Aghavannagh
Encyclopedia
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in the barony of Ballinacor South. It is located on the Military Road
R115 road
The R115 road is a regional road in counties Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland. It follows the Military Road for its entire length. The R115 is long; the full length of the Military Road is...
originally constructed between 1804 and 1809, in the wake of the 1798 rebellion
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
. It is so remote that inhabitants say that Aghavannagh is the last place God made.
Location
The village is situated near the base of the LugnaquillaLugnaquilla
Lugnaquilla or Lugnaquillia, historically called Lugnaculliagh is a mountain in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. It is the highest peak of the Wicklow Mountains range, the highest in the province of Leinster, and the 13th highest peak in Ireland and affectionately known as "Lug".Views, on a...
massif, the highest mountain in eastern Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and within a few miles of Aughrim
Aughrim, County Wicklow
Aughrim is a small town in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies in a scenic valley in the east of Ireland where the Ow and Derry rivers meet to form the Aughrim river...
, Glenmalure
Glenmalure
Glenmalure is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is a u-shaped glacial valley, with only one road leading into it, which connects to the 'Military Road' at the mouth of the valley....
and Tinahely
Tinahely
Tinahely is a village in the barony of Ballinacor South, County Wicklow in Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns.- Location and access :...
to the east and south, and Kiltegan
Kiltegan
Kiltegan is a village in west County Wicklow, Ireland, on the R747 regional road close to the border with County Carlow.The 19th century mansion Humewood House lies just outside of the village...
, Hacketstown
Hacketstown
Hacketstown , historically known as Ballydrohid , is a town in County Carlow, Ireland.It is located on the R747 regional road at its junction with the R727...
and Baltinglass
Baltinglass
Baltinglass or Baltinglas is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road. Its Irish name means "the way of Conglas", Conglas being a member of the mythological warrior collective, the Fianna...
to the west. The area is mainly surrounded by forests and is composed of mountains and mountain land. This fact may indicate an original name in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
as achadh mbeannach whose meaning is hilly field. This mountainous terrain is where the Ow river rises on the southern slopes of Lugnaquilla, flows through a glacial valley and passes the outskirts of the village meeting the Aghavannagh river, which is much smaller and flows through the village, a short distance to the south.
One of the earliest references to the place is in 1623 to "Aghavanny" in the Calendar of Patent Rolls
Patent Rolls
The Patent Rolls are primary sources for English history, a record of the King of England's correspondence, starting in 1202....
of James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, followed by five other 17th century references with three different spellings of "Aghamanagh", "Aghamannagh" "Aghavannagh", and lastly "Aghavanagh" on A.R. Neville's Map of Co. Wicklow dated c 1810.
There is no commercial centre to the village that only comprises residences and a school (on map— no longer in use). Between 1896 and 1899 a sub-post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was opened in Aghavannagh under the nearby post town
Post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system. Including the correct post town in the address increases the chances of a letter or parcel being delivered on time. Post towns are usually based upon the location of...
of Aughrim but this was already closed by 1909.
Military barracks
Aghavannagh Barrack, along with similar structures in GlencreeGlencree
Glencree is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is the second closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first being Glencullen. The river Dargle flows down the valley, which rises to a height of abut 400 metres...
, Laragh
Laragh
-Villages in Ireland:* Laragh, County Wicklow* Laragh, County Cavan* Laragh, County Monaghan...
and Glenmalure
Glenmalure
Glenmalure is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is a u-shaped glacial valley, with only one road leading into it, which connects to the 'Military Road' at the mouth of the valley....
, was one of a series of barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
built along the route of the military road, to house British forces and give them access to the Wicklow Mountains
Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into Counties Carlow, Wexford and Dublin. Where the mountains extend into County Dublin, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains...
where many 1798 rebels, such as Michael Dwyer
Michael Dwyer
Michael Dwyer was a Society of the United Irishmen leader in the 1798 rebellion. He later fought a guerilla campaign against the British Army in the Wicklow Mountains from 1798-1803.-Early life:...
, sought refuge. The property came into the ownership of Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
's grandfather after the British War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
vacated it in 1825 because he was the ground landlord and was used by him as a hunting lodge. The Parnell family shared the building with up to 50 men of the Irish Constabulary. Several of the outhouses were totally ruined at this time. Upon Parnell's death, John Redmond
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
bought the barracks.
Later, An Óige
An Óige
An Óige , or the Irish Youth Hostel Association is the Hostelling International's association for the Republic Of Ireland....
ran the building as a youth hostel for several years before acquiring ownership in 1944. They closed it in 1998 when a tower of the structure was declared unstable by engineers. Síle de Valera
Síle de Valera
Síle de Valera , is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. She was first elected a Teachta Dála in 1977 serving as a member of Dáil Éireann until 1981, and then again from 1987 to 2007, as well as being a Member of the European Parliament for Dublin from 1979 to 1984...
, then Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is a senior minister at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is Frances Fitzgerald, TD.-Overview:...
, answered a question in the Dáil
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
whether the property would be acquired by the government as a heritage building saying that Dúchas
Dúchas
Dúchas – The Heritage Service was the Irish State body responsible for national monuments and historic properties. It was established under the Heritage Act 1995 and took over responsibility for the management of national parks and wildlife from the Office of Public Works...
, the heritage service of the department, did not have the resources to protect or preserve the building.
External links
- The County Wicklow Military Road Greystones Archaeological & Historical Society: Journal: Volume 4