County Wicklow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

County Wicklow
Contae Chill Mhantáin

Location

Statistics

2,024 km²

Population (2002)

114,676

Website: www.wicklow.ie

County Wicklow (Contae Chill Mhantáin in Irish) is a county on the east coast of the Ireland, immediately south of Dublin. Area: 2,024 km² (781 square miles). The county is bordered by the Irish Sea and the counties of Carlow, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Kildare, South Dublin and Wexford. The county is considered by some as part of the "Greater Dublin Area". Wicklow is often known as "The Garden of Ireland" because it is regarded as being very beautiful especially by tourists, with its many gently sloping hills and lakes.

The county town is Wicklow (pop. 9,355), although the largest urban centre is Bray (pop. 30,951). Other main towns include Greystones (pop. 11,913) and Arklow (pop. 11,721). All of these towns are situated on the eastern coast.

County Wicklow is sometimes known as 'the last county' as it was the last of the original counties to be established - in 1606 from land previously part of County Dublin.^[1]

Powerscourt Waterfall, near Enniskerry

The Sally Gap

' The Military Road', stretching from Rathfarnham to Aughavannagh cuts through the mountains which was built by the British army to assist them in crushing rebels still active in the Wicklow Mountains following the failed 1798 rebellion by providing them quick access to an area that had been a hotbed of Irish rebellion for centuries. Several barracks to house the soldiers were built along the route and the Glencree Reconciliation Centre was built alongside the remains of barracks there. Battalions of the Irish Army use firing ranges in County Wicklow for tactical exercises especially the largest one in the Glen of Imaal that was previously used by the British Army prior to independence.

The Turlough Hill pumped-storage scheme, a significant civil engineering project, was carried out in the mountains in the 1960s and 1970s. The ancient monastery of Glendalough is located in County Wicklow. The local radio station for Wicklow is East Coast FM.