Wicklow
Encyclopedia
Wicklow) is the county town
of County Wicklow
in Ireland
. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford
. Wicklow is also connected to the rail network
, with Dublin commuter services now extending to the town. Additional services connect with Arklow
, Wexford and Rosslare Europort
, a main ferry port. There is also a commercial port, mainly importing timber and textiles.
The Swedish toponymist Magne Oftedal criticises the usual explanation : Old Norse
Vikingr "Viking" or male's name Viking and Old Norse ló "meadow", that is to say « The Vikings'meadow » or « Viking's meadow »
He notices that -lo was never used outside Norway (cf. Oslo
) and Scandinavia. Furthermore, this word is almost never combined with a male's name or a general word meaning "a category of person". Moreover, "Viking" never appears in toponymic records. For him, the first element can be explained as Uikar- or Uik- "bay" in Old Norse and the intermediate N of the old forms is a mistake by the clerks.
However, all recorded forms show this N. That is the reason why Liam Price
says it is probably a Norwegian place-name and A. Sommerfelt gives it as a former Vikinga-ló et understands it as "the Vikings' meadow". Nevertheless, the Irish patronimics Ó hUiginn et Mac Uiginn (English O'Higgins et Maguigan) could bring a key for the meaning "Meadow of a man called Viking".
Wykinglo was the usual name used by the Viking sailors and the traders who travelled around the Anglo-Scandinavian world. De facto, the Normans
and the Anglo-Normans who conquered Ireland, only knew this name, that became finally the most popular one. The Normans, who invaded and came to dominate the area, preferred the non-Gaelic
place-name. Although the anglicised
name Kilmantan was used for a time, it gradually fell out of use.
The origin of the Irish
name Cill Mhantáin bears no relation to the name Wicklow. It has an interesting folklore of its own. Saint Patrick
and some followers are said to have tried to land on Travailahawk beach, to the south of the harbour. Hostile locals attacked them, causing one of Patrick's party to lose his front teeth. Manntach (toothless one), as he became known, was undeterred and returned to the town, eventually founding a church. Hence Cill Mhantáin, meaning "church of the toothless one". However there is no evidence, material or written, for the existence of such a local holy man.
Local history contends that the town of Wicklow was founded by the Viking
s, probably around 795 AD. However, given the area's natural harbour and fertile hinterland, it is likely that a small settlement existed before the Vikings landed.
The Norman influence can still be seen today in some of the town's place and family names. After the Norman invasion
, Wicklow was granted to Maurice FitzGerald
who set about building the 'Black Castle', a land-facing fortification that lies ruined on the coast immediately south of the harbour. The castle was briefly held by the local O'Byrne, the O'Toole and Kavanagh clans in the uprising of 1641
but was quickly abandoned when English troops approached the town. Sir Charles Coote, who led the troops is then recorded as engaging in "savage and indiscriminate" slaughter of the townspeople in an act of revenge. Local oral history contends that one of these acts of "wanton cruelty" was the entrapment and deliberate burning to death of an unknown number of people in a building in the town. Though no written account of this particular detail of Coote's attack on Wicklow is available, a small laneway, locally referred to as "Melancholy Lane", is said to have been where this event took place.
Though the surrounding County of Wicklow
is rich in bronze age
monuments, the oldest surviving settlement in the town is the Franciscan
Abbey (ruined). This is located at the west end of Main Street, within the gardens of the local Roman Catholic parish grounds. Other notable buildings include the Town Hall and the Gaol
, built in 1702 and recently renovated as a heritage centre and tourist attraction. The East Breakwater, arguably the most important building in the town, was built in the early 1880s by Wicklow Harbour Commissioners. The architect was William George Strype and the builder was John Jackson of Westminster. The North Groyne
was completed by about 1909 - John Pansing was the designer and Louis Nott of Bristol the builder. The Gaol was a place of execution
up to the end of the 19th century and it was here that Billy Byrne, a leader of the 1798 rebellion
, met his end in 1799. He is commemorated by a statue in the town square. The gaol closed in 1924 and is today a tourist attraction with living displays and exhibits.
