Kilcoole
Irish: Cill Chomhghaill
Town
Pump in the centre of Kilcoole
Pump in the centre of Kilcoole
Kilcoole is located in Ireland
Kilcoole
Kilcoole
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°06′23″N 6°03′52″W / 53.1063°N 6.0645°W / 53.1063; -6.0645
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Wicklow
Elevation
8 m (26 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
4,239
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceO293080

Kilcoole (Irish: Cill Chomhghaill, meaning 'church of Comhghall')[2][3] is a town in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of Greystones, 14 kilometres (9 mi) north of Wicklow, and about 28 kilometres (20 mi) south of Dublin. It was used as a filming location for the Irish television series Glenroe, which ran through the 1980s and 1990s.

The town has a large industrial estate to the south. An area of marshland runs along the coast from Kilcoole south to Wicklow town, called the Murragh. This area is home to many endangered species of plants and animals. The nearby beach is the summertime home of the little tern, one of the few places in Ireland where these birds nest. Within Kilcoole, is an area of flora known as the Rock which is a huge rock/hill that predates the Cambrian Period.

Kilcoole is in the Roman Catholic parish of Kilquade and the local church, St. Anthony's Church, was opened in 1968.[4]

History

Kilcoole Church, a protected national monument, dates to the 12th century

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of fulacht fiadh, bullaun and holy well sites in the townlands of Kilcoole, Kilquade and Ballycrone.[5] Kilcoole Church, close to the centre of Kilcoole, is reputed to date to the 12th century and is a protected national monument.[6][7]

Next to Kilcoole railway station (built c. 1855)[3] is a monument commemorating the landing of 600 rifles and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers on board the Chotah by Sir Thomas Myles in August 1914. It is eclipsed by accounts of the contemporary landing of Volunteer's arms at Howth on board the Asgard.[8] On 1 August 1914, 600 Mauser rifles and 20,000 rounds of ammunition were landed at the beach in Kilcoole. The arms and ammunition was smuggled using Myles's boat during the night.[9] When the arms were landed they were removed on bicycles and in vehicles by volunteers.[10] The arms were taken to Patrick Pearse's school, St Enda's, in Rathfarnham, County Dublin.[11]

Education

Coláiste Chraobh Abhann is a community secondary college, located on the southern outskirts of Kilcoole, which opened in 2003.[12]

Kilcoole Primary School formerly consisted of Saint Anthony's Boys' National School and Saint Brigids Girls' National School, which were amalgamated in 2010.[13] Junior students are now taught in the building formerly occupied by Saint Brigid's and the Saint Anthony's building accommodates pupils in the latter half of primary schooling.

Demographics

Kilcoole in 2017

Kilcoole, which is classified by Wicklow County Council as a "small growth town" for administration and planning purposes,[14] had a population of 4,239 as of the 2016 census.[1] This marked a 60% increase (from 2,694 people) in the 20 years since the 1996 census.[15]

Sports

Athletics

Kilcoole Athletics Club was founded in 1970.[16] Its members have represented Ireland at various levels, including at the Olympic Games.[16] Kilcoole AC athletes have set national, provincial, intervarsity and school records in cross country and javelin events. The club holds one of the longest-standing athletics records when a ladies' team set the provincial (Leinster) record for the 4 × 400 m relay in 1987.

The National Cross Country Championships were hosted in the area three times; in 1975, 1979 and 1997. The venue for the first two events was Fox's Field on Cooldross Lane (the Holywell Crescent road cuts through where the finishing line was situated). On the third occasion the venue was Druids Glen Golf Resort.

Golf

Druids Glen Golf Resort, which hosted the Irish open from 1996 to 1999 as well as the National Cross Country Athletics Championships in 1997, is located less than one kilometre (1000m) from Kilcoole, on the Newtownmountkennedy road.[17] Kilcoole Golf Course, a nine-hole parkland course, is also nearby.[18] Druids Heath Golf Course, another championship course, is also located in Druids Glen.

