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Enfield () or Innfield 〔(Ordnance Survey of Ireland map )〕 is a town in south County Meath, Ireland, situated between Kilcock and Kinnegad and very close to the border with County Kildare. It is located on the R148 regional road,〔 formerly the N4 national primary road connecting Dublin to the West of Ireland and Sligo. == Local history == Enfield's phased growth is paralleled with the various phases of transport history throughout south County Meath. Going back to Ancient Times, prior to and during the early part of the first millennium A.D., the Enfield area is believed to have been situated on one of the main roads to Tara, the coronation site and seat of the high Kings of Ireland from the 3rd Century until 1022. From the great heart and centre of the Irish Kingdom, five great arteries or roads radiated from Tara to the various parts of the country the Slighe(a way or path) Cualann, which ran toward the present County Wicklow, the Slighe Mor, the great Western road, which ran via Dublin to Galway, the Slighe Asail which ran near the present Mullingar, the Slighe Dala which ran southwest, and the Slighe Midluachra, the Northern road. During Norman times (from 1169) under the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Kildare, a road was built from Maynooth Castle to Courtown House in Kilcock, to the Windmill on Cappagh Hill, to Cloncurry over to Johnstown House (now the Johnstown House Hotel and Spa), and from there on to Newcastle and Ballina House. When the Stage Coach was used as a form of transport in Ireland, this road took a slightly different route to include the area that is now known as Enfield. The road between Dublin and Mullingar running through Enfield was built in 1735. A livery stable and courtyard existed opposite the old postoffice building (now a Chinese Restaurant) at the East end of the town, to service people travelling on this road. Fresh teams of horses were available for hire at the livery stable when the coaches stopped at the postoffice. The building also provided some stopover accommodation. Some of the remains of the original livery courtyard could be seen adjacent to the Centra supermarket and car park. These sites were protected once by the Office of Public Works but unfortunately have made way for redevelopment in 2014. The first postal deliveries by stage coach, in the area, occurred around 1740, during the time of Robert Fitzgerald, 19th Earl of Kildare. In the 1790s, maps denote the site as "A New Inn", later "The New Inn" and eventually, Innfield. This derives from a mail-coach inn on the 18th century Dublin to Mullingar coach route called 'The Royal Oak Inn' which is estimated to have been where the Bridge House Inn now stands. The Royal Canal also passed through Innfield, and with the arrival of the Midland Great Western Railway the name became Anglicised to Enfield. The name Innfield became Enfield towards the end of the 19th Century when a new postmaster came from Enfield, Middlesex and decided to use the same name for the area. The N4, the main road to the West from Dublin, passed through Enfield and plagued it with traffic problems. In December 2005 a new stretch of the M4 motorway opened and most traffic now bypasses the town. The section of the N4 which was bypassed has been redesignated as the R148.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Enfield, County Meath」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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