Blackwater () is a rural village in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies mostly within the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

of Ballynaglogh () on the R742 regional road north of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

town.

Transport

Michael Gray operates a route linking the village with

Mondays to Fridays inclusive

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

route 379 serves the village on Mondays and Saturdays only linking it to

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''. As a growi ...

and intermediate locations such as

Courtown Harbour Courtown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It was developed after Lord Courtown ordered the construction of a harbour during the Famine years, 1839–1846. The economic boost of the new harbour led to a small village developing with ...

Amenities

The village has three pubs, Corrigan's, the Blackwater Lodge (which is also a hotel), and Whelan's. It also has a video arcade, a number of supermarkets, a large second-hand furniture store, and a clothes alterations shop. In the 10 years between the 2006 and 2016 census, the population of the village increased from 173 to 339 people. Blackwater has competed in "category B" (places with populations of between 201 and 1000 people) in the national Tidy Towns competition. Blackwater is close to Ballyconnigar beach, a site with one of the highest levels of erosion in the area, due to tidal forces. The stretch of beach from Ballyconnigar to Ballynaclash is used for bathing, walking and fishing. Species of fish encountered around this area include bullhuss, smoothhound, tope, bass, ray, codling, eels, and flounder. Other nearby beaches include Curracloe strand and Ballinesker beach, where the opening scene of the film "

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depictio ...

" was filmed. Blackwater also has a mobile-home holiday park called 'Abhainn Dubh Mobile home and Leisure Park' which has been open since 1993.

Sports

The local GAA team is St. Brigid's Blackwater, established in 1885. The

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

team play in the Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship. The

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

team won the 2009 Wexford Junior Championship. Blackwater has a par 3 golf course which is located outside of the village between Blackwater and Kilmuckridge. The golf course itself was opened in July 1993 although Blackwater Golf Society had its first outing in 1991. Blackwater Golf Course also has a

FootGolf Footgolf is a sport in which players kick a football into a cup in as few shots as possible. The name is a portmanteau of association football and golf, and the game combines the two sports, being more closely related to golf. Rules The game ...

course.

In popular culture

Blackwater served as a setting of Mary Kay Tuberty's 2015 novel ''Keeper of Coin''.

Notable people

* Michael Cash, stonemason *

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

, writer, holidayed here as a child and has a holiday home nearby.

References

External links

Blackwater GAA

{{County Wexford Towns and villages in County Wexford