Coolafancy () is a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

and village in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, Ireland. The area of Coolafancy is often referred to as Crosspatrick on maps. It is located roughly between

Tinahely Tinahely () is a village in County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a market town in the valley of the River Derry, a tributary of the River Slaney. Location and access Tinahely is on the R747 road which links the west Wickl ...

and

Carnew Carnew () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the most southerly town in Wicklow situated just a mile from the border with County Wexford. For historical reasons it has often been described as "a Protestant enclave". The village is ...

, close to the neighbouring village of

Coolboy Coolboy () is a village in County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located between Tinahely and Carnew, in the middle of Holts Way, close to the Kilcavan, County Wicklow, Kilcavan Gap. Location and access It is located on the ...

. Coolafancy contains the only primary national school in the area, St. Mary's National School. The school serves the village itself and also the village of Coolboy and surrounding areas like Hillbrook, Coolroe, Cummer and Cummerduff. The name Coolafancy is sometimes written as Coolnafancy or simply Coolfancy. Coolafancy is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Crosspatrick.

Location and access

It is located near the R748 road, which links the town of Aughrim with

(via the R747). The village is situated near the southern point of the

Wicklow Way The Wicklow Way () is a long-distance trail that crosses the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. It runs from Marlay Park in the southern suburbs of Dublin through County Wicklow and ends in the village of Clonegal in County Carlow. It is designate ...

which winds through the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountai ...

. Annagh Hill,

Croghan Mountain Croghan Mountain, also known as Croghan Kinsella or Croghan Kinshelagh () at , is the 211th–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 258th–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Irela ...

, and Kilcavan Gap are located nearby.

History

The history of Coolafancy, as with so many other areas nearby, was dominated by the FitzWilliam family in the 19th century. The family lived in nearby Coolattin House. The Coolattin estate once comprised 88,000 acres (360 km2), had 20,000 tenants and occupied almost a quarter of County Wicklow. The village currently only has a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, but once had a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church named Crosspatrick Church which stood until 1973.

References

{{County Wicklow Towns and villages in County Wicklow Townlands of County Wexford

Location and access

History

See also

References