Oylegate
| Oylegate Irish: Bearna na hAille | |
| County Wexford | |
|---|---|
 Oylegate National School | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | T000312 |
| Location: | 52°25’23"N, 6°31’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 358 (2016) |
| Local Government | |
Oylegate or Oilgate is a small village in County Wexford, located about halfway between the towns of Wexford and Enniscorthy. It had a population of 358 as of the 2016 census.
Name
The Irish name Bearna na hAille means 'the gap in the cliff'. A previous name was 'Mullinagore', from the Irish Maolán na nGabhar meaning 'grazing of the goats'.
The name is usually officially spelled as Oilgate and this spelling can be found on road signs entering the village and is the common spelling used on maps and by the Central Statistics Office. However, the spelling Oylegate is found on a plaque on the wall of the village national school dated 1929, and most locals spell it as such.
The Irish name for Oylegate is Bearna na hAille, bearna meaning gap or gate and aill meaning cliff, getting its name from the place that the river Slaney breaks through the gap in the cliffs or rocks on its way to Wexford harbour. It would appear that the name Oylegate became anglicised over time and got its name by saying aill quickly (oila) and gate from the English translation of bearna, gap or gate.
Oylegate is also referred to as Maolán na nGabhar which is the Irish name for Mullinagore, getting its name from the area of land where goats used to graze. This reference is likely because there is no actual townland recorded as Oylegate and the townland of Mullinagore would have been the more central part of the village consisting of the local church, the old school and a small settlement of houses.