Kilrane () is a village in

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 647 people, up from 432 as of the 2006 census. 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.

Location & access

Road

The village is located on the N25 approximately 18 kilometres from

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and effectively merges with the adjacent settlement of

Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour (), also known as Ballygeary, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Rai ...

, the village centres being 1.5 kilometres apart. Significant volumes of traffic pass through the village in conjunction with ferry arrivals and departures. A 50 km/h

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

applies from the

approach to the village to Delap's Hill in

from where a 30 km/h limit applies in the port area. Plans for the road network in the area include the Rosslare Port Access Road.

Bus

The village is served by six bus routes, including

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

Expressway route 40 (to

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

) and the company's local route 370 (rail replacement via Wellingtonbridge to

) in addition to Local Link route 387 (serving Rosslare Strand and

Rail

Present

Rosslare Europort railway station Rosslare Europort railway station() serves Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland. The station is owned and operated by Iarnród Éireann and is the southern terminus of the Dublin–Rosslare railway line. Description There is only one ...

is approximately four minutes away by car or around twenty-five minutes on foot.

Past

Kilrane railway station, located on Station Road, closed to passengers in October 1970. The station house and offices were demolished the following year. Kilrane ceased being a loading point for

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

in March 1977. 651 wagons of beet were loaded at Kilrane in the 1976–1977 season. Beet was conveyed by rail to the Irish Sugar Company factory in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

Amenities

Facilities in the village include two pubs, a takeaway, a craft shop and gallery, a barber, several B & Bs and a post box. A church and national school are also located in the village, and the Rosslare Harbour Maritime Heritage Centre is located at the edge of the village. There is a tradition of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in the area and Kilrane Cricket Club was active from 1974 to 1993.

History

St. Ruane's Church was built in the 1830s. Yola was once spoken in the area. A plaque commemorating the

Wexford Rebellion The Wexford Rebellion refers to the events of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in County Wexford. From 27 May until 21 June 1798, Society of United Irishmen rebels revolted against British rule in the county, engaging in multiple confrontations wit ...

is located adjacent to the N25/Saint Helen's Road junction and features text in the language.

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 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 ...

, the Irish nationalist politician was born at Ballytrent House, in Kilrane. The village post office, adjacent to the crossroads in the centre of the village, closed on 22 November 1968. The nearest P.O. is now located in

.Village P.O. to close, Irish Examiner, 22 November 1968

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Wexford Civil parishes of County Wexford