Newbawn
| Newbawn Irish: An Bábhun Nua | |
| County Wexford | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | S832242 |
| Location: | 52°21’48"N, 6°46’45"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 177 (2016) |
| Dialling code: | 051 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Gorey |
Newbawn is a small village located in the south-west of County Wexford. It is seven miles south-east of New Ross, and twelve miles west of Wexford town, on the R735 regional road about two miles south of the N25 national primary road.
Name
Newbawn in the Irish language is Bábhun Nua, which is an adaptation of the English original: a bawn, or in Irish bábhun, is literally a walled enclosure. Often this is applied to the wall that encloses the yard surrounding a castle, though this may or may not be the meaning here. It can also mean an enclosure for cows.[1]
History
There is a poorly preserved portal tomb (sometimes called a cromlech) located at Collopswell, near Newbawn,[2] which dates from the Neolithic period.
The area was controlled by the Devereux family of Adamstown and Ballymagir (later dated renamed 'Richfield'; in south-eastern Wexford, near the coast) for hundreds of years soon after the arrival of the Normans (1169). They acquired the area from the de Headon family[3] in the late 13th century. Newbawn was part of the 'Manor of Colpe', which in 1669 was granted to Robert Leigh of Rosegarland.[4]
After this time, and particularly throughout the 18th century, a family named Sweetman were very prominent in the Newbawn area.
About the village
Today, the village contains a shop and post office, a pub (Foleys Bar), a primary (national) school,[5] a Roman Catholic church and an adjoining cemetery.[6] The church was built in 1889.
The local Gaelic Athletic Association club is Adamstown GAA Club. It also has a community centre.
References
- ↑ An Bábhun Nua/Newbawn: Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ See: Photo of Newbawn (or Collopswell) Portal Tomb.
- ↑ The name is now Hayden.
- ↑ Brooks, Knights' Fees, p. 103 (footnote).
- ↑ Newbawn N.S. Website.
- ↑ "Newbawn Parish Church.". http://www.ferns.ie/parish.shtml?Id=Newbawn.
- Brooks, Eric St. John, Knights’ Fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny (13th-15th century). Dublin: Stationery Office, 1950