Goresbridge () is a small village located in the east of

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. Goresbridge is named after a 1756 bridge, built by Colonel Ralph Gore, which provides a crossing of the

River Barrow The Barrow ( ga, An Bhearú) is a river in Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers, and at 192 km (120 mi), the second-longest ri ...

between County Kilkenny and

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by ...

in the

South-East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. Located from

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town located on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is located in the centre of Gowran close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course is located one km from ...

on the R702 (

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

−

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

) regional road, and approximately east of Kilkenny. Part of the civil parish is Grangesilvia which is in the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

. King Charles II granted Arthur Gore the townland of Barrowmount. The "''Battle of Goresbridge''" occurred there in June

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of ...

. The 2011 census the population of the census town was 361. The

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kilkenny, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ...

. Goresbridge gives its name to a district electoral division.

History

Goresbridge was located in historic

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...

kingdom of

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

(''Osraige''). Following the Williamite–Jacobite War King Charles II gave grants of land which had been forfeited by the Roman Catholic owners. Arthur Gore obtained a grant of land, the townland of Barrowmount in parish of Grangesilvia, from Charles II, and by the end of the 17th century the

Gore family Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitoul ...

were well established. "''Goresbridge''" was named for the family and the ''New Bridge'' built in 1756 by Colonel Ralph Gore. On the 1846 OSI map of Ireland the village is referred to it as ''Newbridge''.

Gore's Bridge

''Gore's Bridge'' has nine-arch's granite bridge crossing of the

between County Kilkenny and

. Built in 1756 by Colonel Ralph Gore the

Earl of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a separate earldom in the mid 12th ...

. This mid eighteenth-century elegantly-composed landmark was built using unrefined Carlow granite. It represents an important element of civil engineering and transport heritage and formed a vital link between the two counties.

Battle of Goresbridge

The ''Battle of Goresbridge'' occurred during the Irish Rebellion on 23 June 1798 at Gore's Bridge. During the

Wexford Rebellion The Wexford Rebellion refers to the outbreak in County Wexford, Ireland in May 1798 of the Society of United Irishmen's rebellion against the British rule. It was the most successful and most destructive of all the uprisings that occurred throu ...

, and just days

Battle of Vinegar Hill The Battle of Vinegar Hill ('' Irish'': ''Cath Chnoc Fhíodh na gCaor'') was a military engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 between a force of approximately 13,000 government troops under the command of Gerard Lake an ...

, Wexford insurgents attempted to use the Gore's Bridge. The locally stationed Wexford Militia were defeated, they lost their cavalry, twenty eight soldiers were captured, and the rest fled to

. There is a carved granite memorial adjacent to the bridge.

Transport

Goresbridge railway station opened on 26 October 1870, closed for passenger traffic on 26 January 1931 and for goods traffic on 27 January 1947, finally closing altogether on 1 April 1963. Kilbride Coaches services Goresbridge from Graiguenamanagh or Kilkenny twice a day, except Sundays Goresbridge main streets

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * . * {{County Kilkenny Towns and villages in County Kilkenny Census towns in County Kilkenny