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Castlemartyr

Castlemartyr (, formerly anglicised as Ballymarter or Ballymartyr) is a large village in County Cork, Ireland. It is around 30 km east of Cork city, 10 km (6 mi) east of Midleton, 16 km (10 mi) west of Youghal and 6 km (4 mi) from the coast. Approximately 1,600 people live in the village and its hinterland. It is situated on the N25 national primary road and the R632 regional road. The Kiltha River, a tributary of the Womanagh River, flows through the village.

It is home to a number of community and sporting organisations, a 15th-century tower house (Castlemartyr Castle, now a ruin), and an 18th-century country house (Castlemartyr House, now a hotel).

Pre-history
Traces of ancient civilisation, including from the Bronze Age, are to be found in the vicinity of Castlemartyr. This includes a group of tumuli (or barrow mounds), including three examples in the townland of Ballyvorisheen.

There is also evidence of the early inhabitants' attempts to defend themselves and their livestock against marauders and the threat posed by wild animals. These defences were in the form of ringforts (or raths), which were circular earthworks used as dwellings and farmyards. Examples of these structures are to be found in the vicinity of the village.

Ballyoughtera
Some of the earliest evidence for the existence of a town or "vill" in the vicinity of Castlemartyr is to be found in the Pipe Roll of Cloyne. This document lists all lands held by the feudal Bishop of Cloyne and the valuations put on those lands.

Ballyoughtera, now the site of a ruin and graveyard, had likely originally been a monastic settlement which under Norman influence and through their settlement became the focal point for a "ville" or feudal village.

There had been two adjoining medieval parishes, Cahirultan and Ballyoughtera and both are known to have been in existence by 1300 at least, when Ballyoughtera was valued at 5 marks and Cahairultan at 3 marks. A reference dated 1364 records that "Richard Kerdyf holds the land of the whole Ville of Martyre". A ville implied a nearby mill where tenant farmers could grind their corn, and a castle, providing those tenants with protection. In this case the castle was Castlemartyr Castle, which was built (on the site of an earlier fortification) for James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond after his appointment as Seneschal of Imokilly in 1420.

Castlemartyr was known as "Leperstown" in ancient times because of the Leper House that is said to have existed near Ballyoughtera, itself said by Smith to have become a village of some note during the Middle Ages. Another historian, Lewis, states that Ballyoughtera Church was built in 1549, only to be destroyed during the conflict of 1641–1642. There is evidence to suggest that the Church was already in ruins before 1641 (probably as early as 1615) and that it was built before 1539, with a Chancel being added on later, possibly to cope with an expanding population in and around the village.

The Fitzgeralds
In the Norman invasion of Ireland, the FitzGerald dynasty (a Geraldine line) was granted lands in the barony of Imokilly. In 1575, the Cambro-Norman castle that they built, then called the castle of Ballymartyr, was attacked by Sir Henry Sidney, the Lord Deputy, who captured the castle. The Fitzgeralds of Imokilly were known to the local peasantry as the Madraí na Fola ("Dogs of Blood") due to the blood-thirsty disposition they displayed.

Demise of the Fitzgeralds
During the Desmond Rebellion, the Fitzgeralds fought against the forces of Elizabeth I in the region. The Fitzgeralds, together with the other southern lords of the Hiberno-Norman stock (who had become "more Irish than the Irish themselves"), formed the Geraldine League to oppose the British attempts to force Protestantism on the Catholic populace and to rout the native chiefs and replace them with English landlords.

In 1581, the Earl of Ormond overran Imokilly; at Castlemartyr he captured the aged mother of the seneschal, John FitzEdmund, and hung her from the wall of the castle. FitzEdmund eventually submitted to the Earl, but he did not recover his lands. Instead, the property shared the fate of other properties after the Desmond Rebellion. It was confiscated and included in the grant of land between Lismore and Castlemartyr that were given to Sir Walter Raleigh. FitzEdmund himself was arrested in 1585 and died in Dublin Castle in the following year.

In 1602, Raleigh's lands around Castlemartyr were bought by Richard Boyle, the First Earl of Cork and ancestor to the Earls of Shannon.

By the early 17th century the FitzGeralds were a spent force. In the south-east corner of the old church in Ballyoughtera, the stone has a boar crest surrounded by triple incised circles and shallow cross carving which is also encircle. At the northern end of Ballyoughtera church ruin is the grave of another Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Shannon who died in 1868. This tomb bears the inscription, "A sorrowing wife placed this stone in memory of the best and most affectionate of husbands".

Earls of Shannon
For the next two hundred years the history of Castlemartyr was closely linked with that branch of the Boyle family which have the title Earl of Shannon. In 1676, the town was incorporated with a charter, with its corporation and parliamentary representation in the control of the Boyle family. In 1689 it was a centre of Protestant resistance against the rule of James II, but was swiftly defeated by Irish Army forces under Justin MacCarthy who also put down a larger rising at Bandon.

After Orrery's death in 1679, his title was passed on to his oldest son. Orrery's second son had four sons of his own, Roger, Henry, Charles and William, and it was this Henry who became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was elevated to the peerage in 1756 as Baron Castlemartyr, Viscount Boyle, Earl of Shannon. It was he who provided the land for the construction of a new church in the village (St. Anne's Church of Ireland) when an act of Parliament allowed for the dismantling of Ballyoughtera Church and the re-use of some of the stones on the new church.

It was also Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, who was primarily responsible for the construction and expansion of Castlemartyr House. He also set about beautifying the estate between the years 1733 and 1764 and these improvements are mentioned in Smith's History of Cork. On Henry's death in 1764, the estate went to his son, Richard, who like his father attained high political office. Richard carried out further extensions to the mansion house. It was also during this period that Lancelot "Capability" Brown landscaped the estate and planted woods. Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon received £15,000 in compensation when the borough was disenfranchised under the Acts of Union 1800.

Famine
Prior to the Great Famine (1845–1849), baptismal figures in the parish of Imogeela indicate a young and expanding population with an average of 238 baptisms between the years 1836 and 1840. The decline, however, in the years immediately after the Great Famine indicate that, by 1888, baptismal figures dropped to an average of 60 per annum. Almost a quarter of what they once had been. The effects in the parish (including emigration effects) are indicated in the marriage records, with an average of 55 marriages per year prior to 1844. While, in the decade immediately after 1847, the figure had been halved, and by 1888, there were just 2 weddings in the parish of Imogeela.

War of Independence
The War of Independence also affected the village. For example, on 9 February 1920, Castlemartyr's local Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks was seized by a company from the Irish Republican Army (IRA). At the time, the barracks housed a garrison of eight men, including RIC Sergeants O'Brien and O'Sullivan. Earlier that the day, Diarmuid O'Hurley, the officer commanding the Midleton Company of the IRA, learned that two of the Castlemartyr RIC were on duty at a fair in Midleton. As part of a plan to capture the barracks, O'Hurley decided to capture these two men as they returned to Castlemartyr later in the evening. About 5pm, after their bikes were blocked by a farm cart pushed through a gateway, the two RIC men were rushed by volunteers with revolvers drawn. The unarmed RIC men were bundled into a nearby farmyard where they were blindfolded and handcuffed. At approximately 7pm an RIC constable was captured by two volunteers as he emerged from the barracks, and held captive outside the town. O'Hurley, coming from Midleton with several other volunteers, picked up the two RIC prisoners at Churchtown and advanced to Castlemartyr, before knocking at the barrack door. A constable inside, sensing danger, slightly opened the door (which had a chain on the inside), thrust out his revolver and fired. O'Hurley got his own revolver through the opening also but it failed to fire, so he struck out at his opponent's head, injuring him with a blow of his revolver and, at the same time, snapping the chain with a thrust of his foot. O'Hurley and his men were soon inside, and the remaining RIC men, under Sergeant O'Sullivan, surrendered. The volunteers removed all military equipment from the barracks without further opposition.

Separately, on the evening of 27 November 1920, Liam Heffernan, from Conna, was shot dead in the village. Heffernan was a member of "B" Company, First Battalion, First Cork Brigade (IRA), and employed as a chauffeur. The car he drove was sometimes used to convey officers of the local IRA Battalion. He and four members of the Fourth Battalion were in a car parked on Castlemartyr Main Street as the Battalion Vice Commandant was transacting some business nearby. Two passing RIC officers recognised Heffernan as he sat waiting in the car and, knowing him to be a member of the IRA, approached the car and began to question the occupants. Almost immediately, gunfire began. Although not confirmed, onlookers claimed that one of the RIC officers had shot at the occupants in the car without warning. On hearing the shots outside, the IRA officer rushed back and got into the car while shooting at the police officers. In the exchange of fire, one police officer was killed and the other was also hit. Though injured, Heffernan managed to start the car and drive it away. He swung the car sharply over the bridge and onto the Mogeely Road, but it had not gone far when it became obvious that Heffernan was dying. One of his companions took over the wheel, and they eventually reached Conna, where the local doctor pronounced Heffernan dead. An inscribed stone monument to his memory was unveiled in Castlemartyr on 23 May 1971, a short distance from the place he was shot.

Rolling Stones
While on tour in Ireland in January 1965, The Rolling Stones passed through the village on their way to play the Savoy Theatre in Cork. While Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts took tea at Mrs Farrell's eating-house, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones had a drink across the street at Barry's Bar. The documentary Charlie Is My Darling depicts a brief sequence of these events.

Today
Located on the N25 road between Cork and Waterford, as of the 2016 census the majority of Castlemartyr's 1,900 residents commuted less than 45 minutes to school or work. Employers in the area include the 5-star Castlemartyr Spa & Golf Resort hotel, which (as of early 2018) had approximately 200 staff. Castlemartyr Enterprise Centre is housed in the former 19th century national school.

