Motherhood and Culture Conference at Maynooth University

From the Airport

Public Transport
The Maynooth Airport Hopper offers a regular and reasonably priced shuttle bus service between Dublin Airport and Maynooth. Discounts are available for tickets purchased online. Students (with a valid student ID card) and children can also avail of reduced rates. Bus Éireann also runs two services from Dublin Airport to Maynooth, the 22 and the 23. Timetables can be viewed here.

By Car
The university town of Maynooth lies just 33km south-west of Dublin Airport, around 40 minutes travel time by car. Maynooth is situated 25km from Dublin city centre. Take junction 7 (signposted Maynooth/Straffan/Naas) off the M4 and follow the signs to Maynooth. Turn left in the centre of the town and the gates to the South Campus are directly ahead of you. To reach the North Campus, take the left in the centre of the town, then turn right, take the next left and the entrance is on your right.

No parking permits are required as the conference will take place out of term. Participants are advised to park in car park number 07, which is closest to the Iontas building.

To and From Dublin

Maynooth is served by two Dublin Bus routes – the 66 and the 67. Both of these buses depart from Merrion Square in Dublin and run frequent services to the town. The 66x is an express service. See the Dublin Bus website for full details.

The South Campus is approximately five minutes walk from Maynooth Railway Station and the North Campus approximately ten minutes walk. Maynooth lies on the Western Suburban railway line, which serves the four Dublin city centre stations (Pearse Station, Tara St, Connolly Station and Docklands). A timetable for this service is available here. Suburban stations on this line include Drumcondra, Broombridge, Ashtown, Navan Rd. Parkway, Castleknock, Coolmine, Clonsilla, Hansfield, Dunboyne, M3 Parkway, Leixlip Confey and Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

Trains from Maynooth also serve Sligo, Collooney, Ballymote, Boyle, Carrick-on-Shannon, Dromod, Longford, Edgeworthstown, Mullingar, Enfield, Kilcock. See the Irish Rail website for more information.
 

Participants can reserve and pay for on-campus accommodation (single/twin rooms) and evening meals on the registration page. For more information about on-campus accommodation see the Maynooth Campus & Accommodation website.

Those seeking double accommodation may prefer to reserve rooms in the Glenroyal Hotel, which is a short walk from the University.  Those travelling by car may wish to book information in one of the towns close to Maynooth (Celbridge, Leixlip, Lucan), using a website such as Booking.com or Trivago.ie. These towns can also be reached using local bus and rail services. Further information about travel services can be found using the public transit option on Google Maps.

Food and Drink

There are a number of cafés, restaurants, and pubs in the vicinity of the University. Information about restaurants in Maynooth can be found here.

Close to the campus there are two grocery stores, Aldi and Dunnes (within the Manor Mills Shopping Centre), where smaller snacks and salads can be purchased.
 

History

Maynooth University was formally established as an autonomous university as recently as 1997, yet traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of St. Patrick in 1795, making it, simultaneously, Ireland’s youngest university and one of its oldest educational institutions. St. Patrick's College Maynooth was founded in 1795 as a seminary for the education of priests, and by 1850 had become the largest seminary in the world. 

The town has, at either end of the main street, Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16^th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The original Keep, constructed c. 1203, was one of the largest of its kind in Ireland. Early in the 17^th century the castle was remodelled and the main focus of the Castle shifted from the original Keep to the buildings in the east of the grounds. It was vested in the State in 1991 and a programme of restoration commenced in February 2000. There is an exhibition in the Keep on the history of the castle and the family.

Maynooth is on the Royal Canal, navigable from central Dublin to this point, now used mostly for leisure purposes. It provided an important stopping point before Dublin in the period directly before the coming of the railways to Ireland in the first half of the 19^th century. The harbour, known locally as Dukes Harbour is roughly triangular in shape and on the north side of the canal, opposite the railway station is a popular fishing area.