Kilmuckridge (Irish: Cill Mhucraise),[2] formerly Ford or The Ford, is a village in County Wexford in Ireland, near the Irish Sea coast. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 722 people, having more than tripled in size (from 235) in the 20 years since the 1996 census.[3] It is known for the nearby beach at Morriscastle.[4]
Pair of gold sun-discs from Kilmuckridge in the British Museum (2400-2000 BC)
The village is in the civil parish of Kilmuckridge[6] and in the Catholic parish of Litter (from the Irish languageLeitir, meaning a hillside). On older maps, the village is sometimes referred to by its older name of Ford, or The Ford. The name Kilmuckridge originally referred to a small road junction about 1.5km from the main village and site of the Church of Ireland church. This junction was previously the location of the village post office and it is said that when the post office was moved to The Ford, the latter placename gradually declined in use.
Nearby Morriscastle was once the site of a castle belonging to a prominent Gaelic family. By the 19th century, this castle was in ruins, and it was demolished in 1936. It was succeeded by a later castle, owned by the Annesley family, the ruins of which can be seen to the south of the roadway.
Wells House has a history dating back to the 1600s.[7]
The local Roman Catholic church was built in 1796. The Church of Ireland church dates from 1815. The graveyard next to the Church of Ireland church also contains the remains of members of the Catholic Church, with a "sailor's hole" for the bodies of sailors washed ashore. The village also has a historic graveyard at Killincooley with a holy well.[8]
Several Kilmuckridge people played a part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, including John Murphy of nearby Boolavogue. Local participants were said to have rendezvoused at a local site known as Hatter's Bridge before proceeding to battle at the Battle of Oulart Hill.[citation needed]
There are no listed shipwrecks off Morriscastle but several have occurred in the general area, including the clipper ship Pomona, which ran aground off Ballyconigar in 1859 while en route from Liverpool to New York and sank with the loss of nearly four hundred people, mostly poor Irish people.[9][10] Additionally, a 61-ton coal boat named the Lavinia was wrecked at Tinnaberna in 1915.[11]
On 14 November 1815, twenty-four local fishermen were lost in a storm, having sailed from Tinnaberna. The disaster is said to have left nineteen widows and had a long-term impact on the population of the small settlement at Tinnaberna. The disaster was largely forgotten, commemorated mainly in a local ballad,[12] but was revived due following the unveiling of a memorial plaque on the two-hundredth anniversary in 2015.[13] Another local ballad commemorates the 1885 rescue of a sailing ship, the Vivandiere, which had been abandoned by her crew and set adrift. The ship was boarded near Tinnaberna by local men, who later profited from its salvage.[14][15]
The Tithe Applotment Books contain data for the parish of Kilmuckridge in 1833.[16]Griffith's Valuation was completed for County Wexford in 1854, and data for Kilmuckridge can be found here.[17] The 1901 census also holds details of households in the Kilmuckridge area in the District Electoral Division of Ballyvaldon.[18]
A number of local men were involved in the Irish republican movement, including Laurence 'Lar' Redmond and Jim O'Brien, both of the Morriscastle area, who served in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.[citation needed] Redmond claimed to be a descendant of John Murphy (of the 1798 Rebellion) and was active in Enniscorthy in the 1916 Rising.[citation needed] He was elected as a councillor in the district of Gorey. On 14 August 1920, he was part of a company of men that set fire to the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks on the road to Morriscastle. Redmond and his colleagues also set fire to the coast guard station at Morriscastle in July 1921. Jim O'Brien was shot dead by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, on 12 February 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. At the time, he was an IRA commandant and the officer commanding the East Wicklow Brigade. A plaque in Market Square, Rathdrum, commemorates the shooting. In April 2016, a memorial stone was unveiled to commemorate local participants in the 1916 Rising.[19]
The lives of Redmond, O'Brien and their colleagues contrast with another local man of the same era,[original research?] Tom Ryan (1873-1958), who joined the British Army as a teenager and saw active service in South Africa, France and Palestine. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and later joined the army of the Irish Free State. He remained prominent in Wexford life and his love of his childhood home is evident in his poetry. As one local historian described: "Tom Ryan, like all poets and literary persons lived imaginatively, in a parallel universe that both represented and re-ordered his life experience: the homely places, the touching scenes and drama of his childhood memories of Tinnaberna."[20]
During World War 2, the area saw three plane crashes. On 29 September 1940, an RAFHawker Hurricane crash-landed in the townland of Ballyvadden, having taken part in an aerial skirmish off the coast. The aircraft was one of eight sent from Pembrey, Wales to intercept a group of German bombers heading for Liverpool. The RAF pilot was unhurt in the crash and was interned at The Curragh before escaping back to Britain and subsequently being killed the following year. His Canadian-built aircraft was repaired, bought by the Irish Air Corps and flown until 1946. Of the German aircraft downed in the skirmish, the body of a German airman washed ashore near Kilmuckridge and was initially buried in the sailor's hole at the old graveyard, before later reinterment elsewhere.[8][21] In May 1941, a German Heinkel He 111 bomber crashed in the sea and sank near the Blackwater lightship, with two recorded fatalities. Two survivors came ashore in a liferaft and were treated hospitably by a local priest before their internment at The Curragh.[8] In 1945, an American Martin Marauder aircraft crashed at Killenagh, with no fatalities.[21]
Tourism
Morriscastle BeachMorriscastle Beach at sunset, looking south towards Tinnaberna and Wexford town., 4 September 2012
The local beaches are a tourism attraction of the area, part of a long stretch of unbroken sandy beach that connects Cahore to Raven Point.