At Fitzwilliam Square in the centre of Wicklow town is an obelisk commemorating the career of Captain Robert Halpin
, commander of the telegraph cable ship Great Eastern
, who was born in Wicklow in 1836.
', the easternmost mainland point of the Republic of Ireland.
Since 1995, the town has undergone significant change and expansion reflecting the simultaneous growth in the Irish economy
. Considerable residential development has taken place to the west of the town along Marlton Road (R751). More recently, housing developments have been concentrated to the northwest of the town towards the neighbouring village of Rathnew
. The completion of the Ashford
/Rathnew bypass in 2004 has meant that Wicklow is now linked to the capital, Dublin, lying 42 km to the north, by dual carriageway and motorway. These factors have led to a steady growth in population of Wicklow and its surrounding townlands while its importance as a commuter town
to Dublin increases.
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of County Wicklow
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...
in 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,...
. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
. Wicklow is also connected to the rail network
Rail transport in Ireland
Rail services in Ireland are provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin...
, with Dublin commuter services now extending to the town. Additional services connect with Arklow
Arklow
Arklow , also known as Inbhear Dé from the Avonmore river's older name Abhainn Dé, is a historic town located in County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland. Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century, Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion...
, Wexford and Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....
, a main ferry port. There is also a commercial port, mainly importing timber and textiles.
Toponymy
Old mentions : Wykinglo in 1173, Wygingelow in 1185, Wykinglo in 1192, Wykinglowe in 1355.The Swedish toponymist Magne Oftedal criticises the usual explanation : Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Vikingr "Viking" or male's name Viking and Old Norse ló "meadow", that is to say « The Vikings'meadow » or « Viking's meadow »
He notices that -lo was never used outside Norway (cf. Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
) and Scandinavia. Furthermore, this word is almost never combined with a male's name or a general word meaning "a category of person". Moreover, "Viking" never appears in toponymic records. For him, the first element can be explained as Uikar- or Uik- "bay" in Old Norse and the intermediate N of the old forms is a mistake by the clerks.
However, all recorded forms show this N. That is the reason why Liam Price
Liam Price
Liam Price was a County Wicklow judge, historian and former president of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland who published work on historical topography and the history of placenames, especially for the county of Wicklow, where he was a district justice...
says it is probably a Norwegian place-name and A. Sommerfelt gives it as a former Vikinga-ló et understands it as "the Vikings' meadow". Nevertheless, the Irish patronimics Ó hUiginn et Mac Uiginn (English O'Higgins et Maguigan) could bring a key for the meaning "Meadow of a man called Viking".
Wykinglo was the usual name used by the Viking sailors and the traders who travelled around the Anglo-Scandinavian world. De facto, the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
and the Anglo-Normans who conquered Ireland, only knew this name, that became finally the most popular one. The Normans, who invaded and came to dominate the area, preferred the non-Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
place-name. Although the anglicised
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
name Kilmantan was used for a time, it gradually fell out of use.
The origin of the 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...
name Cill Mhantáin bears no relation to the name Wicklow. It has an interesting folklore of its own. Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
and some followers are said to have tried to land on Travailahawk beach, to the south of the harbour. Hostile locals attacked them, causing one of Patrick's party to lose his front teeth. Manntach (toothless one), as he became known, was undeterred and returned to the town, eventually founding a church. Hence Cill Mhantáin, meaning "church of the toothless one". However there is no evidence, material or written, for the existence of such a local holy man.
History
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s, probably around 795 AD. However, given the area's natural harbour and fertile hinterland, it is likely that a small settlement existed before the Vikings landed.