The population is served by Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church (built c.1860), and Saint Anne's Church of Ireland Church (built c.1731).

There are several pubs in the village, as well as a greengrocers and small supermarket. Local sports clubs include Castlemartyr GAA club (which plays hurling and football in the Imokilly division), and Mogeely Association Football Club (which plays soccer in the West Waterford and East Cork League).

Notable people

 * Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon (1682–1764), Anglo-Irish politician and speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1733 to 1756
 * Liam Dowling (1931–1996), All-Ireland winning hurler
 * Anna Millikin (fl.1764–1849) author of Gothic novels and founder of the literary periodical Hesperian Magazine
 * Ted O'Sullivan (1920–1968), All-Ireland winning hurler
 * Richard John Uniacke (1753–1830), abolitionist, lawyer, member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and Attorney General of Nova Scotia

title: Castlemartyr


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Partille

Partille is a former urban area in the county of Västra Götaland in Sweden. It is the seat of Partille Municipality.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Orust

Orust is an island in Bohuslän, western Sweden, and Sweden's third largest island. In 2014 Statistics Sweden declared it to instead be the fourth largest island, under a definition which adds artificial canals to the possible bodies of water surrounding an island. It has been noted that under this definition, all of Götaland would be the country's largest island, rendering Orust instead the fifth largest. The largest town on Orust is Henån, the municipal capital, where approximately 1,800 inhabitants live. Other communities, many of which are fishing villages, include Ellös, Edshultshall, Hälleviksstrand, Mollösund, Morlanda, Stocken, Svanesund, Svanvik and Varekil. Orust is home to approximately 15,160 inhabitants in the winter and many more in the summer. Its main industry is the shipyards, the two largest being Najadvarvet and Hallberg-Rassy.

Twin towns – Sister cities
Orust is twinned with:
 * Aalborg, Denmark

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Mölndal

Mölndal is the seat and administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality and a part of the Gothenburg urban area on the west coast of Sweden. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live in Mölndal proper.

Geography
Mölndal is located on the western main line railway between Gothenburg and Malmö and the European highways E6/E20 run through the area from north to south. Mölndal is served by the Gothenburg tramway system.

History
The name of the city derives from two words; Möln, which is a short form for Möllor, an old word for mills, and the word dal, which is the Swedish word for valley. Mölndal is the "Valley of mills". The narrow but high and long waterfalls in Kvarnbyn gave the necessary power to all the watermills that together with the windmills on the hills gave birth to the early industrialisation of Mölndal.

Industry
Mölndal is best known for its high concentration of companies in life sciences. AstraZeneca has one of its global research centres here with more than 3,100 employees. Several other companies in areas of research such as pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, and biotechnology are also located here. The proximity to the University of Gothenburg and to Chalmers University of Technology - with their technology parks - has supported development of other sectors, such as microwave technology and information technology. Two national research institutes, IFP SICOMP AB and IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation, are also located in Mölndal.

Mölndalsfallen
Mölndalsfallen (Mölndal falls) has been a big part of the Mölndal industries, which got their power from the falls to make cotton, paper and oil.

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Mölndal:
 * Fässbergs IF
 * Balltorps FF
 * IF Mölndal Hockey
 * Jitex BK
 * Dalen/Krokslätts FF
 * Kvarnby Basket

The town is also home to the Hills Golf Club.

European Cooperation

 * Mölndal is a member city of Eurotowns network

Notable people

 * Per Andersson (actor), comedian
 * Avatar, Swedish heavy metal band
 * Oscar Dronjak, guitarist and founder of the Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall
 * Anders Frisk, football (soccer) referee
 * Björn Goop, horse driver and trainer (trotting)
 * Ulla Jacobsson, actor
 * Erica Johansson, long jumper
 * Anna Kjellbin, ice hockey player
 * Mats Levén, metal singer
 * Claes Malmberg, actor and stand-up comedian
 * Annelie Pompe, world record holder in variable weights freediving

title: Mölndal


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Munkedal

Munkedal is a locality and the seat of Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3,718 inhabitants in 2010. Joakim Andersson, an ice hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings, grew up in Munkedal. Olympian Erland Koch was born here. The Battle of Kvistrum took place near the town.

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Mellerud

Mellerud is a locality and the seat of Mellerud Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,750 inhabitants in 2010.

Sports

 * Melleruds IF, Swedish football club
 * Åsebro IF, Swedish football club

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Mariestad

Mariestad is a locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,611 inhabitants in 2019. Until 1997 it was the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an episcopal see in the Church of Sweden between 1583 and 1646.

History
The city was founded in 1583 by Duke Charles, who later became King Charles IX of Sweden. The city is named after his wife Marie of Pfalz. The coat of arms for Mariestad, an ox stepping out of the water, is said to be what Marie of Pfalz saw by the bay of Tidan in Mariestad when she first arrived there.

Diocese
Mariestad is one of two Swedish cities with a cathedral without a bishop's seat, the other being Kalmar. For political reasons, the diocese of Mariestad was presided over by a superintendent rather than a bishop from 1583 until 1646, when the superintendent was moved to Karlstad and the diocese of Mariestad was absorbed by that of Skara.

Notable natives

 * Gustavus Schmidt (1795–1877), American lawyer and lecturer
 * Axel Lindahl (1841–1906), photographer
 * Dag Wennlund (born 1963), javelin thrower
 * Evelyn Mok (born 1987), actress and comedian
 * Helena Andersson
 * Anni Dewani

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Mariestad:

 * IFK Mariestad
 * Mariestads BK
 * Mariestad BoIS HC
 * IBK Lockerud Mariestad
 * Mariestads Motorklubb run a motorcycle speedway team called Örnarna at the Grevby Motorstadion.

Climate
Mariestad has a maritime climate influenced by its position on lake Vänern and the relative proximity to the North Atlantic. The town has warmer weather than elsewhere in western Sweden due to the influence of Vänern counterbalancing the low-pressure systems from further west. Mariestad is also shielded behind the archipelago and the peninsula to its west, which makes it warmer than areas further southwest on the lake shore. This leads to sunny summers with average afternoon temperatures being about 23 C. Summer nights are very mild by inland standards due to the lake influence. Winters are often mild with infrequent snow cover with the lake being large enough to provide further moderation of cold snaps compared to towns on the east coast like Norrköping and Nyköping on the same latitude. Vänern often remains in a liquid state during winters due to mild temperatures.

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Lysekil

Lysekil is a locality and the seat of Lysekil Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 7,600 inhabitants in 2018. Situated on the south tip of Stångenäs peninsula at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord, it has two nature reserves.

Originally a small fishing village, it developed into a town for fishing industries, commercial shipping and trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. Stone industry based on the red Bohus granite from quarries in the town, was also vital to Lysekil up until the 1950s. One of Sweden's largest oil refineries, Preemraff Lysekil is situated outside the town.

During the 19th century, Lysekil was established as a prominent spa and bathing resort and tourism still makes up a large part of the town's economy.

History
Lysekil is first mentioned in 1570. It was originally an estate belonging to Lyse farm further inland. The population lived mostly on fishing and commercial shipping. The first settlement was on the north side on the tip of Stångenäs peninsula, where a natural, sheltered harbor is formed by a bay in Kornö fjord. The area is known today as North Harbour (Norra Hamnen). Before fixed lighthousees were built in the area, the local inhabitants would light false beacon fires, causing ships to run aground. Pillaging wrecks and also killing sailors who defended their stranded ships, was common along the coastline. During the Great Northern War (1700–1721), Lysekil was one of the harbors along the Swedish west coast where privateering became sanctioned by the government through the issuing of letters of marque. Charles XII of Sweden needed ships and men for the navy and one of the ways to get this was to give private ships and captains permission to seize and capture enemy ships and their crews.

When herring fishing peaked after 1750, fishing industries flourished in Lysekil. The main export products were salted herring and train oil made from boiled herring to extract the oil. During the Age of Sail, Lysekil became a center for fishing, shipping and transport. At the mid 1800s, the fishing village had a number of sailing ships. In 1909, 18 large sailing ships and 10 steamboats were registered in Lysekil. The harbor records that same year show 6,832 ships, including 185 foreign, coming and leaving.

During the second part of the 1800s, Lysekil developed into a bathing resort. The first warm water bath house was made from the cabin of a ship and the first real house was built in 1849. In 1859, Carl Curman became resident physician at the resort. He had studied the climate along the west coast and found Lysekil to be best suited for a spa town and through his contacts, the town became a resort favoured by the Stockholm socialite. New bathhouses, hotels and parks were built in 1864–1890 along the south side of the town, now known as the South Harbor (Södra Hamnen). Among those were the two Curman Villas built in Dragestil.

During World War II was one of the ports involved in Operation Bridford during which fast ships, called "Blockade runners", could break through the German Skagerrak mine blockade and ship ball bearings to Kingston upon Hull, England. The same route was later used to bring supplies and ammunition from Britain to the Danish resistance movement.

On 19 August 1961, the only collision between a car and a submarine recorded in history happened in Lysekil.

Geography
Lysekil is situated on the south tip of the Stångenäs peninsula on the Swedish west coast at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord. The town is surrounded on three sides by the sea and a number of islands and islets. The largest islands are Stora and Lilla Skeppsholmen, Skälholmarna, Valboholmen, Humlesäcken, Stångholmen, Släggö, Grötö, and Tova.

