Donard (historically ''Dunard'', from )Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is a small 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, located at the northern end of 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 ...

, in the western part of 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 ...

. The village is in a

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 the same name. Located near the village of Donard is

Lugnaquilla LugnaquillaLugnaquilla
.

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

(702m), Church Mountain (546m),

Lugnaquilla LugnaquillaLugnaquilla
.

Keadeen (655m).

History

ogham Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language ( scholastic ...

stone is located on the village green. It was moved to this site in 1995 having had three previous locations. It is a rectangular block of stone measuring 1.52m x 0.69m x 0.53m. Donard Motte (also known as the Ball Moat) is a Norman

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

structure on the southern side of the village. It was most likely built by Jordan de Marisco between 1169 and 1190. In the nearby village of Derrynamuck (also known as Dernamuck or Doire na Muc) is a cottage dedicated to the memory of

Michael Dwyer Michael Dwyer (1 January 1772– 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 ...

, an Irish insurgent active during 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 ...

. There, an engagement between British forces and a detachment of

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure Representative democracy, representative government in Ireland. Despairing of constitutional reform, and in defiance both of British ...

rebels led by Dwyer, known as the Dwyer-English engagement, occurred on 15 February 1799. During the battle, a fellow insurgent, Sam McAllister, intentionally drew the direction of British fire towards himself in order to allow Dwyer to escape. During the Rebellion, the village was burnt by the rebels and the inhabitants were forced to flee to

Dunlavin Dunlavin () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland, situated about south-west of Dublin. It is centred on the junction of the R412 road (Ireland), R412 and R756 road (Ireland), R756 Regional road (Ireland), regional roads. It was founded aro ...

. The Great Famine impacted Donard and the surrounding areas significantly. The population of the parish declined by one third between 1841 and 1851. Much of the surrounding

(5,948 acres) has been used as an army artillery range since 1900.

Amenities

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was opened in Donard in 1851 and

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of Mail, postal services in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provide ...

closed it at the end of 2018. There is a Roman Catholic

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

, Church of the Holy Trinity, in the village as Donard is part of the parish of Dunlavin. It was built in 1926. There is a small

First Fruits First Fruits is a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, and Hebrew religions, the first fruits were given to priests as an offering to deity. Rome The first fruits of the field were off ...

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 in the village which dates to 1835. Donard/Glen

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

club grounds are on the outskirts of the village.

References

{{County Wicklow Towns and villages in County Wicklow Civil parishes of County Wicklow