The Norman influence can still be seen today in some of the town's place and family names. After the Norman invasion
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
, Wicklow was granted to Maurice FitzGerald
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan) was a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland....
who set about building the 'Black Castle', a land-facing fortification that lies ruined on the coast immediately south of the harbour. The castle was briefly held by the local O'Byrne, the O'Toole and Kavanagh clans in the uprising of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
but was quickly abandoned when English troops approached the town. Sir Charles Coote, who led the troops is then recorded as engaging in "savage and indiscriminate" slaughter of the townspeople in an act of revenge. Local oral history contends that one of these acts of "wanton cruelty" was the entrapment and deliberate burning to death of an unknown number of people in a building in the town. Though no written account of this particular detail of Coote's attack on Wicklow is available, a small laneway, locally referred to as "Melancholy Lane", is said to have been where this event took place.
Though the surrounding County of Wicklow
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...
is rich in bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
monuments, the oldest surviving settlement in the town is the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Abbey (ruined). This is located at the west end of Main Street, within the gardens of the local Roman Catholic parish grounds. Other notable buildings include the Town Hall and the Gaol
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
, built in 1702 and recently renovated as a heritage centre and tourist attraction. The East Breakwater, arguably the most important building in the town, was built in the early 1880s by Wicklow Harbour Commissioners. The architect was William George Strype and the builder was John Jackson of Westminster. The North Groyne
Groyne
A groyne is a rigid hydraulic structure built from an ocean shore or from a bank that interrupts water flow and limits the movement of sediment. In the ocean, groynes create beaches, or avoid having them washed away by longshore drift. In a river, groynes prevent erosion and ice-jamming, which...
was completed by about 1909 - John Pansing was the designer and Louis Nott of Bristol the builder. The Gaol was a place of execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
up to the end of the 19th century and it was here that Billy Byrne, a leader 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...
, met his end in 1799. He is commemorated by a statue in the town square. The gaol closed in 1924 and is today a tourist attraction with living displays and exhibits.
At Fitzwilliam Square in the centre of Wicklow town is an obelisk commemorating the career of Captain Robert Halpin
Robert Halpin
Robert Charles Halpin, Master Mariner, born 16 February 1836 at the Bridge Tavern Wicklow, Ireland – 20 January 1894 and died at Tinakilly, Wicklow. He captained the Brunel-designed leviathan SS Great Eastern which laid transoceanic telegraph cables in the late 19th century. He was, arguably, one...
, commander of the telegraph cable ship Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...
, who was born in Wicklow in 1836.
Geography
Wicklow town forms a rough semicircle around Wicklow harbour. To the immediate north lies 'The Murrough', a popular grassy walking area beside the sea, and the eastern coastal strip. The Murrough is a place of growing commercial use, so much so that a road by-passing the Town directly to the commercial part of the area commenced construction in 2008 and was completed in summer of 2010. The land rises into rolling hills to the west. The dominant feature to the south is the rocky headlands of Bride's Head and 'Wicklow HeadWicklow Head
Wicklow Head is a headland near the southeast edge of the town of Wicklow in County Wicklow, approximately 3 km from the centre of the town.Geographically, it is the easternmost point on the mainland of the Republic of Ireland.-See also:...
', the easternmost mainland point of the Republic of Ireland.
Economy
Celtic Tiger
Celtic Tiger is a term used to describe the economy of Ireland during a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007. The expansion underwent a dramatic reversal from 2008, with GDP contracting by 14% and unemployment levels rising to 14% by 2010...
. Considerable residential development has taken place to the west of the town along Marlton Road (R751). More recently, housing developments have been concentrated to the northwest of the town towards the neighbouring village of Rathnew
Rathnew
Rathnew is a village of County Wicklow, Ireland. Located south of the capital Dublin along the N11 between Dublin and Wexford, it is the exit point for those wishing to visit the county town of Wicklow, situated to the East.-Education:...
. The completion of the Ashford
Ashford, County Wicklow
Ashford , historically known as Ballymacahara , is a village County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. It lies on the R772 regional road. The Vartry River flows under the road in the village centre...
/Rathnew bypass in 2004 has meant that Wicklow is now linked to the capital, Dublin, lying 42 km to the north, by dual carriageway and motorway. These factors have led to a steady growth in population of Wicklow and its surrounding townlands while its importance as a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
to Dublin increases.
See also
- County WicklowCounty WicklowCounty 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...
- List of towns and villages in Ireland