Kilmacanogue ()Placenames Database of Ireland /ref> is a village in north County Wicklow, Ireland.
Location and transport
The village lies on the junction of the
R755 road
The R755 road is a regional road in Ireland. It runs for its entire length in County Wicklow. From the village of Kilmacanogue on the N11 national primary road it goes north/south for to the town of Rathdrum.
Route
From the N11 it goes wes ...
to
Roundwood
Roundwood, historically known as Tóchar ( ga, an Tóchar , meaning 'the causeway'), is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was listed as having a population of 948 in the 2016 census.
Geography
Roundwood is located where the R755 roa ...
Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. ...
, near the Glen of the Downs.
Two small streams join in Kilmacanogue, behind the old Post Office (Donnelly's), to form the Kilmacanogue River, which flows into the
River Dargle
The River Dargle () is a river that flows from the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland to the Irish Sea. It forms Powerscourt Waterfall, receives the Glencree and Glencullen Rivers, and later the Glenmunder Stream / County Brook, and the Swan River ...
near the old "Silver Bridge" at Kilbride, approximately two miles to the north, just downstream of the confluence with the Cookstown River. These watercourses once held a good population of
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...
but increasing urbanisation led to a deterioration in water quality.
Kilmacanogue is served by the half-hourly 45A/B bus to
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.
The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...
Go-Ahead Ireland
Go-Ahead Transport Services (Dublin) Limited, known as Go-Ahead Ireland is a bus operator in Dublin that commenced trading in September 2018. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
History
With the aim of improving efficiency, in 2015 the ...
. Until 2014 it was served by high-frequency
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann.
...
route 145 to
Heuston Station
Heuston Station ( ; ga, Stáisiún Heuston; formerly Kingsbridge Station) also known as Dublin Heuston, is one of Dublin's largest railway stations and links the capital with the south, southwest and west of Ireland. It is operated by Iar ...
; however, this was cut short to terminate in Ballywaltrim and the 45A route was extended to serve Kilmacanogue. Only a handful of route 145 journeys still continue to Kilmacanogue. It is also served by Bus Éireann route 133.
History
The village is named after ''Saint Mocheanog'', a companion of Saint Patrick's who, according to legend, baptised the Children of Lir just before their death.
On the morning of 1 January 1942, the German
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
dropped two magnetic mines near Kilmacanogue but they did not explode.
Amenities
The village has two petrol stations, a
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
, a restaurant, a small shop, a post office, a church, and a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
. The pub, variously called "Connolly's", "Sweeney's", The Glencormac Inn and most lately "Plucks" is an old coaching house dating back to the 19th century. The Plucks were a family who lived in the area in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was a place where teams of horses were changed and stabled on the old road to Wicklow and further south.
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
was a frequent passenger on his way to his family house in Avondale – hence his moniker "The Blackbird of Avondale" – a ballad sung in his memory. It was not until 1861 that the railway was opened as far as Rathdrum, hence the need to travel by coach up to that time.
Business
Avoca Handweavers have one of their earliest outlets at the northern end of the village. This is situated on the site of Glencormac House which was completed in 1860 by the Jameson Whiskey family, who were originally from Scotland. The house became a hotel (Grade A, a precursor to five-star rated hotels) in the 1950s but was razed to the ground in a fire that occurred in 1967.
Clubs and organisations
Kilmacanogue is home to the Kilmacanogue GAA Club, a branch of the Cubs and the Scouts, Kilmac Drama, karate, Kilmacanogue History Society, and Glencormac United football club.
Notable people
*
Mariella Frostrup
Mariella Frostrup (born 12 November 1962) is a British journalist and presenter, known in British television and radio mainly for arts programmes.
Early life
Frostrup was born in Oslo, Norway, to Peter and Joan Frostrup, but moved with her fam ...