SNIPPET: Mitchelstown is believed to have been originally established and centred around a part of the town known as Brí Gobhann (anglicised Brigown) by Saint Fanahan in or around the 8th century. The town was subsequently re-designed and re-built by the KINGSTON family and today retains the basic layout constructed by them including several interesting stone buildings designed in a late Georgian style of architecture. The layout established by the EARL of KINGSTON between 1775 and 1820 was one of the earliest planned town lay-outs in Ireland. Mitchelstown Castle itself modelled after 1798 Windsor. Unfortunately during the Irish Civil War in 1922 the castle was vandalised and burnt to the ground ostensibly to prevent it from being used by the Irish Government and its Irish Free State Army. In 1887, Irish Land League campaigners, including local man John MANDEVILLE, helped organise a rent strike at the estate of LADY KINGSTON near Mitchelstown. On September 9, three estate tenants were shot dead and others wounded, by police at the town's courthouse where MP William O'BRIEN had been brought for trial for inciting non-payment of rent; this event became known as the Mitchelstown Massacre and is at least partly commemorated by a memorial to MANDEVILLE unveiled in 1906 by O'BRIEN himself. In years to come the phrase "Remember Mitchelstown" was subsequently much bandied about in the British House of Commons when Irish affairs were under discussion. Up to the 1980s, Mitchelstown, Cork was the headquarters for Mitchelstown Co-Operative Creameries, Ireland's then number one dairy processing business. This farmers "Co-Op" was founded in 1919 under the inspirational leadership of local land-owner Chairman Con O'BRIEN of Killickane, Mitchelstown. He was Chairman of the "Co-Op" for almost 50 years and then became Honorary Life President until his death in 1968. Between 1930 and 1985, a combination of strong farmer leadership, talented management, product innovation and a diligent workforce enabled Mitchelstown Co-Op Creameries to become the largest and most important Dairy Processing business in the island of Ireland. It became famous nationally for its processed cheese brands but was better known in overseas dairy industry circles for the high quality and large variety of its natural cheeses which were extensively exported around Europe and for which it earned many international prizes. In later years the site of Mitchelstown Castle was used to house an expansion of processing activities into milk powder, caseinand chocolate crumb production ... - Excerpts, Wikipedia on-line encyclopedia. FYI - Per the all-Ireland IreAtlas townland (c. 1850s) search engine at the Leitrim-Roscommon website - the Mitchelstown placename is found in Cos. Cork, Dublin, Westmeath, Louth, Meath and Limerick. Mitchelstown Town (likely the best known) is in County Cork in the Civil Parish of Brigown. Mitchelstown townland in County Cork (encompassing a wider area than just Mitchelstown town) contains the Civil Parishes of Brigown, as well as Marshalstown (PLU Ardee), and Clontead (PLU Kinsale). Please check my summary for accuracy. Jean