Lysekil is surrounded by harbors, piers, boardwalks and quays on all sides facing the sea. The two main harbors are North Harbor and South Harbor. At the North Harbor, the original small wooden cottages and houses from the first settlement, Gamlestan (Old Town), have been restored and rebuilt into a picturesque part of the town. Both the north and the south harbors have guest harbors as well as plenty of restaurants and cafés.

Nature reserves
There are two nature reserves in Lysekil, Stångehuvud and Gullmarn fjord. The red granite cliffs of Stångehuvud were bought for conservation purpose in 1920 by Calla Curman and in 1982, the area was established as a nature reserve. The cliffs make up the southwest end of Stångenäs peninsula. In 1983, Gullmarn fjord was designated as Sweden's first marine conservation area.

Economy
Starting out as a small fishing village, Lysekil developed into a place for fishing industry and refined fish products. Large amounts of train oil were also produced and exported to European countries as well as New York to be used in street lamps. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were around 40 factories in Lysekil. In 1893, Arvid Bernhard Öhnberg started the A. B. Öhnberg Canning Company which included the Ejderns brand, all now owned by Abba Seafood. They produced a special sort of caviar that is still one of the most popular sandwich spreads in Sweden. Lysekil Caviar, often referred to as creamed smoked roe, differs from normal caviar in that its main ingredients are cod roe, canola oil, sugar, onion, tomato sauce and salt; it is also often seasoned with dill. Kalles Kaviar is the best-known brand.

Granite quarries and stonemasonry were part of Lysekil's industries in 1850–1950. The granite was much in demand for buildings and street paving in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Argentine. In 1909, there were five quarries in Lysekil.

Tourism became a vital source of income for Lysekil in the 1850s. The town was established as a fashionable bathing resort. In 2018, tourism is still vital for the town's economy. It has branched out to include more activities underwater diving, kayaking, sports fishing and seal safaris.

One of the largest oil refinery in Sweden, Preemraff Lysekil, situated a few miles outside the town, is one of the main employers in the area. Plans to build a refinery near Lysekil started in 1945 when the Swedish consumer-owned oil company Oljekonsumenters Riksförbund (OK), was formed. Negotiations for building the refinery were long and hard, and it was not until 1975 that it was inaugurated.

2017 port project proposal
In late November 2017, pro-Beijing businessman and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) member Gao Jingde, on behalf of a consortium led by Hong Kong-listed Sunbase International (Holdings) Ltd of which he is chairman, proposed building Scandinavia's largest port at Lysekil.

Transport
In 1910, Lysekil was connected with the rest of the Swedish railway network through the Lysekil Line, a branch railway of the Bohus Line. Passenger transport in the line, ceased in 1983, while some freight use remained. Maintenance in the line continued until 2016 with only a few trains running during summer. On 9 December 2018, all maintenance and traffic on the line will cease as the switch in Smedberg is disconnected.

The public transportation bus network in Lysekil is operated by Västtrafik. The network also includes a ferry, M/S Carl Wilhelmson (line 847), between Lysekil and Fiskebäckskil on the other side of Gullmarn fjord. Another ferry service across the fjord from Lysekil, is the car ferry operated by Trafikverket Färjerederiet.

Sights and events

 * Havets Hus is a public aquarium showcasing the animals living in the sea surrounding Lysekil. The aquarium cooperates with the Institute of Marine Research, part of Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
 * Vikarvets Museum is a Working Life Museum with exhibits about life in the old days in Bohuslän.
 * Chateaux Luna at Café Luna in Lysekil, is one of the few vineyards in Sweden producing its own wine.
 * Lysekil Women's Match is an annual match racing sailing competition in Lysekil.
 * Lysekil Cruising is an annual cruising event held on Midsummer's Eve. With around 1,500 vintage cars, the event is one of the biggest in Sweden, occupying the whole town during the Midsummer weekend.

Notable people from Lysekil

 * Nathalie Djurberg (born 1978) – artist
 * Bert Lundin (1921–2018) – union leader
 * William Matson (1849–1917) – Swedish-American shipping executive.
 * Fredrik Risp (born 1980) – Swedish football player.

title: Lysekil


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Lilla Edet

Lilla Edet is a locality and the seat of Lilla Edet Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,862 inhabitants in 2010.

Lilla Edet was the smallest of three settlements that were burnt down in Sweden on 25 June 1888. The wooden towns of Sundsvall and Umeå were almost completely destroyed. The triple fire was widely reported and one collection in California raised $5,000 and blankets and tents were sent from New Zealand.

The town Lilla Edet is situated on the eastern side of the Göta älv, a main river on the west coast of Sweden. It became known as a halt there. The area was known locally as Lilla Edet in comparison to Stora Edet, situated north of Lilla Edet and today known as Trollhättan. However, for a long time the official name of Lilla Edet was Bergaström.

Lock system
A canal lock system was built at Lilla Edet as early as 1607, becoming the first of its kind in Sweden.

title: Lilla Edet


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Lidköping

Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40 000 inhabitants in 2021.

It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping vid Vänern", to distinguish itself from Linköping near Sweden's east coast. Attempts have been made to change the official name to "Lidköping vid Vänern" but these attempts have not been successful.

Geography
The town of Lidköping is divided by the Lidan River, flowing through the central city. The eastern side of it is called the old town, and the western side is known as the new town.

The municipality of Lidköping is, together with its eastern neighbor Götene, located on the Läckö-Kinnekulle peninsula. In association with several large local companies, they have a colloquial tourism company known as "Götene-Lidköping Vänern Turist AB".

History
Lidköping got its charter on July 21, 1446, and thus qualifies as one of the now defunct Cities of Sweden. The city arms are almost as old. The design has varied throughout the centuries, but has always depicted a seated bishop. It is disputed if it depicts an actual bishop, but was in the 20th century decided to be a depiction of the bishop Saint Nicholas.

Around 1650, the city was incorporated into the countship of Jakob De la Gardie. However, in 1655 the crown decided to regain administration of the city. To make up the loss, De la Gardie was then given the right to found a new city on the western side of the river, starting in 1670. In 1672 the foundations were laid, and the new city grew quickly. In 1683, both sides of the city Lidköping were declared unified by the Crown, who also reclaimed possession of them both.

The old town burned down in 1849, and large parts of the new town were also damaged. Following the fire, both towns were rebuilt according to a check pattern.

Symbol
Lidköping is working hard to market itself as "Lidköping by Vänern". In line with this quest, they are developing a profile plan, wherein they have established the use of a symbol depicting its location by Vänern. The symbol is used in all official contexts, and also on the road sign when entering Lidköping.

Sport
Villa Lidköping BK has one of the best bandy teams in Sweden. Five times they have reached the finals of Elitserien. Sparbanken Lidköping Arena is the home venue. In 2019 they won the gold medal for the first time under the leadership of Johan Sixtensson.

Notable people

 * Reorus Torkillus (1608–1643) priest of the Church of Sweden and the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in the USA
 * Gunnar Wennerberg (1817–1901), Swedish poet, musician and politician.
 * Mary Anderson (1872–1964) a Swedish-born American labour activist and an advocate for women in the workplace.
 * Anders Järryd (born 1961) a former professional tennis player
 * Linda Sundblad (born 1981) a singer, actress and model.

Sport

 * Evy Palm (born 1942) a female long-distance athlete
 * Daniel Nordmark (born 1988) a football player
 * Timmy Hansen (born 1992) a racing driver
 * Christoffer Ehn (born 1996) an ice hockey player
 * Jacob Peterson (born 1999) an ice hockey player
 * Rasmus Dahlin (born 2000) an ice hockey player

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Lerum

Lerum is a locality and the seat of Lerum Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,855 inhabitants in 2010.

Overview
Lerum has a station on the Gothenburg commuter rail system and is a suburb of Gothenburg.

The river of Säveån runs through Lerum municipality. 5 km of it is surrounded by the nature reserve Säveåns Naturreservat, where bridges dating back as far as the 18th century as well as a variety of animal life and beautiful nature can be found.

Lerum train crash
Lerum hit the world's news bulletins on 16 November 1987, when two Intercity trains collided just outside the local station, killing 9 and injuring 140.

A control cable to the trailroad switches had been incorrectly reconnected after being dug up accidentally. When traffic was finally allowed to pass the station, the Gothenburg bound train was switched over to the opposite track where an outbound train was arriving, after a mistake in communication between the repairer and the traffic leader. An off-duty trainmaster, reading the paper in one of the locomotives, heard the train driver say "Helvete nu smäller det" (roughly translated: "Hell, now that's a crash"). He managed to open the side door and leap out, the trains collided when he was still in the air and despite doing this at 100 km/h he survived with just a broken foot.

The involved locomotives were Rc4 1292 and 1300, they were scrapped on the spot.

Schools
There are several schools in Lerum. (incomplete list)
 * Torpskolan
 * Rydsbergsskolan
 * Aspenässkolan
 * Lerums gymnasium
 * Knappekullaskolan
 * Almekärrsskolan
 * Hulanskolan

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Lerum:
 * Lerums BK
 * Lerums IS
 * FBC Lerum
 * Lerums Landhockey

Twin towns – Sister cities
Lerum is twinned with:
 * Aalborg, Denmark
 * Baldone, Latvia

Notable people

 * Joel Berghult, musician and YouTuber

title: Lerum


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Kungälv

Kungälv is a city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is also a part of Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approaching 30,000.

History
According to official Swedish sources the city was founded in 1612, when the city of Konghelle was moved closer to the Bohus Fortress. However, this is disputed because other sources indicate that it was just a strategic relocation of the existing Norwegian city, the capital of Norway at one point under Sigurd I Magnusson, something frequently used for marketing and tourist purposes. For this reason, Kungälv could celebrate its "1000-year anniversary" in 1959.

