Killurin () is a 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 on the R730 regional road. Sited along the banks of the River Slaney, it is approximately 10 kilometres north-west of Wexford town.

History

Castle

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle was built at the Deeps (Crossabeg) on the edge of the River Slaney in the 14th or 15th century. This castle, called the Deeps Castle, although now in ruins, is notable as one of the few remaining examples of a tower house of its kind. Forty years after Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Wexford, William of Orange fought and defeated the troops of his brother-in law,

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Afterwards James is said to have stayed in hiding at the Deeps Castle. The castle itself has since fallen into disrepair. The main chimney in the south wall collapsed into the building, weakening the entire structure and altering the distinctive skyline of the area. The Deeps Castle is not actually located in Killurin, but in the parish of Crossabeg, adjacent to the parish boundary offered by the River Slaney. The nearby County Landfill is usually called the Killurin Landfill, in order to avoid confusion, as it is located closer to Killurin than it is to Crossabeg village itself.

Archaeology

In the 1950s, an ancient urn and other artifacts were discovered in a sandpit which spanned the Laffan-Freeman farm. The urn is now preserved in the National Museum. The sandpit, in which these finds were made, was the source of the sand which built many of County Wexford's schools in the 1940s and 1950s.

Railway

The Dublin-Wexford-Rosslare railway line runs through Killurin along the west bank of the River Slaney. During the years of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

in the 1920s, the railway was frequently the target of the local IRA unit, the Kyle Flying Column. Several trains were derailed and rolling stock was destroyed during attempts to disrupt the communication between Dublin and Wexford.

Transport

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 382 serves Killurin on Fridays, linking it to Wexford town.

References