Birr, County Offaly

Birr

*Biorra*
Birr Biorra
Town
	Emmet Square, Birr
	Coat of arms
	Birr Location in Ireland
	Coordinates: 53°05′29″N 7°54′48″W / 53.0914°N 7.9133°W
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Offaly
Dáil constituency	Laois–Offaly
Elevation	75 m (246 ft)
Population (2016)	5,741
• Urban	4,370
• Rural	1,371
Time zone	UTC±0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode	R42
Telephone area code	057
Irish Grid Reference	N058045

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1821	5,406	—
1831	6,594	+22.0%
1841	6,336	−3.9%
1851	5,480	−13.5%
1861	5,401	−1.4%
1871	4,939	−8.6%
1881	4,955	+0.3%
1891	4,313	−13.0%
1901	4,438	+2.9%
1911	4,047	−8.8%
1926	3,402	−15.9%
1936	3,297	−3.1%
1946	3,224	−2.2%
1951	3,285	+1.9%
1956	3,922	+19.4%
1961	3,872	−1.3%
1966	3,924	+1.3%
1971	3,981	+1.5%
1981	4,262	+7.1%
1986	4,194	−1.6%
1991	4,056	−3.3%
1996	4,193	+3.4%
2002	4,436	+5.8%
2006	5,081	+14.5%
2011	5,818	+14.5%
2016	5,741	−1.3%
^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Birr (/ˈbɜːr/; Irish: Biorra, meaning "plain of water") is a town in County Offaly, Ireland. Between 1620 and 1899 it was called Parsonstown, after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse.^[7]

Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town with a carefully preserved Georgian heritage. Birr itself has graceful wide streets and elegant buildings. Many of the houses in John's Place and Oxmantown Mall have exquisite fanlight windows of the Georgian period.

The town is known for Birr Castle and Gardens: the home of the Parsons family and the site of the Leviathan of Parsonstown, which was the largest telescope in the world for over 70 years.

^ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Birr". Central Statistics Office. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^ Census for post 1821 figures. Archived 20 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Cso.ie.
^ "Histpop - The Online Historical Population Reports Website". www.histpop.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016.
^ NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (c) 2013 Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk (27 September 2010).
^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. Volume. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
^ "Registration Districts of Ireland" (PDF). genealogyresearch.org.uk. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.

[1] "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Birr". Central Statistics Office. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2018.

[2] Census for post 1821 figures. Archived 20 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Cso.ie.

[3] "Histpop - The Online Historical Population Reports Website". www.histpop.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016.

[4] NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (c) 2013 Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk (27 September 2010).

[5] Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.

[6] Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. Volume. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.

[7] "Registration Districts of Ireland" (PDF). genealogyresearch.org.uk. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]