Watergrasshill () is a village in north east

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

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 ...

. Watergrasshill is within the Cork North-Central Dáil constituency. Bypassed in 2003, the village is situated on the

R639 road The R639 road is one of Ireland's regional roads. Once designated the N8 national primary road (and before that some fractions were designated as the T6 and others as the T9), it was reclassified in stages as the R639 following the progress ...

and accessible via junction 17 of the M8 motorway. The 2016 census recorded a population of 1,346.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon d ...

, and

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 ...

sites in the surrounding

townlands 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 Bishop's Island and Tinageragh. The

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 of the Immaculate Conception' was completed in 1895. The

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 in the village was built . This church was deconsecrated in 1990 and has since been used as an arts venue. The

National Ploughing Championships The National Ploughing Championships ( ga, Comórtas Náisiúnta Treabhdóireachta) or NPC, previously known as The National Ploughing Championships Machinery & Livestock Exhibition, is an outdoor agricultural show in Ireland incorporating a p ...

were held in the Watergrasshill area in 1974 and 1979.

Demographics

According to ''

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland Samuel Lewis (c. 1782 – 1865) was the editor and publisher of topographical dictionaries and maps of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The aim of the texts was to give in 'a condensed form', a faithful and impartial description ...

'', published by Samuel Lewis in 1837, Watergrasshill then had a population of 533 people. The village is located within the commuter area of

Cork city Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

, and in the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 census, the population of Watergrasshill grew more than five-fold, from 252 to 1,346 people.

Amenities and sport

Watergrasshill and its hinterland are serviced by a number of amenities, shops, bars, restaurants and a primary (national) school. As of 2018, there were approximately 370 pupils enrolled in Watergrasshill National School. The area is home to Watergrasshill GAA (hurling) club, Watergrasshill United soccer club and Watergrasshill Athletics Club.

References

Towns and villages in County Cork {{Cork-geo-stub

History

Demographics

Amenities and sport

See also

References