Sigurd I Magnusson (Sigurd Jorsalfare, i.e., Sigurd the Crusader) was the King of Norway (1103–1130) and is the best-known crusader king of Scandinavia. He was also the first European king to join the crusades at a time where Kungälv was Norwegian territory.

Sigurd returned to Norway in 1111, where he made his capital in Konghelle (in the vicinity of Kungälv in present-day Sweden) and built a castle there, where he kept a relic given to him by King Baldwin, a splinter reputed to be from the True Cross. Sigurd died in 1130 and was buried in Hallvardskirken (Hallvards church) in Oslo, in present-day Norway.

In the 1120s Pomeranian ships from Stettin (present-day Szczecin, Poland), from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea attacked the Danish coast. On 10 August 1135 Duke Ratibor assaulted the Norwegian towns. Konghelle, was captured and burnt to the ground by the forces of prince Ratibor, assisted by a fleet of 550 ships with cavalry on board (each carrying forty-four men and two horses). They laid the town to ruins, killed a large part of the population, and abducted most of the survivors as thralls to Szczecin. Snorri Sturluson, writing a century later, said that Konghelle never completely recovered.

The former settlement at Konghelle burned down in 1612, and was subsequently moved by Christian IV of Denmark and Norway to the open slope below Bohus Fortress, and rebuilt as Kongelf.

The Bohus Fortress remains the most popular tourist attraction in Kungälv.

Notable people

 * Mikael Andersson, Former NHL-forward and Olympian was raised in Kungälv.
 * Niklas Andersson, Former NHL-forward and younger brother of Mikael was born and raised in Kungälv.
 * P. J. Axelsson, Former Boston Bruins forward and Olympian was born and raised in Kungälv.
 * Eva von Bahr (physicist), First female docent in physics in Sweden lived in Kungälv
 * Mirsad Bektašević the jihadist was born in Serbia and grew up in Kungälv
 * Carin Koch, Professional golfer was born and raised in Kungälv.
 * Erik Lindh, Former table tennis player and Olympic bronze medalist
 * Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics; resided in Kungälv
 * John Hron, the victim of a high-profile murder / hate crime was raised in Kungälv
 * Fredrik Sjöström, Former NHL-forward was raised in Kungälv.
 * Ernst Skarstedt, Swedish-American author, journalist and editor was born in Kungälv.
 * Pontus Wernbloom, Professional football player.

Transport

 * European route E6
 * Västtrafik regional buses
 * Bohusbanan railway (Ytterby station)

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Kungälv:
 * Kungälvs VBK - multiple Swedish champions in volleyball in the 1980s and 90s
 * IFK Kungälv
 * Ytterby IS
 * IK Kongahälla
 * Kungälvs SK
 * Kungälvs simsällskap
 * Kongahälla AIK

title: Kungälv


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Karlsborg

Karlsborg (, outdatedly ) is a locality and the seat of Karlsborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,551 inhabitants in 2010. This garrison town lies at the shore of lake Vättern in Västergötland.

History
The town of Karlsborg was established and grew due to the construction of Karlsborg Fortress, during the 19th century. According to the principles of a central defense, the fortress was designated as the reserve capital of Sweden in the event of war.

title: Karlsborg


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Hjo

Hjo is a locality and the seat of Hjo Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 6,094 inhabitants in 2010. The town is located on the west coast of Vättern.

Etymology
The place is named after Hjoån 'Hjo river'. The meaning of the river name Hjo is probably 'muddy'. The way the name is spelled have been changed many times. Some of the previous ways of spelling the name has been Hyo, Hio, Hiyo and Hioo.

History
Hjo is known to have had a charter as early as 1413. Hjo is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.

Many wooden towns have suffered fires, but Hjo has been relatively spared, apart from when the church and some adjacent houses burnt down in 1794. The city structure is therefore almost exactly the same as in medieval times.

Hjo works together with the cities of Eksjö and Nora to develop wooden towns as tourist attractions, under the joint name "Three wooden towns" (Tre trästäder).

In the year 2013, the city celebrated the town's 600th anniversary.

Tourist attractions
The steamship S/S Trafik is one of the oldest steamships in Sweden. In the summer, it goes on small trips, such as trips to Visingsö, the biggest island in Vättern.

Estrid Ericson, founder of Swedish interior decorating company Svenskt Tenn, grew up in Hjo, where her father ran a hotel.

Guldkroksbadet is a free entry outdoor bath containing 3 pools, the largest one measures 50 by 25 meters. There is also two smaller ones for children. Guldkroksbadet also has a beach where you can swim in the lake.

title: Hjo


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Härryda

Härryda is a locality situated in Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 968 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its name it is not the seat of the municipality, which is the much larger Mölnlycke. Härryda is the closest locality from the Göteborg Landvetter Airport, three kilometers (2 miles) from the terminal building. It is located right under the flight path, so there is a high noise level. Many residents work at the airport and are therefore more forgiving against airplane noise.

title: Härryda


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Herrljunga

Herrljunga is a locality and the seat of Herrljunga Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,822 inhabitants in 2010.

Overview
The town grew up around a railway junction. From 1906 it had the status of a municipalsamhälle (a form of borough) within the rural municipality, also called Herrljunga. Today it is the seat of the much larger Herrljunga Municipality.

Herrljunga is known for Herrljunga Cider, that as of 2005 had the largest market share of cider in daily stores in Sweden with 16%. It's also known for its large railway connection, connecting Västra stambanan, a railway connection between the two largest Swedish cities, Göteborg and Stockholm.

title: Herrljunga


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Götene

Götene is a locality and the seat of Götene Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,933 inhabitants in 2010.

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Götene:

 * Götene IF

title: Götene


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Gullspång

Gullspång is a locality and one of two seats of the Gullspång Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. As of 2010 it had 1,167 inhabitants.

History
Gullspång provided the name for a new municipality created through the local government reform of 1971, but the administration was placed in the more centrally located Hova, with just some minor offices in Gullspång.

Due to the long lasting rivalry between Gullspång and Hova the municipality avoids the term centralort (seat). Instead they are called the municipality's two main localities.

Business
A major employer found in Gullspång is Partex Marking Systems, a company that manufactures markers for cables.

In Gullspång, Fortum also has a hydroelectric power plant using the water from the Skagern river to produce electricity. Fortum is quite a large employer in the town of Gullspång.

Vänerhamn AB, which has cargo ports around the entire Vänern, is a port of Otterbäcken. The port transports several million tonnes of freight each year.

Culture
From 1939 to 1954 author Frans G. Bengtsson lived in Ribbingsfors Mansion, just outside Gullspång. There he wrote many of his works and left behind many books, writings, and notes which are now located in a designated area of the municipal library.

Linda Bengtzing, a singer who was born and raised in Gullspång, found success with the 2005 song "alla flickor" after it was entered in the Swedish Song Contest. She has participated in the Swedish Song Contest twice after "alla flickor" and has competed with a choir from Gullspång in the high-profile contest Clash of the Choirs (2008).

Lina Bengtsdotter, author of the successful crime fiction novel series featuring inspector Charlie Lager, was born and raised in Gullspång, where her stories are also set.

Salmon
In central Gullspång is a salmon-stair which was built in 2004. It was built to increase the population of the local Gullspång salmon ("Gullspångslax"). The salmon-stair was made possible by the installation of flood gates which filled the dry area with water from the Gullspångsälven river.

title: Gullspång


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Grästorp

Grästorp is a locality and the seat of Grästorp Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 2,969 inhabitants in 2010. It is the only locality in Grästorp Municipality.

Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Grästorp:

 * IK Gauthiod
 * Grästorps IK

title: Grästorp


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Färgelanda

Färgelanda is a locality and the seat of Färgelanda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,894 inhabitants in 2010.

title: Färgelanda


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Falköping

Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010.

History
The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic Rimbegla (around 1100 A.D.), and is mentioned in the Westrogothic law. It was also an important site of pilgrimage due to its 12th-century church dedicated to Saint Olaf (Sankt Olofs kyrka). The town was heading for a shut-down during the 16th century and was even burnt to the ground by the Danish during the Northern Seven Years' War. However the town survived and was rebuilt.

Falköping or Falbygden (when meaning the agricultural landscape in which Falköping is located) is widely known for its ancient remains of Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. The town is located between the two plateaus Mösseberg and Ålleberg. The location has been inhabited since the end of the ice age and cultivated by people for the last 6000 years. The oldest find is a form of megalithic tomb called dolmen, dating back to 3400 B.C. There are also 28 passage graves dating back to 3300 B.C.

Also several cists have been found here, they can be traced back to earlier Stone Age (Senneolitikum) 2400–1500 B.C and are believed to be built or inspired by travelers from the countries where these kind of graves were commonly constructed. Falköping is the only town in Europe with this amount of megalithic graves as visible contribution to the town image.

Local industry
Early industry in Falköping was the Victoria Brewery (sv. Victoriabryggeriet) (1856–1953), Haglunds Roller blinds factory (sv. Haglunds rullgardinsfabrik) (1885-) and Forss hat factory (sv. Forss hattfabrik) (1880–). In the early 20th-century (1900–) several companies were established, such as: Alton gold forgery (1928), Falköping dairy factory (sv. Falköpings Mejeri) (1930–), workshop industry Arkivator (sv. verkstadsindustrin Arkivator) (1940–) and the sewing factories Svaréns and Ottossons.

Falköpings Mejeri (Falköping dairy factory) is a co-operative dairy company which supplies milk to grocery stores in western Sweden. The Falbygdens Ost cheese factory supplies cheese to stores throughout Sweden. A "dry port" (sv. torrhamn) has recently been built in connection to the railway, enabling companies in the surrounding area to handle cargo in a more efficient way.

