Kilcoole

Kilcoole
Cill Chomhghaill
Village
Kilcoole
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°06′23″N 6°03′52″W / 53.1063°N 6.0645°W / 53.1063; -6.0645Coordinates: 53°06′23″N 6°03′52″W / 53.1063°N 6.0645°W / 53.1063; -6.0645
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County County Wicklow
Elevation 8 m (26 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Urban 4,049
Time zone UTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference O293080
Kilcoole, 2017

Kilcoole (Irish: Cill Chomhghaill, meaning "Church of Comhghall") is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is three kilometres south of Greystones, 14 kilometres north of Wicklow, and about 28 kilometres south of Dublin. It was used as the set for the Irish television series Glenroe, which ran through the 1980s and 1990s.

The village 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 plant and animal. The beach in Kilcoole is the summertime home of the little tern, one of the few places in Ireland where these birds nest. Within the village, 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, cost £35,000 to build.

Education

Coláiste Chraobh Abhann is the community secondary college, located on the southern outskirts of the village of Kilcoole. It currently numbers 700 students from Kilcoole, Newtownmountkennedy, Delgany and Greystones. Opened in September 2003, the college held its first state examinations in June 2006.

Kilcoole Primary School formerly consisted of Saint Anthony's Boys' National School and Saint Brigids Girls' National School, which were amalgamated in 2010. 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.

Sports

Athletics

Kilcoole Athletics Club has enjoyed great success since its founding in 1970. Its members have represented and captained Ireland at all levels up to and including Olympic Games. In particular Kilcoole AC athletes have excelled in Cross Country and Javelin events and many have set and still hold national, provincial, intervarsity and schools records. 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 have been hosted in the village 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. This was immediately prior to the construction of the Druids Heath course. The finish line for this event was situated where the 12th Fairway is currently.

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 a kilometre from Kilcoole, on the Newtownmountkennedy road.[2] Kilcoole Golf Course, a nine-hole parkland course, is also located near the village. It benefits from excellent drainage, allowing for year-round golf. As a result, the need for temporary surfaces over the winter period is never encountered. It is largely flat but nonetheless challenging due to the course design.[3] 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. The club runs a development squad for beginners with up to 30 players.[4]

Gaelic games

Kilcoole GAA has a long tradition in the community of Kilcoole for both hurling and Gaelic football, fielding teams for both men and women at junior and juvenile levels.[5]

Transport

Dublin Bus only provides a service between Kilcoole and Dublin on its very infrequent 84X bus route, with a journey time of about 80 minutes; the 84 bus terminates at Blackrock. Iarnród Éireann has a station at the beach; Kilcoole railway station opened on 30 October 1855.[6] 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. A more regular DART (Electric train) service runs from Greystones to Dublin city centre and beyond to Howth and Malahide.

History

Next to the railway station 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.[7] On 1 August 1914, 600 Mauser rifles and 20,000 rounds of ammunition was landed at the beach in Kilcoole.

The arms and ammunition was smuggled using Thomas Myles's boat The Chotah during the night.[8] When the arms were landed they were removed on bicycles and in vehicles by volunteers.[9] The arms were taken to Patrick Pearse's school, St Enda's, in Rathfarnham, County Dublin.[10]

Music

Kilcoole has acted as a musical hub over the past 15 years, for bands in punk and post-rock. Acts included Adebisi Shank, Heathers (band), the Brian Meakin Band, Kidd Blunt, Enemies, Croupier and Foot in Mouth.[11] These bands have experienced success, not only in Ireland, but also abroad [12] and become household names in the Irish music scene. More recently a new collective named 'Boosegank' has emerged bringing together younger bands from the Kilcoole area such as Birds, Jack Latin and Doxy.

The Hive recording Studio is situated in Kilcoole and is run by Eoin Whitfield from Enemies and James Eager, ex-Kidd Blunt. A home of Irish DIY music it is often praised for producing all good Irish punk records. It has also recorded for Adebisi Shank, Enemies, Heathers, Bacchus and many others.

The Kilcoole Music Festival is an annual festival and is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. It was started in 1955 by the then District Nurse, Ms. Mary Kiernan, who saw a need to help the children of the area develop their many talents. To this day the festival continues, awarding individuals in over 50 classes ranging from vocal solos to orchestras, flutes to rock guitar and much more.[13]

People

  • Actress Elaine Cassidy was born in Kilcoole. Cassidy's claim to fame was in her appearance in the film The Others and also starring as the lead in the television show Harper's Island. She attended St Brigid's National School in Kilcoole.
  • Tenor singer Josef Locke lived at Calary House on Sea Road.
  • Athlete Fionnuala Britton who has represented Ireland internationally is a member of Kilcoole Athletic Club.
  • Writer J. P. Donleavy wrote his debut novel The Ginger Man while living in the village.[14]

In the media

Kilcoole was the setting for the long-running hit TV show Glenroe, running from 1983 until 2001, which was broadcast on RTÉ One. At its height, it had over one million viewers, making it one of the most watched programmes on Irish television. The farm on which it was based is now an open farm, which hosts festive events yearly, as well as being a popular tourist spot all year round.

In more recent times, Kilcoole has been the setting for scenes in the comedy series Moone Boy and Damo and Ivor.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kilcoole Legal Town Results". Central Statistics Office. 2011.
  2. ↑ "5 Star Hotels In Wicklow - Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort Wicklow | Wicklow Hotels". druidsglen.ie. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  3. ↑ "Kilcoole Golf Club – "A Little Gem"". kilcoolegolfclub.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  4. ↑ "Saint Anthony's Football Club". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  5. ↑ Kilcoole GAA Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "Kilcoole station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  7. ↑ Limerick’s Forgotten Son by Padraig ´Óg de Bhaldraithe pp12-14
  8. ↑ "Shroud of secrecy as guns for Rising land in Kilcoole". Independent.ie. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Equally audacious: the Kilcoole gun-running". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Kilcoole gun-running commemoration focuses on diversity". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "29th kilcoole gig 4e for 9 bands". thumped.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Enemies - Kilcoole, Ireland - Audiotrip.me". audiotrip.me. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  13. ↑ "Kilcoole Music Festival Overview". kilcoolemusicfestival.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  14. ↑ "The History of the Ginger Man: An Autobiography - The Lilliput Press". lilliputpress.ie. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
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