Kilmuckridge

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Kilmuckridge
Irish: Cill Mhucraise
County Wexford

Kilmuckridge village
Location
Grid reference: T165416
Location: 52°30’48"N, 6°17’1"W
Data
Population: 722  (2016)
Local Government
Dáil
constituency: 		Wexford

Kilmuckridge formerly Ford or The Ford, is a village in County Wexford, 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.[1] It is known for the nearby beach at Morriscastle.[2]


History

Pair of gold sun-discs from Kilmuckridge in the British Museum (2400-2000 BC)

The village is in the civil parish of Kilmuckridge and in the Roman Catholic parish of Litter (from the Irish language Leitir, 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 1.5 km 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.

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.[3]

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.[4][5] Additionally, a 61-ton coal boat named the Lavinia was wrecked at Tinnaberna in 1915.[6]

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,[7] but was revived due following the unveiling of a memorial plaque on the two-hundredth anniversary in 2015.[8] 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.[9][10]

The Tithe Applotment Books contain data for the parish of Kilmuckridge in 1833.[11] Griffith's Valuation was completed for County Wexford in 1854, and data for Kilmuckridge can be found here.[12] The 1901 census also holds details of households in the Kilmuckridge area in the District Electoral Division of Ballyvaldon.[13]

During the Second World War, the area saw three plane crashes. On 29 September 1940, an RAF Hawker 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 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.[3][14] 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.[3] In 1945, an American Martin Marauder aircraft crashed at Killenagh, with no fatalities.[14]

Tourism

Morriscastle Beach
Morriscastle Beach at sunset

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,[15] granted due to its water quality, safety, well-managed environment and local services.[16] Morriscastle beach was listed (at number 5) in a 2016 article in the Irish Times titled "50 great Irish beaches".[2]

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,[17] 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 three miles from Kilmuckridge.[18]

Sport and leisure

  • Football: St Joseph's
  • Gaelic sports: Buffers Alley GAA

Aside from the area's beaches, the locality has several running and walking routes. These include a loop around Ballinlow lane (three miles), from the village to Morriscastle Beach (two miles), along the beach from Morriscastle to Tinnaberna (three miles) and from Tinnaberna to the village (two and a half miles).

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Kilmuckridge)

References

  1. ↑ "Kilmuckeridge (Ireland) Census Town". http://citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/wexford/0580__kilmuckeridge/. Retrieved 27 July 2021. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "50 great Irish beaches". Irish Times. 28 July 2016. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/50-great-irish-beaches-1.2736163/. Retrieved 27 July 2021. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Kilmuckridge". http://aboutthisplace.ie/Kilmuckridge.html. 
  4. ↑ "irish shipwrecks irishwrecks online database of ship wrecks off the irish coast". http://www.irishshipwrecks.com/shipwrecks.php?search_name=&county=14&date_from=&date_to=&off_number=. 
  5. ↑ "Pomona (+1859) - WRECK SITE". http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?158471. 
  6. ↑ "Irish Wrecks On-line - Co. Wexford List F". http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/Lists/WexfordListF.htm. 
  7. ↑ "Tinnaberna Fishermen (I), The". http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Ran042.html. 
  8. ↑ John Furlong - 200th Anniversary of The Tinnaberna Fishermen - YouTube
  9. ↑ "Vivandeer, The". http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Ran112.html. 
  10. ↑ "Vivandeer, the [traditional Ballad Index Entry"]. https://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/7354. 
  11. ↑ "The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-37". http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=&firstname=&county=Wexford&townland=&parish=kilmuckridge&search=Search&sort=townland_sort&pageSize=10&pager.offset=160. 
  12. ↑ "Griffith's Valuation". http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doPlaceSearch&Submit.x=21&Submit.y=6&freetext=kilmuckridge&countyname=WEXFORD&baronyname=&unionname=&parishname=KILMUCKRIDGE. 
  13. ↑ "1901 Census data for Kilmuckridge". http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&surname=&firstname=&county=&townland=kilmuckridge&ded=&age=&sex=&search=Search&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&birthplace=&language=&deafdumb=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving=. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Crash Articles - Foreign Aircraft in Ireland 1939 - 1945". http://www.csn.ul.ie/~dan/war/crashes.htm. 
  15. ↑ "Blue Flag 2019 Beaches & Marinas in Ireland". May 2019. https://beachawards.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Blue-Flag-2019-Ireland-Map.pdf. 
  16. ↑ "Landing Page". https://beachawards.ie/. 
  17. ↑ "Wicklow to Wexford sea fishing". http://fishinginireland.info/sea/east/wexford/index.htm. 
  18. ↑ "Golfing in and around Enniscorthy". http://www.enniscorthytourism.com/categories/golfing_breaks_in_wexford-48.html. 
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