Windgap, County Kilkenny
| Windgap Irish: Bearna na Gaoithe | |
| County Kilkenny | |
|---|---|
 Welcome sign (Fáilte go Bearna na Gaoithe) | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | S409346 |
| Location: | 52°27’43"N, 7°23’55"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Callan |
| Dáil constituency: |
Carlow–Kilkenny |
Windgap is a village in County Kilkenny, in the south-western part of county, on the border with Tipperary, just south of Callan. The village is on the R689 road, the nearest main road being the N76 from Kilkenny to Clonmel.
Windgap was named for its location on a pass through the hills east of Slievenamon. The landscape of Windgap is dominated by steep hills and large wooded areas. Windgap lies in a former slate-quarrying district spanning the Kilkenny-Tipperary border. Today, agriculture is Windgap's main economic activity, with dairy products as the main export. The most notable buildings in Windgap are its 19th-century graveyard, The Old League House, which once served as a home for poor tenant farmers, and early 20th-century grotto.
Those who hail from the village are sometimes referred to as 'Gappers'.
History and culture
The Mayor of Windgap is an 1834 novel by Michael Banim set in Windgap in 1779.[1] Windgap is also referred to in the 1907 book The Placenames of the Decies by Rev. P. Power.
Sport
- Gaelic sport: Windgap GAA, founded in 1954
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Windgap, County Kilkenny) |
References
- Bearna na Gaoithe / Windgap: Placenames Database of Ireland
- Carrigan, William (1905). The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory. Original from Harvard University: Sealy, Bryers & Walker. https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq05carrgoog..
- Clark, Samuel; James S. Donnelly (1983). Irish Peasants: Violence & Political Unrest, 1780–1914. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-09374-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=sKLQnYmmPLMC..
- Banim, John (1835). The Mayor of Wind-gap. Baudry's European Library. https://archive.org/details/mayorwindgap00banigoog.