Prosperous

History

The English name of Prosperous was given when the village was founded in the late 18th century by Sir Robert Brooke. The village takes its Irish name from the townland lying to the east, Corrchoill or an Chorrchoill (meaning "the smooth forest"), anglicised variously as Corr[y]hill[s], Curr[i]hill[s] and Curryhills. An alternative meaning is "The wood of the small round hill" 4 and this makes sense topographically as there is a low hill immediately to the east of the village. The village extends into the surrounding townlands of Ballinafagh, Killybegs, Curryhills and Downings (north, south, east and west, respectively). The town of Prosperous owes its origin to the vision and ideals of Sir Robert Brooke (1744-1811) from County Cavan. The late eighteenth century was a time of attempted industrial development in Ireland. Within 3 years, a town of roughly 200 houses was formed in an attempt to establish an industrial town. The products of the manufacturing would be linen, but more so cotton. The cotton manufacturing ceased no more than 10 years after it began, due to a lack of finances. The cotton manufacturing became a thing of the past in Prosperous, as a result of disturbances caused by a rebellion in 1798. The name chosen by Brooke for his industrial town could only be the product of a confident dream. Brooke modelled and based Prosperous on the 'Manchester manufactories' of Lancashire. The town of Prosperous is located within 19 miles of Dublin and this was seen to be advantageous because it would reduce transport costs. As the Bog of Allen was located nearby this provided plenty of fuel to the area and is also suggestive of why the town of Prosperous was chosen for this industrial settlement. A close parallel to the development of Prosperous was…

Most-observed species

• Indian Balsam

  Impatiens glandulifera Royle · Magnoliopsida
  1,667
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  782
• Rook

  Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  720
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  711
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  684
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  639
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  637
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  607

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2005-12-14
  27 km E of Wicklow, Ireland