Editing Banagher (section)

=== Military history ===

At Banagher, there are ridges on both sides of the river and roads were built along these many centuries ago. The first bridge was built over the Shannon at that point as early as 1049.<ref name=Moriarty>Moriarty, Christopher, ''Places to Visit – Banagher'', The Sacred Heart Messenger, March 1997.</ref> It was a place of great strategic importance because the Shannon and its lowlands provided a natural barrier between Connacht and Leinster. An army that wanted to cross the river in the area of the Shannon Callows had few choices; apart from Banagher, the only other suitable places were Athlone, [[Shannonbridge]] and [[Portumna]].<ref name="Conservation Plan 2018 p10">{{cite book |last1=Howley Hayes Architects |title=Historic Banagher, Co. Offaly - Conservation, Interpretation and Management Plan |date=2018 |publisher=The Heritage Council (of Ireland) and Offaly County Council |location=Ireland |page=10}}</ref>
[[File:IMG ClononyCastle5782w.jpg|right|thumb|[[Clonony|Clonony Castle]]]]
The importance of Banagher as a military position on the Shannon and the highway from Leinster and Munster to Connacht was early appreciated by the English, whose forces seized it about the middle of the 16th century, coming up the river to do so. They constructed some fortifications which they called Fort Frankford (later Fort Falkland) and held the place in spite of the fact that the part of Offaly for some miles around Banagher was in the hands of the MacCoghlan clan. The MacCoghlans, aided by boundaries of bog and river, held their territories against all comers for about 500 years, even maintaining a footing by open defiance well into the 17th century. Garry Castle, [[Clonony Castle]], and Moystown Castle are remains of MacCoghlan strongholds.<ref name=MidlandsBorough>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724015218/http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/content/offaly/community/borough_banagher.htm Irish Midlands Ancestry, ''Banagher – The Midland Boroughs in the 1830s''.]}} Retrieved 3 November 2008.</ref> Sometime after 1554, when [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] married [[Philip II of Spain]], Offaly County was named King's County in honour of Philip, but it is doubtful if the royal jurisdiction extended to any of the MacCoghlan areas except Banagher. Ultimately, the MacCoghlans were overthrown and their lands were planted by order of [[James I of England|James I]] issued in 1621.<ref name=CivicWeek/>

The town was incorporated by charter of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] on 16 September 1628.<ref name=MidlandsBorough/> The corporation was allowed to elect two members to [[English Parliament|Parliament]] and hold two fairs per year, amongst other wide-ranging powers.<ref name=OHAS-BCT>[http://www.offalyhistory.com/articles/136/1/Banagher-as-a-Corporate-Town/Page1.html OHAS, ''Banagher as a Corporate Town''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010034638/http://www.offalyhistory.com/articles/136/1/Banagher-as-a-Corporate-Town/Page1.html |date=10 October 2009 }} Retrieved 3 November 2008.</ref>

In 1628, a permanent military [[garrison]] was established which continued with slight interruptions until 1863. The defences were further strengthened and it was officially named Fort Falkland, after [[Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland]] who was [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]] from 1622 to 1629. The forces of the [[Confederate Catholics]] took Banagher in 1642, but it was retaken by the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwellian Army]] in 1650, under the command of [[Henry Ireton]], [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell's]] son-in-law. By 1652 the Cromwellian conquest was completed and the transplantation of the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] landholders to Connacht began in 1654. The lands from which they were expelled were divided among the [[adventurers]] and the [[soldiers]] of Cromwell's army.

During the [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite Wars of 1690–1691]], the garrison espoused the cause of [[James II of England|James II]] in contrast with that of Birr, which took the side of [[William III of England|William]]. A stone bridge across the Shannon was erected in 1685, and a Williamite army advancing from Birr in 1690 attempted to break it down but abandoned the attempt as too risky in consequence of the presence of [[Patrick Sarsfield|Sarsfield's]] Army on the Connacht side. A broken arch of this bridge is still to be seen on that side a few yards below the present bridge of seven arches, which was erected by the Commissioners for the Improvement of Navigation of the Shannon in 1841–1843. The square tower on the lower side of the bridge at the Galway end was erected to protect the old bridge, as was the Salt Battery, with emplacements for four cannons facing west and north, a few hundred yards from town along the Crank Road.<ref name=CivicWeek/>

The Irish garrison remained in Banagher without further molestation until the [[Battle of Aughrim]], after which Banagher was evacuated. The English re-occupied the town, where they remained until the middle of the 19th century when Banagher ceased to be a garrison town.<ref name=OHAS-BCT/>