Enniskerry

Enniskerry Irish: Áth na Sceire
County Wicklow
Saint Patrick's church
Location
Grid reference:	O220174
Location:	53°11’34"N, 6°10’14"W
Data
Population:	1,811  (2011)
Post town:	Bray
Postcode:	A98
Local Government
Website:	www.enniskerry.ie

Enniskerry (historically Annaskerry) is a village and townland in County Wicklow. It had a population of 1,811 at the 2011 census. The townland is only of five acres, with the rest of Enniskerry in the surrounding townlands of Cookstown, Knocksink, Kilgarran, Monastery, and Powerscourt Demesne.

The name of the village is from the Irish Áth na Sceire, meaning "Rugged ford".

Location

Powerscourt Waterfall

The town stands beside the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, just five minutes south of the border of County Dublin and some fifteen miles south of Dublin city centre. The R117 road, colloquially known as "The Twenty-One Bends" connects the town to the main N11 road to Dublin. The nearest town of any size is Bray on the coast.

History

Enniskerry, 1830

The Protestant population of the village attended church in the grounds of the Powerscourt Demesne until 1859. Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt built a new church, St Patrick's, in the village, completed two years later, in 1861. This coincided with an extensive renovation programme that also established the Italian gardens at Powerscourt. The Viscount Powerscourt claimed the old church following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland by the Irish Church Act 1869. The consequences were that only those with a right to be buried next to the old church within the Demesne could claim these rights thereafter.

The Powerscourt Estate, comprising a large house and gardens today occupying 47 acres, is located near the town and is a popular visitor attraction. The extensive formal gardens form the grounds of an 18th-century Palladian house, designed by Richard Cassels, which was destroyed by fire in 1974, and lay as a shell until extensive restorations were carried out in 1996. Powerscourt Waterfall in the grounds of the estate, at 397 feet, is the highest waterfall in Ireland.

On film and television

Enniskerry village square

Powerscourt House and Italian gardens

Many films have used Powerscourt House or the Estate as a filming location, and the village itself has been a location also, which include:

• The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) at the Estate
• Henry V (Laurence Olivier's 1944 film). The villagers provided many of the extras in the film
• Johnny Nobody (1961)
• Into the West (1992)
• P.S. I Love You (2007)
• Leap Year (2010)

From 1996 to 2001, Enniskerry and Avoca, County Wicklow were the filming location for the television series Ballykissangel.

Sport

• Football:
  • Enniskerry Football Club was founded in the early 1970s as Enniskerry Schoolboys Football Club
  • Enniskerry Youth Club
• Gaelic Athletics: Gaelic football club
• Boxing

Churches

• Church of Ireland: St Patrick, Powerscourt
• Roman Catholic: St Mary

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Enniskerry)

• Enniskerry Village