Geography
The town is located where the Western Main Line (Västra stambanan) between Stockholm and Gothenburg meets the railline from Nässjö via Jönköping to Falköping. As it takes less than a one-hour train journey to reach both Gothenburg and Jönköping respectively, Falköping makes a good location for commuting.

Famous People
Footballer Madelen Janogy was born in Falköping and started her football career in Falköpings KIK.

Sports and leisure
Association football

Falköping has several football fields.

Clubs include:
 * Falköpings KIK
 * IFK Falköping
 * Falköpings FK

Motor Sports

The Falköpings Motorklubb hosts car and motorbike racing at the Motorstadion, about 5 km west of the locality. The Club originally ran a motorcycle speedway team known as Falkarna, who raced in the Swedish Speedway Team Championship. The speedway track held the Continental Speedway final round of the 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship.

Walking routes

There is also an 8 km long pathway around the core of the town called Hälsoslingan (path of health). It is used for running and taking walks together with friends and family.

The folk tale of The Riders of Ålleberg
According to local folklore, whenever the town of Falköping is in danger, the mountain-side of Ålleberg shall fall and reveal a troop of knight-like figures who shall ride out and vanquish the threat. They are known as Ållebergs Ryttare (The Riders of Ålleberg).

title: Falköping


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Bengtsfors

Bengtsfors is a locality and the seat of Bengtsfors Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,080 inhabitants in 2010. Bengtsfors Church is in Bengtsfors.

title: Bengtsfors


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Alingsås

Alingsås is a locality and the seat of Alingsås Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 24,482 inhabitants in 2010.

Geography
Geographically the city is situated by the outlet of the small rivulet Säveån into lake Mjörn. Transportation links are provided by the western main line railway (Västra stambanan) between Stockholm and Gothenburg, and by motorway through the European route E20. Next to Alingsås you can also find a small village called Sollebrunn.

History
Alingsås was founded as inhabitants from the city Nya Lödöse were made homeless as Danish troops burnt it down. Gustavus Adolphus granted Alingsås its Royal Charter in 1619, which makes it older than Västra Götaland's largest city Gothenburg (which was granted its charter in 1621).

Among its historical inhabitants is Jonas Alströmer, who was born in Alingsås in 1685. Alströmer is credited for introducing the potato plant to Sweden. He also established a large scale draper's industry there, which before long became Sweden's largest. However, some too-optimistic calculations, devastating fires and political setbacks finally forced its closure in 1779.

In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of 2,500-year-old Bronze Age ornaments which can be related with a woman of high status. Some of the necklaces, chains and pins, discovered by chance by the cartographer Tomas Karlsson, are very well preserved.

Historical sites
In different locations in Alingsås you can find several round craters carved in the rock. These are called Giant's Kettles, and can vary a lot in size and depth. The biggest ones are in Brobacka, which is located on the way to Gräfsnäs. The Giant's Kettles are common visiting sites for secondary school classes.

Gräfsnäs slottsruin is a castle ruin located by the lake Anten, just outside Alingsås. It was built in 1550 by Count Sten Eriksson Leijonhufvud, who already owned a castle on the other side of the lake, in Loholmen. After Eriksson's death, 1568, his wife Ebba Månsson Leijonhufvud took care of the castle, and it would stay in the family until 1724. In 1634 the castle burnt to the ground, but was rebuilt as a magnificent castle in late renaissance style. In 1734 it burned down again, but the owner at that time rebuilt it to match what it had been. In 1834, exactly two hundred years after it had burnt for the first time, the castle was sold to Otto Ulfsparre for 110 000 barrels of schnapps. The day that the papers on the purchase were to be signed, the castle burnt - for the third time, with exactly 100 years between each of the three occasions. The last person to make the castle his permanent home was fisherman Nils Andersson, who paid his rent in fish. After his death, the roof was eventually removed to prevent the partying that the youths in the village were doing in the old castle. In 1911 the castle was restored by Västergötland-Göteborgs Järnvägs AB, and since 1930 it is cared for by Alingsås Municipality. Alingsås museum was founded in 1928, and contains memorial collections of photographs and the municipal archives, as well as hosting several exhibitions. It has been closed to the public since spring 2010, due to rearrangement with the premises.

Culture
Alingsås is known for its cafes, 26 in total (in 2010), and is often called "The Capital of Fika". Three of the cafes are included in the White Guide.

Karin Boye, a Swedish writer, committed suicide in a forest in the Alingsås city district of Nolby in 1941. The place is now a memorial, and a popular visiting site for schoolclasses, taking the "Karin Boye tour".

Alingsås has an art gallery, libraries and a museum.

Yearly events
Alingsås has a rich cultural life, and hosts a few different cultural events throughout the year. In October, Lights in Alingsås is held for one month; 6 European lighting designers get to light up selected sections of the city as they please. To help them, they get about 65 international students of architecture, and together they have one week to create the vision of the lightning designers, who act as workshop leaders. The public can then either walk the tour themselves or in guided groups, and it has over the years become very popular internationally. The project is a cooperation between Alingsås Kommun and Professional Lighting Designers' Association since 2000.

In the summer, a festival is hosted by Alingsås Kommun, called Potatisfestivalen (the Potato Festival). It is a city festival with different activities, such as concerts and performances.

Education

 * Alströmergymnasiet - high school

Sports
Alingsås has several sports associations. Swimming, figure skating, ice hockey, track and field, orienteering, soccer, handball and floorball are some of the more popular sports. There are two health centres, which host different types of group training as well as providing training machines.

AHK, the handball association of Alingsås, yearly hosts a tournament where teams from all over the country can join and play against each other. It is, according to the city's history and nickname, called Potatiscupen (the potato tournament). The teams use the different schools in the area for accommodation.

Alingsås FC United, a women's team, is the town's most reputable football club. The team currently competes in the Elitettan, the Swedish second tier of women's football below the Damallsvenskan.

Two men's football clubs also exist in the city, Holmalunds IF and Alingsås IF, both competing in the regional Division 3 Mellersta Götaland, in the fifth tier of Swedish football.

City districts

 * Hjälmared
 * Röhult
 * Rosendal
 * Dammhultet
 * Västra Ängabo
 * Östra Ängabo
 * Gråbo
 * Dammen
 * Prästeryd
 * Klinten
 * Hjortgården
 * Alefors
 * Grimsholmen
 * Nolby Kapell
 * Kristineholm
 * Holmalund
 * Stampen
 * Brogården
 * Nolby
 * Noltorp
 * Enehagen
 * Tegelbruket
 * Nolhaga
 * Sörhaga
 * Kulingsberg
 * Alfhem
 * Lövekulle
 * Eriksberg
 * Mariedal
 * Stadsskogen

Other
There is a data center here.

title: Alingsås


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Charleville, County Cork

Charleville (Ráth Luirc or An Ráth) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies in the Golden Vale, on a tributary of the River Maigue, near the border with County Limerick. Charleville is on the N20 road and is the second-largest town between Limerick and Cork, the largest being Mallow. The Roman Catholic parish of Charleville is within the Diocese of Cloyne. Significant industries in the town include Kerry Co-Op and the construction and services sectors.

Names
The old name for the place was Rathcogan, later Rathgogan or Rathgoggan, the last (Ráth an Ghogánaigh) still the name of the civil parish around the town. The name means Cogan's rath (ringfort), after the family of Miles de Cogan, granted lands there after the 12th-century Norman invasion. The new town begun by Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery in 1661 was named Charleville after Charles II, who had been restored to the throne the previous year.

Later Irish speakers referred to the town as An Ráth "the rath", a short form of the older Irish name. The name Ráth Luirc ["Lorc's rath"] was first attached to Charleville in an 1849 collection of 18th-century Irish-language poems with English translations. The translation of an aisling by Conchúbhar Máistir Ó Ríordáin interpreted Ráth Loirc as denoting the town of Charleville. T. F. O'Rahilly felt that Ráth Loirc, like the more common Clár Loirc, was a poetic name for Ireland. D. A. Binchy felt the term, also used by Aogán Ó Rathaille, did refer to a specific place, but likely somewhere in Muskerry, not Charleville. After the 1920 local elections, Sinn Féin-dominated councils loyal to the self-proclaimed Irish Republic often sought to replace placenames having British monarchic allusions with older Gaelic names. Although Rathgoggan was mooted by Charleville Rural District Council, Risteárd Ó Foghladha ["Fiachra Eilgeach"] advised that Ráth Luirc was the old name, and it was changed to Rathluirc in 1920. Ó Foghladh claimed Lorc was an ancient king of Munster; in fact Lóegaire Lorc was a mythical High King of Ireland.

The Placenames Commission was established in the 1940s to systematically determine the authentic Irish names of places, and based on its advice that An Ráth was the commonly used name among the last generations of local Irish speakers, this was legally made the Irish name in 1975. Thus the town had the anomalous position that its English-language legal name was an Irish name different from its Irish-language legal name. The name "Charleville" remained in common use. In December 1989, a plebiscite of residents under the Local Government Act 1946 voted on four names: of 2200 electors, 1500 (over 68%) voted for Charleville. Official documents before and after 1989 have often used "Rathluirc (Charleville)" or similar formulations. Local sports teams have a rath or fort in their crest, reflecting the Irish name.

The town of Charleville, Queensland, Australia may well have been named after the County Cork town.

