Strokestown gets its own Website – Be part of your community

Strokestown Town Team will be launching a new website to promote the Town - www.Strokestown.ie - on Friday the 8th of September at 5pm.

“Our goal is to make the website the one stop shop for information about the town. Whether you want to visit Strokestown or surrounding areas to relax, invest in a new business or learn about the area’s rich history, Strokestown.ie will be a portal to all the resources you need to come and experience real Ireland,” explained Emmett Corcoran, the Secretary of the Town Team and a member of the website working group.

The Town Team initiative will enable the Town to attract more tourists, extra businesses and hopefully even new residents to the town. Strokestown.ie has been a work in progress for the last number of months and will include a news and updates section, business & community directory as well as features and profiles of people who have recently moved to the town and new businesses who have started up in the area.

“I moved here from the UK in March and found it hard to get information on what was happening in the area. When I saw that there was a website being developed I decided I’d like to get involved. It’s been a great experience working with the Town Team on this project. Strokestown has so much to offer and this new website will really help package what’s on offer,” said Mark Chilvers, a member of the town website working group and new resident of the Strokestown area.

Strokestown has seen an influx of new businesses in the past year and the Town Team intend to work to see this trend continue with some new initiatives. Initiatives such as the town retail incubator, town trails and new website will all aid in attracting businesses who are expanding, starting or relocating, to the town. As part of the launch of the new website for the town efforts are being made by the Town Team to get the town's existing traders as well as new traders coming to the town to trade both on the high street and online.

“We recently opened Luna, a fashion accessories boutique, in the Strokestown. We recognised the need to develop our online business and Strokestown offered us enormous scope to grow that side of our business without significantly increasing our overhead” commented Phelim O’Neill, who recently opened Luna accessories in Strokestown with his wife Magdalena “We operate two other stores, one in Carrick-on-Shannon and one in Galway city, however the lower cost base in Strokestown has opened our eyes to the opportunity that now exists to develop business in rural Ireland.”

The development of Strokestown.ie has been sponsored by a local web design firm and a working group from the Town Team have been developing content for the site. All local businesses will be listed on the site for free in the sites directory. Community groups too will have a listing and an opportunity to share news and updates.

“When I was looking to relocate from Dublin with work, I found Strokestown and fell in love with it. The town has so much to offer. The high quality of life and low cost of living really means the world. The community have been so welcoming and getting involved in the town team and website project has really been a great experience,” Paula Fitzpatrick, a member of Strokestown Town Team and the town website working group.

The website will be used to market the town and hinterland, with a focus on Strokestown being a place to come to have an authentic experience. With a wealth of history and heritage to offer, Strokestown is quickly becoming a real destination. Strokestown Park House already hosts over 50,000 visitors every year, and with the recently opened Sliabh Ban Recreational facilities Strokestown is becoming a destination for a real experience. Angling, walking, cycling, golfing, learning or relaxing, it can all be done in Strokestown.

“Strokestown is doing really well. There are great people doing great things very often in a voluntary capacity. The launch of a website for the town represents real progress for Strokestown and will be a valuable tool for the businesses and groups in the town,” explained Town Team chairman Eugene Murphy TD.

Any businesses or groups who wish to be listed on the new website, or anyone who has interesting facts, stories or history about the town are asked to forward the information to emmett@corcoranwebdesign.com for inclusion onto the developing site.

​Over 300 members of the Strokestown community gathered at Sliabh Bawn on Saturday 2nd of September for the official opening of the new wind farm recreational facilities.  

The new amenities include a trim trail for fitness, an equestrian trail, six looped walks, a raised viewing platform and a new picnic area. The amenities were developed as part of the Sliabh Bawn wind farm and represent a 500K investment by Sliabh Bawn Power, a joint venture between Coillte and Bord na Mona, with power being generated for over 37,500 homes.

To celebrate the opening of the amenities Sliabh Bawn Power hosted a free family day for the local community. Activities kicked off with a 5k and 10K fun run along the new trails, with over 130 people participating in the run, as Jacqueline Holmes and Caoillthionn Thompson finished first respectively among the female 5K and 10K participates, with Ken Kennedy and Fergal Towey the first men to cross the finishing lines over the same distances. 

Other activities included a Teddy Bears Picnic, story time and face painting which took place at the picturesque summit of Sliabh Bawn and throughout the day groups had an opportunity to walk along one of the six looped walks or travel along the newly upgraded ancient Monastery path.