brought to Blessington and buried with full military funerals on 22 April 1941 at St. Mary’s Church by order of the Irish Government. The Irish Times the day after reported that “During the funeral all shops in Blessington were closed and blinds drawn on windows.” A memorial stone was unveiled at the crash site on 18 April 1991. Modern development Since the turn of the 21st century, Blessington's population has increased substantially, more than doubling from 2,509 at the 2002 census, to 5,010 by the time of the 2011 census. The majority of housing estates were constructed on the western side of the town, off the R410, which is the road to Naas. A new inner bypass has also been opened that alleviates traffic on Main Street to some degree. Infrastructure improvements since 2005 include a playground, fire station, a central retail development, including a Dunnes Stores outlet and a public library (opened in 2006) above it, expansion of a SuperValu supermarket, and addition of an ALDI supermarket. Amenities Pubs The town has a number of pubs, including Hennessy's, Miley's, Murphy's and the West Wicklow House. An event venue by the lakeshore, named The Avon (previously Avon Rí Adventure Centre), is also a licensed premises. The Reid family ran another pub, named Mick Reid's, for several decades before closing in December 2018. A planning application was submitted to Wicklow County Council in 2022, seeking permission to build a veterinary clinic on the site of the pub. St Mary's Church St Mary's Church is situated in Market Square, in the middle of the town. It was built around 1683, having been financed by Archbishop Boyle. While most of the church was rebuilt in the 19th Century, the tower of this old church remains at the west end. The church is well known in the bell-ringing community for housing the oldest complete set of bells in Ireland. The six bells date to 1682 and were cast by James Bartlet, who was the master founder of Whitechapel at that time. The money for these was also given by Archbishop Boyle. They are still rung twice a week, for Sunday morning service and on Saturday nights, for ringing practice. While it holds the oldest peal of change-ringing bells in Ireland, the oldest bells hung for change-ringing in Ireland are found in St Audoen's Church in Dublin city centre. Three of the bells (the 3,