Killurin () is a village in County Wexford,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on the R730

regional road The term regional road (or route) is used in a number of places to designate roads of more than purely ''local'' but less than ''national'' strategic importance in a country's highway network. It is used formally and officially in reference to: *R ...

. Sited along the banks of the

River Slaney The River Slaney () is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), b ...

, it is approximately 10 kilometres north-west of

Wexford town Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

History

Castle

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle was built at the Deeps (Crossabeg) on the edge of the

in the 14th or 15th century. This castle, called the Deeps Castle, although now in ruins, is notable as one of the few remaining examples of a tower house of its kind. Forty years after

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

's invasion of Wexford, William of Orange fought and defeated the troops of his brother-in law, James II at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

in 1690. Afterwards James is said to have stayed in hiding at the Deeps Castle. The castle itself has since fallen into disrepair. The main chimney in the south wall collapsed into the building, weakening the entire structure and altering the distinctive skyline of the area. The Deeps Castle is not actually located in Killurin, but in the parish of Crossabeg, adjacent to the parish boundary offered by the River Slaney. The nearby County Landfill is usually called the Killurin Landfill, in order to avoid confusion, as it is located closer to Killurin than it is to Crossabeg village itself.

Archaeology

In the 1950s, an ancient urn and other artifacts were discovered in a sandpit which spanned the Laffan-Freeman farm. The urn is now preserved in the National Museum. The sandpit, in which these finds were made, was the source of the sand which built many of County Wexford's schools in the 1940s and 1950s.

Railway

The Dublin-Wexford-Rosslare railway line runs through Killurin along the west bank of the River Slaney. During the years of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and United Kingdom of Gre ...

and

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

in the 1920s, the railway was frequently the target of the local IRA unit, the Kyle Flying Column. Several trains were derailed and rolling stock was destroyed during attempts to disrupt the communication between Dublin and Wexford.

Transport

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subs ...

route 382 serves Killurin on Fridays, linking it to

References