History
Charleville was founded in 1661 by Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery. Roger Boyle had been a supporter of Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War. When King Charles II was restored in 1660, he had to prove his loyalty to the crown. He did this by naming Charleville after the English king. The villages of Brohill and Rathgoggin, who in their former guise preceded the formation of the town of Charleville in the area, fell under the rule of the following political entities: the Eoghanachta of southern Munster, at some point by the Hiberno-Norman Lordships of Ireland 1169–1541 although this rule was nominal rather than actual and subsequently by the Kingdom of Desmond 1118 – 1596. The lands of Broghill and Rathgogan were purchased by Roger's father Richard Boyle as a part of the Plantation of Munster and Roger subsequently established his residency there after the founding of Charleville. During the time of the Penal Laws, practising the Catholic faith was illegal. As a result, the parish of Charleville was amalgamated with the parishes Bruree and Colmanswell, both in the Diocese of Limerick. In 1704, Fr. Daniel Mac Namara of Bruree was registered as the Catholic priest for this very large pastoral area. The fact that Catholics had to attend Mass secretly meant that the old chapel in Holy Cross cemetery was abandoned. The remains of this church – now overgrown with ivy – are still to be seen in the centre of the graveyard. Indeed, like so many other pre-1700 churches, the old church of Holy Cross literally became part of the surrounding graveyard, in that several gravestones, both marked and unmarked, are to be found within the building itself. Upon one such gravestone is a Latin epitaph to none other than Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill (1691–1754), who was, in his time, the Chief Poet of Munster, as well as a native of Charleville.

William Alcock Tully, commissioner of Crown lands in the Kennedy and Warrego pastoral districts and 2nd Surveyor General of Queensland spent his formative years here. during this time, He surveyed the townsite of Charleville, Queensland which he named after Charleville, County Cork.

Geography
Charleville is geographically located at 'the heart of Munster', within the Golden Vale region. It is 60 km from Cork city to the south and 40 km from Limerick city to the north.

Charleville lies within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency.

Economy
Charleville is a centre for the food processing industry, with brands such as Charleville Cheese and Golden Vale produced by Kerry Co-Op.

Retail
Charleville has a strong retail sector, It is home to retailers such as Eurogiant, Murrays, Morans, Bridgets, charisma fashions and Noonans Sports. Dunnes Stores recently opened a store in the town center. Charleville is also home to stores and restaurants such as Lidl, Supervalu, Centra, Supermacs, Elverys Sports, Aldi and Amber.

Engineering
Numerous spin-offs both in the town of Charleville and the surrounding area were created when Golden Vale Engineering closed its doors in 1983. The largest amongst these were BCD Engineering, Diamond Engineering and Sapphire Engineering. BCD is the second largest employer in Charleville. Ireland’s largest independent powered access company CPH www.cphireland.ie is headquartered in Charleville

Cheese
Golden Vale (part of the Kerry Group) continue to make cheese products in the town. Golden Vale is the largest employer in Charleville.

Social
Charleville has numerous pubs as well as two theatre facilities and is home to the North Cork Drama Festival which is held in the Parochial Hall. The second facility is the Schoolyard Theatre which is home to the Shoestring Theatre group.

Transport
Charleville is at the junction of the N20 national road and the R515 regional road. The N20 runs north–south from Limerick to Cork cities, the R515 east–west from Tipperary town to near Abbeyfeale. The R578 runs from Charleville to Ballydesmond. Charleville is on Bus Éireann routes 51 (Cork – Limerick – Shannon Airport – Galway) and 320 (Limerick – Charleville). It is 65 km from both Cork Airport and Shannon Airport. It is approximately 550 km from High Halstow.

Charleville railway station is on the Dublin–Cork railway line. It opened in 1849 on the Great Southern and Western Railway. The former Cork–Limerick line branched off the Cork–Dublin line at Charleville, continuing via Croom; the final goods train ran in 1976, since when Limerick Junction, already the junction for Dublin–Limerick, has also been the junction for Cork–Limerick.

Education
Secondary schools in the area include CBS Charleville, St. Mary's Secondary School (Charleville), and Mannix College (which is no longer a secondary School). Other schools include Charleville CBS Primary, St. Anne's, St. Joseph's and the Holy Family School.

Charleville's library is located in the former Church of Ireland church of the parish (which went into disrepair in the 1950/1960s when the Protestant population of the area declined).

Sport
Sporting clubs in the area include Charleville GAA club and Charleville Camogie Club. The Ráth Luirc GAA Sports Centre has squash, badminton and tennis facilities. There is also a handball court in the area.

The local rugby club is Charleville RFC, and soccer club is Charleville AFC.

Charleville Golf Club and Charleville Pitch and Putt Club are also based locally.

People

 * Éamon de Valera (1882–1975), former Taoiseach and President, was educated at C.B.S Charleville.
 * Aaron Doran (b.1991), Irish association footballer and 2015 Scottish Cup winner with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
 * Keith Hanley (b.1993), winner of The Voice of Ireland series 2.
 * Con Leahy (1876–1921), an Irish athlete who won Olympic medals at the 1906 and 1908 Games, was born here
 * Eliza Lynch (1833–1886), former first lady of Paraguay, was born locally.
 * Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill (1691–1754), Chief Poet of Munster who was born in nearby Churchtown, lived in the area
 * Daniel Mannix (1864–1963), Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years, and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia, was born near Charleville.
 * William Reeves (1815–1892), antiquarian, bishop, and President of the Royal Irish Academy, was born in Charleville

Town twinning
Charleville is twinned with Plouaret – Le Vieux-Marché, Brittany, in France.

title: Charleville, County Cork


text:
Warriors of Heaven and Earth

Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a 2003 Chinese action adventure film directed by He Ping. The film's notable cinematography captures a wide range of landscapes across China's Xinjiang province. It was China's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, though it did not get nominated.

Plot
The film is set in western China in 700 AD during the Tang dynasty, and revolves around two protagonists, the first of whom is Lieutenant Li of the Chinese army. Li's refusal to kill Göktürk women and child prisoners is classed as a mutiny, leading him to be expelled from the army and to become a fugitive, traveling through the Gobi Desert. Years later, he is saved by the survivors of a caravan which carries a powerful, mystical relic accompanied by a Buddhist monk. Li protects the caravan from Göktürks as well as the overlord of the region, Master An, who is hired by the Göktürk Khan to seize the relic.

The second protagonist, a Japanese emissary, Lai Xi, is ordered by the emperor of China to kill the fugitive, Li. In a twist of fate, Lai Xi discovers that the caravan is on a mission and helps Li to defend it, to ensure that it arrives at the capital safely. They promise to fight each other only after their duty is done, although that battle never comes to pass.

Cast
• Jiang Wen as Lieutenant Li

• Kiichi Nakai as Emissary Lai Xi

• Wang Xueqi as Master An

• Zhao Wei as Wen Zhu

• Hasi Bagen as Cao Jian, One Eye Eagle

• He Tao as Ma Gun

• Lau Lei-nin as Wu Lao Er

• Wang Deshun as Old Diehard

• Li Haibin as Zao Zimo

• Yeerjiang Mahepushen as Master An's servant

• Hou Fugao as guard

• Zhou Yun as Monk Jue Hui

• Lee Wai as Di Hu / Salamander

• Do Yuk-ming as rider

• Wang Handong as rider

• Yang Haiquan as Baldy

• Tuerxunjiang Zunong as innkeeper

• Wong Hiu as emperor

• Sang Baozhong as General Wen

• Gao Qiang

• Sun Yingjie

• Liu Mingzhe

• Liu Qingwei

• Hao Youyue

• Guo Zhengjian

• Chen Xiongwei

• Qi Kejian

• Chan Laap-san

• Xie Ze

• Feiluola

• Sailike

• Azili

• Hanati

• Zumureti

• Ayiguli

• Gulizha

• Maierhaba

• Mikereyi

• Qing Gele

• Kunakebayi

• Julaiti

• Li Guohai

• Gao Quanjun

• Sang Zongzhong

Awards and nominations
11th Beijing Student Film Festival
 * Won: Best Visual Effect
 * Won: Favorite Actress (Zhao Wei)
 * Won: Favorite Actor (Jiang Wen)

27th Hundred Flowers Awards
 * Nominated: Best Film
 * Nominated: Best Actress (Zhao Wei)
 * Nominated: Best Actor (Jiang Wen)
 * Nominated: Best Actor (Wang Xueqi)

24th Golden Rooster Awards
 * Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Wang Xueqi)

Soundtrack
The original score was composed by Indian composer A. R. Rahman. Warriors of Heaven and Earth: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on CD featuring 14 tracks, which include excerpts from the score and 1 theme song, "Warriors in Peace", sung by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai. Following the film's release, the score and soundtrack were released in one album separately, under the title Between Heaven and Earth. The album also include the theme song, "Warriors in Peace", in two languages, which are the Hindi version by Sadhana Sargam and English version by Sunitha Sarathy.

Rahman signed the project after the head of Sony Classical Music suggested he do project for them in the Western Classical mode. While signing the project, Rahman was working with violinist Joshua Bell on compositions based on poems by the Persian poet Rumi. This project was later cancelled. Originally the music was supposed to be recorded in Beijing. But because of SARS, Rahman moved to Prague to record the score.

Rahman has mixed Chinese, Turkish and Indian sounds as the film is about the Silk Route. He says that he wanted to give the Chinese something they had not heard before, while retaining that international flavour. The score is completely acoustic with symphonic pieces and relatively little electronic sounds have been used. Performers of the score include The Czech Film Orchestra and Chinese soloists in Hong Kong. Other instruments, including the erhu, flute, duduk, dizi, taiko drums are featured.

