Newcastle () is a village in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It is situated on the R761 and is about south of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

city. Newcastle had a population of 924 as of the 2016 census. The ancient

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 ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, which surrounds the village, takes its name from the village and its Norman castle.

History

The village is half a mile from the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

and

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

where it was originally located. Newcastle takes its name from the castle, built by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

on an earlier Irish

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

in the territory of the O'Byrne's. It was constructed between

1177 Year 1177 (Roman numerals, MCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway, is killed. Sverre Sigurdson (Later, Kin ...

and

1184 Year 1184 ( MCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 27 – Tamar of Georgia becomes queen regnant on the death of her father and coregent George III. She remains sole rul ...

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy (; before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in ...

. The castle, called Newcastle Mackynegan, became a major stronghold in the outer fortifications of

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

. Even so, it was attacked and occupied at intervals by the Wicklow Irish chieftains, the O'Tooles and the O'Byrnes. The current ruin on the site is not that of the castle, which was destroyed in the 16th century, but of a building which was erected on the site. The castle was the administrative centre of the area until the shiring of Wicklow in the 16th century. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

then moved to Wicklow town after the castle was again raided. IMG NewcastleChurch5321w

The church is located a few hundred feet from the castle and some parts of the building date from the 12th Century. This church is named as a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

as early as

1227 Year 1227 ( MCCXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword and their Crusader allies (some 20,000 men) cross the sea ...

. In

1467 Year 1467 ( MCDLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * June 15 – Philip the Good is succeeded as Duke of Burgundy, by Charles the Bold. * October 29 – Battle of ...

it was assigned by Archbishop Michael Tregury to the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

. The present church was built between 1783 and 1788, with its tower being constructed in 1821. In 1872, the Archdeacon of Glendalough ceased to have a place in the

Chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

, as such, and the separate prebend of Newcastle was revived. The church, which is owned by the

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 ...

(

Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

), was also used as the local

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

for services in 2000 when it was agreed to share it until the catholic oratory was rebuilt. The local

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, St Francis's, is located beside the church. There is a ruin of a Catholic church about from the village with a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Newcastle is 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 ...

parish of

Kilquade Kilquade, historically ''Killcowade'' (), is a townland and a Roman Catholic parish in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies between Kilpedder and Kilcoole, about one kilometre east of Junction 12 (Kilpedder) of the N11 national primary ...

, and the parish church is located in Kilquade about north of the village. A new oratory was built in the village in 2009, replacing an earlier temporary structure.

Local recreation

In 1983, a

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

was built in Newcastle to provide space for sporting and recreational activities. Local organisations include 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,

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

clubs. Newcastle is close to the beach, which is used for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

and shore

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

. There is one pub, The Castle Inn (previously the Bridge Inn), which was rebuilt in 2008. There is also a shop/garage. Close by is Blackditch Wood, an 89-hectare (220 acre) priority

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

and

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

established by

Birdwatch Ireland BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation and registered charity devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wi ...

in 2002 and classified as a

special protection area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

. The project created a large wetland complex for the protection of Annex 1 birds threatened within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The reserve comprises a variety of habitats, including pure birch forest, fen and willow scrub, natural grasslands, a conifer plantation, of drainage ditches and farmland for grazing and crop planting, attracting a wildlife diversity, protecting threatened bird, flora and insect species. A series of walkways and hides allows access by the public for birdwatching.

Transport

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann ...

provides services between Newcastle and Dublin on the number 84 bus route. A railway station opened in Newcastle in August 1856 and was closed on 30 March 1964.

Newcastle Aerodrome Newcastle Aerodrome is located on Sea Road in Newcastle (), a village in County Wicklow (''Contae Chill Mhantáin''), Ireland. This aerodrome is licensed by the Aeronautical Services Department of the Irish Aviation Authority. Facilities New ...

is just outside Newcastle.

People

* Barry Corr, football player. *

Hozier Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician. His music primarily draws from Folk music, folk, Soul music, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and taking politica ...

, musician

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Wicklow Ruins in the Republic of Ireland

History

Local recreation

Transport

People

See also

References