Clonroche () is a village in
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
, Ireland. It is around south-west of
Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountains and Ireland's longest beach, Curracloe.
The Plac ...
and north-east of
New Ross
New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...
, and is on the
N30 national primary route.
History
From the mid-17th century until the early 20th century, the village of Clonroche was located on the large estate owned by the Carew family of nearby Ballyboro (later renamed Castleboro). From the 18th century onwards, their seat was
Castleboro House, and a notable head of this family was
Robert Carew (1787–1856).
Rev.
James Bentley Gordon, who was Protestant
rector of Killegney in 1798, wrote an account of the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...
and also wrote an account of the parishes of Killegney and Chapel that appeared in
William Shaw Mason
William Shaw Mason (1774–1853) was an Irish statistician and bibliographer. Amongst his works was ''A Statistical Account or Parochial Survey of Ireland''. Irish Folk-Lore" ''The Folk-Lore Journal''. Volume 6.
Life
He graduated B.A. at Trinity C ...
's ''Statistical Account or Parochial Survey of Ireland'', printed in 1814.
A later author,
Patrick Kennedy was also connected with Clonroche and the surrounding area (in his youth he attended school in Cloughbawn, in the townland of Clonroche, and resided in Castleboro and Courtnacuddy townlands). He wrote of the locality and its people (e.g., the clerics of Killegney parish) in ''Banks of the Boro'' (1856). The Boro from the title is a small river that flows through the nearby countryside.
[
On 27 April 1920 the RIC barracks located in Clonroche was attacked by the IRA during the ]Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
Cloughbawn Parish
Clonroche is located in the Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
(R.C.) parish of ''Cloughbawn'', in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns
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 Roman civilization
* Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter ...
. Cloughbawn R.C. Parish church is located at the edge of the village of Clonroche. Poulpeasty, 5 km away, is also in the R.C. parish of Cloughbawn, and has its own R.C. church and curate.
Cloughbawn in Irish means "the white rock" and the village is situated at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountains
The Blackstairs Mountains () run roughly north/south along the border between County Carlow and County Wexford in Ireland. The highest peak is Mount Leinster with a total height of . Blackstairs Mountain is the second highest peak at .
See ...
. The village is close to surrounding townland
A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
s, including Poulpeasty, Kilegney, Chapel, Castleboro, Ballyboro, Rathturtin, Tominearly, Meelgarrow, Raheen, and Rathfardon, which stretches to the borders of Adamstown and Rathnure parishes.
There is also a Protestant church located about a kilometre from the village of Clonroche at Killegney. This is a Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
(C.O.I.) church. Killegney C.O.I. church was formerly part of the C.O.I. parish of Killegney, but today it is part of the United Parishes of Killegney, Rossdroit, Killane and Templeshanbo
Amenities
Clonroche village has two local stores, Greenes and Larkin's, along with Judes and Doyles pubs. There is also a petrol station, a chemist, a chipper and a hair salon. The local creamery provides services and products for the large agricultural community. Local produce includes potatoes, strawberries, cereals, dairy products and pumpkins. Clonroche hosts an annual steam rally.
The local Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
club is Cloughbawn GAA Club. The club's hurling
Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
team competes at senior level, and reached the Wexford County Final in 2002 and 2015.
People
Cloughbawn GAA Club has been home to hurlers such as Tim Flood and Larry Murphy.
Clonroche is also the birthplace of Walter O'Brien
Walter O'Brien (born 24 February 1975) is an Irish businessman and information technologist. He was also the executive producer and loose inspiration for the television series ''Scorpion''. He is known for claiming various accomplishments, incl ...
, the founder and CEO of Scorpion Computer Services, and the inspiration for and an executive producer of the 2014 CBS television series ''< /scorpion>''.
See also
* List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
*Longfield, A. K. (ed.). ''The Shapland Carew Papers''. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1946.
External links
Local website
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Wexford