 * Track listing

title: Warriors of Heaven and Earth


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Holy Mountain

Holy Mountain may refer to:
 * the mytheme or archetype of the world mountain
 * mountains considered sacred mountains
 * in Abrahamic tradition
 * Mount Sinai, by the Bedouin, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt
 * Mount Tabor, Lower Galilee, Israel
 * Temple Mount, Jerusalem
 * Mount Gerizim, West Bank, Palestine

Toponymy

 * Mount Athos, called the Holy Mountain or Hagion Oros (Ἅγιον Ὄρος)
 * The Holy Mountain, a translation of Jebel Barkal, a mountain in Nubia
 * Holy Mountains National Nature Park in Ukraine
 * Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy (Italy), World Heritage Site

Popular culture

 * The Holy Mountain (1926 film), a German silent film
 * The Holy Mountain (1973 film), a 1973 film directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
 * Holy Mountain (website), a National Film Board of Canada interactive documentary
 * Holy Mountain (band), a Scottish psychedelic rock band
 * Sleep's Holy Mountain, a 1993 album by the band Sleep
 * "Holy Mountains", a song by the band System of a Down on the album Hypnotize
 * Holy Mountain Records, a record label, distributing artists such as the band Om
 * "Holy Mountain" (song), a song by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds from the album Who Built the Moon?
 * "The Holy Mountain", a song by Poppy from the 2019 EP Choke

title: Holy Mountain


text:
User talk:Dpbsmith/BEEFSTEW

Some General Discussion

 * COMMENT: This is a GREAT tool. I will work on the missing "points".--AAAAA 15:57, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * I agree. I've been voting on these high schools a lot recently, so this helps me keep my votes more uniform. I'll strongly consider voting "keep" on articles scoring better than 5. Cool Hand Luke  17:37, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Just a suggestion: does the age of a school make it notable enough to warrant an article even if it's only one sentence? I happen to think that Aylesbury Grammar School is fairly notable because it was founded in 1598. Unfortunately I don't happen to know a great deal more about it. It is at least as notable, if not more so than Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe which has just two short paragraphs. The point is both these schools were founded in the 16th century: should age be a BEEFSTEW indicator of notability? Great system by the way. -- Graham ☺ | Talk 12:48, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I like the system! I agree that it would be worth adding a question about age ("Is the school over 100 years old?"), but I also wonder if it'd be worth adding a weighting system? So, F, G and H could all score 2 points. Actually I'd be tempted to split G into three parts: regoinal (1 point), national (2 points), international (4 points). The thinking behind 4 points is that if a school's internationally mentioned it really should have an article! --G Rutter 08:09, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Do you want to explain that? If a school is mentioned on here then it is by proxy internationally mentioned. -- Graham  ☺ | Talk 11:40, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * I meant mentioned in the international news media (TV, radio, newspaper). --G Rutter 08:08, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

See my notes at User:Dpbsmith/BEEFSTEW for what my intentions were. I'm gratified that people see some value in the scoring system. I don't want to fuss too much about refining or tuning it. I don't want people to take it too seriously. Do note that I'm trying to evaluate the quality of the article, not the notability of the school, and that I'm trying to make a rough-and-ready distinction between bad articles and acceptable (to me!) articles, rather than separating fair, good, and superb articles... [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 13:03, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Why schools in particular? If we applied the same standards to Lord of the Rings characters or tiny American towns we would radically change what Wikipedia is. Pcb21| Pete 08:08, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, I can talk about this two ways. One is the explanation I have always given, which is that I use BEEFSTEW as a factor in judging whether borderline articles on schools should be kept. I'm not asserting this as consensus policy, I'm stating a factor that can be used to predict how I will vote on school articles--an elaborate version of the same thing you find on What's in, what's out.

 * Second, I've made it fairly clear that I personally am not inclusionist nor deletionist, but I am "mergist" and I am "qualitarian."

 * The überinclusionist belief system is that the quality of an article should be irrelevant, because if the topic itself has potential for being encyclopedic, the articles will magically grow and improve as the result of, I suppose, vital aetheric vibrations.

 * My belief is that articles are written by the action of people who volunteer to work on them. Articles that are likely to attract the attention of a large pool of interested editors are likely to grow and improve. Articles on extremely narrow topics of interest to only tiny number of editors are not. Therefore, I take the illogical but commonsense view of factoring in article quality on any article that are borderline in being encyclopedic.

 * My belief is that we are trying to build an encyclopedia and that an encyclopedia is a big set of books full of good articles in them. It's not clear what policies will best support that goal, but that's the goal.

 * In other words, a crappy one-line stub on Beethoven is fine with me because it won't stay that way for long. A lovingly written, detailed, interesting, well-referenced, through, scholarly treatment of a Pokemon character, or a non-notable high school is fine with me because it is a good article.

 * I see—not absolutely no evidence, but very little evidence, that the semi-literate two-line squibs about secondary and middle schools get any systematic attention.

 * With respect to the Rambot articles, that's a special case. I'm not much of Rambot fan, and I dislike the idea that what should be simple tabular data somehow gains something by being mechanically converted into COBOL-like prose. However, the town articles have the characteristic that they are reasonable comprehensive, complete, and (apparently) get regular maintenance. This does not happen with school articles. Wikipedia is not, and in the foreseeable future will not be a substitute for www.greatschools.net or anything like that.

 * As for "radically chang[ing] what Wikipedia is," I don't think it would. When I look at the actual voting behavior on school articles what I see is that regardless of stated principle, both inclusionists and deletionists do take article quality into account. Whether or not BEEFSTEW scores are mentioned, high-BEEFSTEW articles usually survive and low-BEEFSTEW articles do not (unless improved during VfD).

 * But Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not an experiment in anarchy. The organizational principles that were effective when Wikipedia was starting up and you had a huge population of stubby articles on clearly encyclopedic topics are not sacred.

 * By the way, no, I do not like the effect BEEFSTEW has had on some articles--when editors deliberately engaged in BEEFSTEW-bloat in order to get an article past VfD. But I don't think the answer to that is to tinker or refine BEEFSTEW. I just meant it as a rough metric to identify semi-objectively what I'd call the "insultingly bad" articles.

 * Anyway, by all means vote as you think fit on school articles. Dpbsmith (talk) 14:06, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * Many thanks for search a detailed response to my query. As you might have guessed I was somewhat motivated by the Robert Frost Middle School deletion debate currently underway. It looks you would keep that article from what you say, and it is a shame that your metric is not being used the way the inventor intended. I guess this all part of my agitation that "non-notability" is more and more an acceptable criterion for deletion. Unlike other deletion rules notability is inherently subjective (or POV to use the wikipedia term). And because deletion votes are binding, if the community has a particular skew then this a copper-bottomed way of introducing systemic bias into the encyclopedia (e.g. we systematically have lots of esoterica on computers but very little on individual small companies). I guess I am just frustrated that I am powerless to stop this - I can't force the neverending torrent of newcomers all to think, "hang on, I am being objective here". Your criteria, to judge the quality of content regardless of subject matter, is definitely something I can identify with. Thanks again, Pcb21| Pete 23:02, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC).

adding criteria?
Can we change this? I'd like to add "how many classrooms (etc) a school has" as being non-notable (excluding any architectural merit). Also, most British grammar schools and public schools I think are inherently notable. Thirdly, there should be some merit for age, this obviously varies from place to place, but say pre-1800 in Europe, pre-1900 in the US and the Commonwealth should be given points. Dunc|☺ 16:07, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Length of Article
Critera C for BEEFSTEW relates to length of article. How can you tell the length of an article? I am unsure. Thanks. — M ATHWIZ 20 20  T ALK 23:18, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

How would one find out if the page is at least 2000 bytes? Thanks! Greeves (talk • contribs) 01:23, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Hmmm... I thought the edit box used to display that... I don't know of an _exact_ method that will work for _everyone_. But none of these criteria is exact. I happen to use an offline text editor that displays the number of bytes. Remember, this is a personal tool that _I_ use! You can also eyeball it... if it's too close to 2000 bytes to call, give it half a point or something. Dpbsmith (talk) 02:33, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

shortcut?
—  pd_THOR  undefined | 17:55, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dpbsmith/BEEFSTEW


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Druchii.net

Druchii.net
A Warhammer fansite with an Alexa ranking of 2,972,767. --Ianb 15:57, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable website. Andris 16:28, Sep 26, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Wikipedia is not a web guide.   — Gwalla | Talk 19:38, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. What is the distinction between this and other game descriptions in Wikipedia? If you are going to have one games article, you might as well have all the others. All this needs is some work done on it. Dieter Simon 22:16, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * It doesn't follow that because we have one, we must have them all. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:48, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete - non-notable fan site, Wikipedia is not a web guide. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:48, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)


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Clarecastle

Clarecastle (An Clár or ) is a village just south of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland. From 2008 to 2016 the village saw a significant population increase due to its proximity to Ennis, Shannon, and Limerick.

Name
The town is named after the Clare Castle, which stands on an island in the narrowest navigable part of the River Fergus. The Irish Clár, meaning a wooden board, is often used for a bridge. The name probably originated as Clár adar da choradh, which means "the bridge between two weirs". Another explanation of the name is that the de Clare family gave the castle its name, since they had acquired land in Kilkenny and Thomond that included the castle. In 1590 County Clare was named after the castle, which is in a strategic location.

Clarecastle (Clare Abbey) is a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is also known as Ballyea/Clarecastle. Clare Abbey and Killone Abbey are linked by a footpath, the Pilgrim's Road.

History
Clarecastle was once home to a port servicing a variety of cargo, used for exports and the delivery of items into the nearby town of Ennis, which could not be reached by navigation of the River Fergus.

