Birr, County Offaly
Birr (/ˈbɜːr/; Irish: Biorra, meaning "plain of water") is a town in County Offaly, Ireland. Between 1620 and 1899 it was called Parsonstown, after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse.
Birr
Biorra | |
|---|---|
Town | |
Emmet Square, Birr | |
|
Coat of arms | |
Birr Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 53.0914°N 7.9133°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Offaly |
| Dáil constituency | Laois–Offaly |
| Elevation | 75 m (246 ft) |
| Population (2016) | 5,741 |
| • Urban | 4,370 |
| • Rural | 1,371 |
| Time zone | UTC±0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST) |
| Eircode | R42 |
| Telephone area code | 057 |
| Irish Grid Reference | N058045 |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1821 | 5,406 | — |
| 1831 | 6,594 | +22.0% |
| 1841 | 6,336 | −3.9% |
| 1851 | 5,480 | −13.5% |
| 1861 | 5,401 | −1.4% |
| 1871 | 4,939 | −8.6% |
| 1881 | 4,955 | +0.3% |
| 1891 | 4,313 | −13.0% |
| 1901 | 4,438 | +2.9% |
| 1911 | 4,047 | −8.8% |
| 1926 | 3,402 | −15.9% |
| 1936 | 3,297 | −3.1% |
| 1946 | 3,224 | −2.2% |
| 1951 | 3,285 | +1.9% |
| 1956 | 3,922 | +19.4% |
| 1961 | 3,872 | −1.3% |
| 1966 | 3,924 | +1.3% |
| 1971 | 3,981 | +1.5% |
| 1981 | 4,262 | +7.1% |
| 1986 | 4,194 | −1.6% |
| 1991 | 4,056 | −3.3% |
| 1996 | 4,193 | +3.4% |
| 2002 | 4,436 | +5.8% |
| 2006 | 5,081 | +14.5% |
| 2011 | 5,818 | +14.5% |
| 2016 | 5,741 | −1.3% |
Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town with a carefully preserved Georgian heritage. Birr itself has graceful wide streets and elegant buildings. Many of the houses in John's Place and Oxmantown Mall have exquisite fanlight windows of the Georgian period.
The town is known for Birr Castle and Gardens: the home of the Parsons family and the site of the Leviathan of Parsonstown, which was the largest telescope in the world for over 70 years.
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