the "Skycourt" complex.[citation needed]
The main road through Shannon was remodelled following the opening of the bypass ofNewmarket-on-Fergus. New units continued to open in the industrial estates.[citation needed]
Shannon town has six primary schools: St. Tola's, St John's, St Senan's, Gaelscoil Donnacha Rua, St. Conaire's (largest primary school) and St. Aidan's, including a Gaelscoil (Gaelscoil Donncha Rua)[9] and a school under the patronage of Church of Ireland (St. Johns NS[10]).
There are two second-level education institutes in the town,St. Patrick's Comprehensive School andSt. Caimin's Community School. St. Patrick's Comprehensive School opened in 1966 as Ireland's first comprehensive school. It has been serving the town since and is due an extension to increase its capacity to over 900 pupils.[citation needed]
There is one third level institution in Shannon: theShannon College of Hotel Management, which opened in 1951. Since 2015 it has been an official college of theNational University of Ireland, Galway.
Shannon Free Zone is Ireland's largest cluster of North American investments. Since its establishment in 1959, more than 110 overseas companies have chosen to open subsidiaries in Shannon. Major companies in Shannon includeJaguar Land Rover,Zimmer Biomet,[11]Element Six,Symantec,AXA Partners,Lufthansa Technik,Mentor Graphics,RSA Security,GE Capital,Ingersoll Rand,Intel andDigital River.[12]Eirjet's head office was located on the grounds of Shannon Airport.[13]
The town is administered at a local level byClare County Council. In 1982, the town was granted local government undertown commissioners.[14] In 2002, this body became a town council.[15][16] In 2008, the administrative boundary of the town was extended.[17] In 2014, in common with all town councils in Ireland, it was abolished and its functions were transferred to the county council.[18][19][20]
| Party | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | 4 | +2 |
| Labour Party | 2 | = |
| Independent | 3 | -1 |
| Sinn Féin | 0 | - |
| Fianna Fáil | 0 | -2 |
In addition, prior to September 2004,Shannon Development, astate-sponsored body had charge of many services normally provided by local authorities inIreland. This gave Shannon a unique status in local governance. In September 2004 its situation was regularised when Shannon Development transferred its local government functions toClare County Council.[21] The company retains responsibility for theShannon Free Zone.
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. TheKöppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[22]The highest temperature ever recorded in Shannon was 32.0 °C (89.6 °F) on 28 June 2018.[23]
| Climate data for Shannon Airport, (1981–2010, extremes 1938–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.5 (59.9) | 20.2 (68.4) | 23.5 (74.3) | 27.2 (81.0) | 32.0 (89.6) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.0 (86.0) | 27.9 (82.2) | 23.0 (73.4) | 18.2 (64.8) | 16.2 (61.2) | 32.0 (89.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.8 (47.8) | 9.2 (48.6) | 11.1 (52.0) | 13.3 (55.9) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.8 (67.6) | 19.6 (67.3) | 17.7 (63.9) | 14.3 (57.7) | 11.1 (52.0) | 9.0 (48.2) | 14.0 (57.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) | 6.2 (43.2) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.5 (49.1) | 12.1 (53.8) | 14.6 (58.3) | 16.4 (61.5) | 16.2 (61.2) | 14.2 (57.6) | 11.2 (52.2) | 8.3 (46.9) | 6.3 (43.3) | 10.7 (51.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.2 (37.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | 4.5 (40.1) | 5.7 (42.3) | 8.2 (46.8) | 10.9 (51.6) | 12.9 (55.2) | 12.7 (54.9) | 10.8 (51.4) | 8.2 (46.8) | 5.5 (41.9) | 3.6 (38.5) | 7.4 (45.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −11.9 (10.6) | −9.8 (14.4) | −7.8 (18.0) | −4.6 (23.7) | −1.7 (28.9) | 0.9 (33.6) | 4.4 (39.9) | 2.8 (37.0) | −0.6 (30.9) | −3.3 (26.1) | −7.2 (19.0) | −11.4 (11.5) | −11.9 (10.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 102.3 (4.03) | 76.2 (3.00) | 78.7 (3.10) | 59.2 (2.33) | 64.8 (2.55) | 69.8 (2.75) | 65.9 (2.59) | 82.0 (3.23) | 75.6 (2.98) | 104.9 (4.13) | 94.1 (3.70) | 104.0 (4.09) | 977.6 (38.49) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 20 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 211 |
| Average snowy days | 2.3 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 8.0 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 80.5 | 74.6 | 70.5 | 64.4 | 63.3 | 65.1 | 68.0 | 68.2 | 69.2 | 75.2 | 80.5 | 83.1 | 71.9 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 49.6 | 65.0 | 99.2 | 153.0 | 179.8 | 156.0 | 139.5 | 139.5 | 117.0 | 89.9 | 60.0 | 43.4 | 1,291.9 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 1.6 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 3.5 |
| Source: Met Éireann[24][25][26][27][28] | |||||||||||||
Shannon is twinned with:
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