The Port of Clare
The Port of Clare consisted of the main quay of Clarecastle and an additional berthing frontage downstream towards the estuary. Clare was a busy port during its time, allowing safe navigation and berthing for vessels close to the town of Ennis. The quay structure is approximately 155 metres in length and was completed in 1845 under the supervision of civil engineer Thomas Rhodes, Principal Engineer to the Shannon Commissioners.

The quay is no longer used for cargo or large vessels, but is suitable for berthing of small craft and recreational use, with an annual community regatta being held in June. Navigation within the quay area for larger vessels is not available at all states of the tide, with the macro-tidal range resulting in almost dry conditions at low water springs.

During the historical peak of commercial activity at the port, the complicated approaches to Clarecastle from the estuaries of the Shannon and Fergus, arising from issues such as limited depth for navigation exacerbated by the presence of estuarine intertidal mudflats and rhythmites, necessitated the use of maritime pilots and precluded very large vessels from accessing the quay. The sediment transport mechanisms in the estuary and lower Fergus are also influenced by historical land reclamation works. Navigation beyond Clarecastle towards Ennis is precluded by the presence of a barrage (dam) north of the quay, which serves to limit tidal influence upstream as part of a flood control strategy.

Sports
The local GAA team is Clarecastle GAA. The club's colours are black and white and they are known as the Magpies.

Notable people
The composer Gerald Barry was born in Clarecastle in 1952.

title: Clarecastle


text:
Talk:Johan Helmich Roman

Swedish article
The article sv:Johan Helmich Roman on the Swedish Wikipedia has a lot of information useful for expanding this article. EldKatt 15:58, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)

This part should be changed:
The Shorter Drottningholm Music is the same as the Suite in D major. This part of the text should therefore be changed. And the mentioning of conductor Claude M Génetay should be restored, I believe. He was, after all, an influential musician and very much responsible for the revival of Roman's music in the late 20th century, with his large number of revisions and concert performances of said music. Besides, he did create the expression "the Shorter Drottningholm Music". This should be mentioned in the article (as it was before), since it is a modern title not coined by Roman himself or any musicians of that age. /Respectfully, as always: --Hallonboat 02:04, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

External links modified
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Picture
The portrait previously in the article is very likely NOT Roman, as explained on the Commons description page. Therefore I removed it. There are probably no portraits of Roman, so the article should not be equipped with one. /NH (talk) 18:44, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Johan Helmich Roman


text:
Ödeshög

Ödeshög is a locality and the seat of Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 2,572 inhabitants in 2010.

Personalities
Ödeshög is the birthplace of former Swedish professional football player Klas Ingesson.

Twin towns

 * 🇧🇾 Obal, Belarus

title: Ödeshög


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Åtvidaberg

Åtvidaberg is a locality and the seat of Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,859 inhabitants in 2010.

History
Copper was mined in the area from the 14th century, and the name "Åtvidaberg" was originally the name of a bergslag (a type of mining community). The earliest known use of the place name is from 1467, as a compound of the words Åtvid, which was the name of the parish, and berg, literally "mountain", but in this context referring to a mine.

The town's development was to be directed by the noble family Adelswärd. Through investments in the 19th and early 20th century the town developed into a modern industrial town.

In the 1970s the industry was dominated by Facit, making calculators. It was a major sponsor of the football team Åtvidabergs FF, one of Sweden's strongest teams in the 1970s. When Facit went bankrupt in the second half of the 1970s, it led to the downfall and degradation of the team.

At the end of the 19th century almost one third of the population of Åtvidaberg Municipality in Sweden emigrated to Ishpeming, Michigan in the United States as copper mines in the Åtvidaberg area closed down.[9] In 1994 this was commemorated by a plaquette at the Mormorsgruvan mine of Åtvidaberg.

title: Åtvidaberg


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Valdemarsvik

Valdemarsvik is a locality, situated alongside the bay of Tjust archipelago which connects to the Baltic Sea. It is the seat of Valdemarsvik Municipality which is located in Östergötland County, Sweden. The coastal area is a popular summer destination, particularly with Swedish tourists.

History
Valdemarsvik is surrounded by water. However, after the end of the last glacial period, it lay beneath the sea level. As a result of post-glacial rebound, the water withdrew as the land rose. The resulting appearance of fertile soil drew settlers in the Bronze Age, around 1500 BC.

The surrounding archipelago has had a bloody history: remains of shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea and Viking Age remnants witness of battles from that time. Industrialization occurred during the 1630s, when Valdemarsvik became a trade port for copper and leather; one of Sweden's largest tanneries was located in Valdemarsvik. The town's name was first mentioned in 1664.

Tourism and entertainment
Sailing to the Tjust archipelago to swim and fish is a popular summertime activity. Boat excursions and jetski rentals are also available.

"No one I know who has experienced Gryt's archipelago disagrees with me saying: It has been—and is—a blessing to experience this archipelago, this living porch, stretching out into the endless ocean."

Other recreational activities include bicycle rentals, golf, cinemas, canoeing, and horse riding. There are museums in the locality that can be visited. The glass artist, sculptor and painter Milan Wobruba has a studio, where visitors have the opportunity to be involved in glass blowing and the manufacture of glass. An "October Market", held every 4 October, is both a market, with a range of goods to be sold, and a fair, featuring acrobats, cotton candy, live music and various amusement rides.

Many of Valdemarsvik's restaurants and cafés are open all year round; other are open during the tourist season. Also, each year there is exists a special "food competition". Dishes are to be made, the ingredients should, as far as possible, be locally produced and which a jury then assesses. The winning dish is then served at most restaurants in the municipality.

The football club Valdemarsviks IF is located in Valdemarsvik.

title: Valdemarsvik


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Vadstena

Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.

Despite its small population, Vadstena is, for historical reasons, still referred to as a city: though it received its city privileges in 1400), Statistics Sweden only counts as cities Swedish urban localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants.

History
Above all, the city of Vadstena is noted for two important facts of Swedish history. It was in Vadstena, year 1350, that Saint Bridget of Sweden founded the first monastery of her Bridgettine Order, and Vadstena Castle is one of Sweden's best-preserved castles from the era of Gustav Vasa in the 16th century, when Sweden became Protestant. Today the surviving buildings of the monastery are occupied by a hotel, (Vadstena Klosterhotel), and the castle houses the provincial archives and a museum of 16th and 17th century furniture, portraits and paintings.

Since the 16th century, Vadstena has been the location of a hospital. Earlier in history, it mainly housed mental patients. Today, some of the oldest buildings present the Vadstena Hospital Museum.

The buildings in the city centre date mainly from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The old town is well preserved and the streets have not changed much over the centuries. The Town Hall is Sweden's oldest, dating back to the early 15th century. Notable is the main street (Storgatan) where all the shops are gathered, as they would have been during the Middle Ages.

The botanist Erik Acharius died in Vadstena (1819).

Railway
Vadstena also preserves elements of more recent history in the museum of the Vadstena-Fågelsta narrow gauge railway (Wadstena Fogelsta Järnväg). This 891 mm (or Swedish three foot) railway was once part of a large network of narrow-gauge railways in Östergötland constructed in the latter part of the 19th century.

Famous people

 * Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
 * Nina Koppang, Swedish handball player

title: Vadstena


text:
Söderköping

Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a town. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Söderköping is about 15 km southeast of the city of Norrköping.

History
Sigismund III Vasa became king of both Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in a personal union upon his election to the Swedish throne in 1592 amidst much controversy and religious strife. The protestant reformation and Catholic counter reformation were in full swing and at odds everywhere in Europe in the day. Subsequently, in 1593, he signed an agreement to guarantee religious freedom to the Protestant majority of Sweden and to pacify the Protestant concerns overall by all sects and the religion-generated unrest in the country settled down for a time once the agreement was in place, but it came to rise refreshed and stronger in 1594 because of Sigismund's actions.

In 1595 the Riksdag of the Estates assembled at Söderköping (consequently sometimes known as the Riksdag of Söderköping) and elected Duke Charles IX of Sweden as regent of Sweden in place of his Catholic nephew Sigismund—though it did not formally depose Sigismund—because he had violated his agreement as king-elect and that of 1593 with the Uppsala Synod and had instead championed Catholic counter reformation measures, appointed Catholics to high offices and established catholic schools during this religiously volatile era—all in violation of his agreement with the Synod in 1593. The renewed controversy came to a head in 1594, resulting in the Riksdag setting aside his authority, and the whole history of Sigismund with his claim on the Swedish throne became a succession of trigger events leading to the subsequent seven decades of dynastic warfare known as the Polish–Swedish wars. He was formally deposed by the Riksens ständer at Linköping, 24 February 1600, which declared he had abdicated his throne. The same Riksdag approved the execution of eight of Charles IX's opponents in the Swedish nobility as allies of King Sigismund.

In the early middle-ages it was the most important port in Sweden at the confluence of the Storån and Lillån rivers trading mainly with Lubeck, principally in salt, textiles, butter and beer. Silting eventually led to its demise as a trading centre. Söderköping stands at the eastern end of the Göta Canal, a 390-km long canal opened in 1832 to connect Gothenburg to the Baltic Sea by inland waterway.

Sights
Two churches built in the early 13th century are located near the city center, St. Lawrence's Church and Drothem Church.

Today Söderköping is visited by foreign tourists taking boat tours of the Göta Kanal and is a popular destination for residents of the area. An ice cream shop on the banks of Göta Kanal, Smultronstället, is a well-known attraction. Many adventurers gather in Söderköping as several climbing routes are right in the city centre and the archipelago is just a few miles away. In autumn every year is Söderköpings gästabud arranged, a medieval festival.

title: Söderköping