Aghavannagh () is a small village and townland in south
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
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It is located in the barony of
Ballinacor South
Ballinacor South () is a barony in County Wicklow, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of eight baronies in County Wicklow. It is located in the southern Wicklow Mountains. Its chief town is Aughrim. The barony lies between Ballinaco ...
on the
Military Road
A military road is a type of road built by an armed force
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...
originally constructed between 1804 and 1809, in the wake of the
1798 rebellion
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force ...
. It is so remote that inhabitants say that "Aghavannagh is the last place God made".
Glenmalure
Glenmalure () is a 20-kilometre long U-shaped glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Glenmalure is an important base for climbing in the Wicklow mountains, and particularly accessing the massif of Lugnaquilla, and contains one of ...
and
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 ...
to the east and south, and
Kiltegan
Kiltegan () is a village in west County Wicklow, Ireland, on the R747 regional road close to the border with County Carlow. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. The civil parish extends into County Carlow.
Accordin ...
,
Hacketstown
Hacketstown (, IPA: bË alÊČÉËhaceËdÊČ, historically known as Ballydrohid (), is a small town and civil parish in County Carlow, Ireland, near the border with County Wicklow. The civil parish extends into County Wicklow.
It is located on t ...
and
Baltinglass
Baltinglass, historically known as Baltinglas (), is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road (Ireland), N81 road ...
to the west. The area is mainly surrounded by forests and is composed of mountains and mountain land. This fact may indicate an original name in Irish as ''achadh mbeannach'' whose meaning is "hilly field". This mountainous terrain is where the Ow river rises on the southern slopes of Lugnaquilla, flows through a
glacial valley
U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...
and passes the outskirts of the village meeting the Aghavannagh river, which is much smaller and flows through the village, a short distance to the south.
One of the earliest references to the place is in 1623 to "Aghavanny" in the ''Calendar of
Patent Rolls
The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day.
Description
The patent rolls comprise a regis ...
of
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208â1276)
* James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267â1327)
* James I, Count of La Marche (1319â1362), Count of Ponthieu
* James I, Count of Urgell (1321â1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334â ...
'', followed by five other 17th century references with three different spellings of "Aghamanagh", "Aghamannagh" "Aghavannagh", and lastly "Aghavanagh" on A.R. Neville's ''Map of County Wicklow'' dated c 1810.
There is no commercial centre to the village that only comprises residences and a school (on mapâ no longer in use). Between 1896 and 1899 a sub-post office was opened in Aghavannagh under the nearby
post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...
of Aughrim but this was already closed by 1909.
Military barracks
Aghavannagh Barracks, along with similar structures in
Glencree
Glencree ( from the older Gleann Criothach, which translates as Valley of the Shaking Bog) is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the third-closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first be ...
Glenmalure
Glenmalure () is a 20-kilometre long U-shaped glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Glenmalure is an important base for climbing in the Wicklow mountains, and particularly accessing the massif of Lugnaquilla, and contains one of ...
, was one of a series of
barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
built along the route of the military road, to house British forces and give them access to 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 ...
where many 1798 rebels, such as
Michael Dwyer
Michael Dwyer (1 January 1772â 23 August 1825) was an insurgent captain in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, leading the United Irish forces in battles in Wexford and Wicklow. Following the defeat and dispersal of the rebel hosts, in July 1798 ...
, sought refuge. The barracks each accommodated 100 men, while a larger 200-man barracks was built in the
Glen of Imaal
The Glen of Imaal ( or ; ) is a remote glen in the western Wicklow Mountains in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is ringed by the Lugnaquilla massif and its foothills, including Table Mountain, County Wicklow, Table Mountain and Keadeen Mountain ...
, that together cost of ÂŁ26,500 with an additional ÂŁ1,500 for a bridge at Aghavannagh.
The property came into the ownership of
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 â 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...
's grandfather after the British
War Office
The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
vacated it in 1825 because he was the ground landlord and was used by him as a hunting lodge. The Parnell family shared the building with up to 50 men of the
Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836â67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin ...
. Several of the outhouses were totally ruined at this time as were the two
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...
s. Upon Parnell's death,
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 â 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...
bought the barracks.
Later,
An Ăige
An Ăige (; meaning "Youth"), or the Irish Youth Hostel Association (IYHA), is a non-profit organisation providing youth hostel accommodation across Ireland. An Ăige is a member of Hostelling International.
Background
An Ăige was founded on ...
ran the building as a
youth hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4â20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...
for several years before acquiring ownership in 1944. They closed it in 1998 when a tower of the structure was declared unstable by engineers.
SĂle de Valera
SĂle de Valera (; born 17 December 1954) is an Irish former Fianna FĂĄil politician who served as a Minister of State from 2002 to 2006 and as Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands from 1997 to 2002. She served as a Teachta DĂ ...
, then
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality () is a senior minister in the government of Ireland and leads the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.
The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality is Norma Foley, TD.
She ...
, answered a question in the DĂĄil whether the property would be acquired by the government as a heritage building saying that
DĂșchas
DĂșchas, sometimes DĂșchas: The Heritage Service, was an executive agency of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands of the Government of Ireland responsible for Heritage management, including:
* natural heritage (including ...
, the heritage service of the department, did not have the resources to protect or preserve the building.
After 20 years, in 2010, a restoration project extensively restored the building's interior and exterior. It is now privately owned and used as a family home and guesthouse.
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 ...