Soccer

Saint Anthony's Football Club provides football for boys and girls from age six upwards. Almost 300 members make up their competing teams from under eight through under eighteen and adult.[19]

Gaelic games

Kilcoole GAA fields teams in both hurling and Gaelic football, with representation for both men and women at junior and juvenile levels.[20]

Transport

Dublin Bus provides a limited service between Kilcoole and Dublin on its 84X bus route,[21] with a journey time of about 80 minutes. The service on the number 84 bus route terminates at Blackrock.[22]

Iarnród Éireann has a station at the beach; Kilcoole railway station opened on 30 October 1855.[23] There are limited train services along this line. On weekdays the mainline train stops twice in the early morning in the Dublin direction and three times in the late afternoon/early evening in the Rosslare direction. However, from December 2022, all trains on the weekend which run through the station stop at Kilcoole. This means that, on Saturdays, there will be 4 trains northbound and 3 southbound, and on Sundays, 3 trains in each direction. A more regular DART (Electric train) service runs from Greystones to Dublin city centre and beyond to Howth and Malahide.

Music

Several bands, including punk and post-rock bands, have been based in Kilcoole.[24] Acts associated with the area include Adebisi Shank,[24] Enemies,[25] and Heathers.[24] The Hive Recording Studio is also situated in Kilcoole.[26]

The Kilcoole Music Festival is an annual festival started in 1955 by the then district nurse, Mary Kiernan, who saw a need to help the area's children develop their talents. The festival awards individuals in over 50 classes ranging from vocal solos to orchestras, and flute to rock guitar.[27]

Kilcoole was the setting for the long-running popular soap-opera Glenroe,[28] which ran from 1983 until 2001 and was broadcast on RTÉ One television. The farm on which it was based is now an open farm and hosts events annually. Kilcoole was also used as a setting for scenes in the comedy series Moone Boy.[29]

People

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Sapmap Area - Settlement - Kilcoole". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Cill Chomhghaill / Kilcoole". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "History". kilcoole.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "The History of St. Anthony's Church". gkpastoralarea.ie. Parishes of Greystones and Kilquade. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow. Dublin: Government Stationery Office. 1997.
  6. ↑ "Church of St Comgall - Kilcoole, County Wicklow". kilcoole.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship - Wicklow" (PDF). archaeology.ie. National Monuments Service. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Limerick’s Forgotten Son by Padraig ´Óg de Bhaldraithe pp12-14
  9. ↑ "Shroud of secrecy as guns for Rising land in Kilcoole". Independent.ie. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Equally audacious: the Kilcoole gun-running". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "Kilcoole gun-running commemoration focuses on diversity". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Whole School Evaluation Report - Coláiste Chraobh Abhann, Kilcoole, County Wicklow". gov.ie. Department of Education. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2023. Coláiste Chraobh Abhann is a co-educational multi-denominational post-primary school [..] established in 2003 on a green-field site
  13. ↑ "Welcome to Kilcoole Primary School". kilcooleprimaryschool.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2023. Kilcoole Primary School was established in 2010 following the amalgamation of St. Anthony's BNS and St. Brigid's GNS
  14. ↑ Chapter 3 - Settlement Strategy (PDF). Wicklow County Development Plan 2016‐2022 (Report). Wicklow County Council. p. 11. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "Kilcoole (Ireland) Census Town". City Population. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Celebrating 50 years of Kilcoole A.C." Wicklow People. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "5 Star Hotels In Wicklow - Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort Wicklow | Wicklow Hotels". druidsglen.ie. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Kilcoole Golf Club – "A Little Gem"". kilcoolegolfclub.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  19. ↑ "Saint Anthony's Football Club". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Kilcoole GAA Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ "Transportation". kilcoole.ie. 13 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "Timetables - 84/a". dublinbus.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  23. ↑ "Kilcoole station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  24. 1 2 3 "It's the best of Enemies". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2023. This punk scene in tiny little Kilcoole spawned bands like Heathers and Adebisi Shank
  25. ↑ "Enemies - Kilcoole, Ireland - Audiotrip.me". audiotrip.me. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  26. ↑ "The Hive Studios - About The Hive". thehivestudios.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  27. ↑ "Kilcoole Music Festival Overview". kilcoolemusicfestival.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  28. ↑ "Kilcoole". visitwicklow.ie. Wicklow County Tourism Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  29. ↑ "Wicklow's heritage in movies". Wicklow People. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2023. Moone Boy [..] was partly made in Kilcoole
  30. ↑ "McCormacks Masterclass in the 5000m". athleticsireland.ie. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  31. ↑ "The Elaine Cassidy Site - About". elainecassidy.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018.
  32. ↑ "The History of the Ginger Man: An Autobiography - The Lilliput Press". lilliputpress.ie. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  33. ↑ "CCA School News 27 May 2022". Coláiste Chraobh Abhann. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
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