Clonegal, officially Clonegall ( ; ), is a village in the southeast of

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

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 is in a rural setting, close to the border between counties Wexford and Carlow, 5 km from

Bunclody Bunclody (), formerly Newtownbarry (until 1950), is a small town on the River Slaney in Wexford, Ireland. It is located near the foot of Mount Leinster. Most of the town is in County Wexford; a small area at the north end of town is in Count ...

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 ...

and 22 km from Carlow town. It is just over a mile north of where the

River Slaney The River Slaney () is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), bef ...

and the

River Derry The River Derry () is a large river in the southeast of Leinster, Ireland, a tributary of the Slaney. It rises just south of Hacketstown, County Carlow, Ireland. It flows southeast to Tinahely, being accompanied by the R747 regional ro ...

meet. Clonegal has a much smaller "twin" village across the

Watch House Village Watch House Village is a small village in County Wexford, Ireland, on the River Derry. It is a twin village of the much larger Clonegal in County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East R ...

. The village is served by a primary school, and is the center of an agricultural hinterland.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

bullaun stone A bullaun ( ga, bullán; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French ''bol'') is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun. The size of the bullaun is high ...

and

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...

sites in the surrounding

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 ...

s of Clonegall, Abbeydown and Huntington.

Huntington Castle Huntington Castle was situated in the village of Huntington in Herefordshire, England, 2½ miles south-west of Kington (). Natural Site The castle is sited on a commanding position on the modern day England Wales border in what was the ...

, also known as Clonegal Castle, is a 17th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

close to the village centre. Built by

Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde Sir Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde (1570?–1646), was an Irish peer who held office as governor of the fort of Duncannon in County Wexford. He was a leading Irish Royalist commander in the English Civil War, but was later suspected of disloya ...

on the site of an earlier (possibly 15th century) structure, Huntington Castle was further extended in the 18th and 19th centuries. Clonegal's

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

church, St Fiaac's, was built on the site of a much earlier church and ecclesiastical enclosure. The nearby rectory, now a private house, was the residence of the local

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

commander during the 1798 Rebellion, and several

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

prisoners were reputedly hanged in a neighbouring yard at what is now known locally as the "Hanging Arch". The local

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church, St Brigid's, was built . There were once eleven malt houses in and around the village, along with a wool and corn store, a police station and other shops. Clonegal won the "tidiest village" category in the 2014 and 2015 National Tidy Towns competitions.

Demographics

According to the 2006 Census, Clonegal had a population of approximately 280, an increase of 20% since the 2002 Census. As of 2016, the population was 278.

Notable people

* Peter Murphy, radio and television broadcaster, is from the area. * Patrick O'Donoghue, the 19th century

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

revolutionary and journalist.

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Carlow

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References