Countdown to begin this week to ‘Mullingar 1400'

Watch out for the words “Mullingar 1400”: you're going to see them everywhere this year.It's not because there are 1400 Mullingar people imprisoned, or otherwise in need of help: the figure marks the age of the town, says local historian, Cllr. Ruth Illingworth.“We're pinning it on the birth of St. Colmán of Lynn,” she explains.“No-one can be sure of the exact date of his birth, but it was around this time.”The birth of St. Colmán has been chosen, as he is credited with the deed that gave Mullingar its name, “An Muileann gCearr”, or “the Wry Mill”.Legend has it that St. Colmán, who was born at Portloman, around the end of the sixth or the early years of the seventh century, was sent by his mother to grind corn at the local mill one day.He was in a hurry, and a dispute arose with the steward arising out of which two lots of corn were placed on the millstone at the same time, and Colmán got the mill to turn anti-clockwise.FOR MORE SEE 15/11 edition