Morriscastle, the largest beach, is used by swimmers, walkers, horse riders and anglers, and is the focal point for a cluster of holiday home developments, caravan parks and camp sites. As of 2019, the beach held a Blue Flag award,[22] granted due to its water quality, safety, well-managed environment and local services.[23] Morriscastle beach was listed (at number 5) in a 2016 article in the Irish Times titled "50 great Irish beaches".[4]
Other beaches nearby include Ballinoulart, Tinnaberna and Ballynamon. The local coast is host to some rare flora and fauna and is part of a national heritage site, Kilmuckridge-Tinnaberna Sandhills. A substantial wind farm, Ballywater Wind Farm, is located near Ballinoulart beach. Fish which are caught in the area include bass and flounder,[24] and a small number of local boats still trawl for herring in the early winter.
Kilmuckridge contains a number of historical buildings as well as restaurants, guesthouses, pubs, and shops.
Blackwater Golf Course is located about five kilometres from Kilmuckridge.[25]
Sport
Kilmuckridge's local GAA club is Buffers Alley, which is shared with the neighbouring village of Monamolin and based at Ballinastraw. It is predominantly a hurling and camogie club but also fields teams in junior Gaelic football.
Buffer's Alley's camogie team also has several national successes, winning the All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship five times in a six-year period from 1979 to 1984, jointly making it the competition's most successful team, until being surpassed some years later by St Paul's Camogie Club of Kilkenny.
The local soccer club is St Joseph's, which is based at Grove Park in the centre of Kilmuckridge.
Aside from the area's beaches, the locality has several running and walking routes. These include a loop around Ballinlow lane (5.2km), from the village to Morriscastle Beach (3.1km), along the beach from Morriscastle to Tinnaberna (4.6km) and from Tinnaberna to the village (4.4km).[citation needed]
The village hosts the annual Kilmuckridge Drama Festival, which has been running since the 1950s. In April 2015, the village hosted the All-Ireland Confined Drama Finals.[27]
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the east and the counties of Wexford to the south, Carlow to the southwest, Kildare to the west, and South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown to the north.
County Wexford 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, whose capital was Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 163,527 at the 2022 census.
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 National Primary Route; and to Rosslare Europort, Cork and Waterford by the N25. The national rail network connects it to Dublin and Rosslare Europort. It had a population of 21,524 according to the 2022 census.
Wicklow is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census, it had a population of 12,957 people. The town is to the east of the M11 route between Dublin and Wexford. It also has railway links to Dublin, Wexford, Arklow, and Rosslare Europort. There is also a commercial port for timber and textile imports. The River Vartry is the main river flowing through the town.
Gorey is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the Gorey Guardian.
Kilmacanogue, officially Kilmacanoge, is a village in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is southwest of Bray and is overlooked by Great Sugar Loaf mountain.
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Glenealy is a village 8 km (5 mi) west of Wicklow Town, in County Wicklow, on the R752 road. The Dublin–Rosslare railway line also passes through the village.
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Kiltegan is a village in west County Wicklow, Ireland, on the R747 regional road close to the border with County Carlow.
Kilanerin or Killinierin is a village in north County Wexford, Ireland, 4 kilometres west of the N11 road, near the village of Inch and approximately 12 kilometres from the town of Gorey.
Blackwater is a rural village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies mostly within the townland of Ballynaglogh on the R742 regional road 16 km (9.9 mi) north of Wexford town.
Oulart, is a small village in the southeastern corner of Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford just off the R741 regional road halfway between the towns of Gorey to the north and Wexford to the south.
Oylegate or Oilgate, also known previously as Mullinagore, is a small village in Ireland, located about halfway between Wexford and Enniscorthy towns, in County Wexford. It had a population of 358 as of the 2016 census.
Oulart–The Ballagh is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Wexford, Ireland. The club takes its players primarily from the area around the villages of Oulart and The Ballagh. The club has won the Wexford Senior Hurling Championship on 13 occasions, most recently in 2016. Their main rivals are Buffers Alley. Former hurlers associated with the club include former Wexford manager Liam Dunne and current Oulart–The Ballagh senior manager Martin Storey.
Bannow is a village and civil parish lying east of Bannow Bay on the south-west coast of County Wexford, Ireland. In modern times the main settlement is the village of Carrig-on-Bannow. In Norman times there was a borough called Bannow on Bannow Island at the mouth of the Bay. This town has since disappeared, probably due to the silting up of the natural harbour channels in the 14th century, and the former island is now attached to the rest of the parish.
Castletown, historically called Ballycaslane, is a small village in northeast County Wexford, Ireland.
Kilmessan is a village in County Meath, Ireland. It is situated 10/15 minutes away from Dunshaughlin, Trim and Navan, 6 km from the M3 motorway. The village has a primary school, shop, post office and several pubs. The Station House Hotel is located in Kilmessan. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.
The Ballagh or Ballaghkeen is a village in the southeastern corner of Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford just off the R741 regional road halfway between the towns of Gorey to the north and Wexford to the south. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 515 people.
Morriscastle is a coastal village that is situated 2 km from Kilmuckridge village in County Wexford, Ireland. Morriscastle is a tourist destination during the summer months.
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