Roundwood, historically known as Tóchar ( , meaning 'the causeway'), is a 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 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 ...

. As of the 2022 census, Roundwood had a population of 907 people.

Geography

Roundwood is located where the R755 road joins the R764 and R765. The R755 is part of the main route from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains. At 238 metres above sea level, Roundwood is one of the highest villages in Ireland. The Vartry Reservoir (reservoir lakes built in the 1860s) is close by.

History

Roundwood has a connection with two former Presidents of Ireland. Seán T. O'Kelly (1882–1966) lived at Roundwood Park, an early 19th-century country house that was subsequently "remodelled in castle style". Erskine Hamilton Childers (1905–1974) is buried in Derrylossary Church of Ireland churchyard near the village. This Church of Ireland (Anglican) church was built and is now disused. The local Catholic church, the Church of Saint Laurence O'Toole, was built between 1867 and 1871 and faces onto Roundwood's main street. Both churches are included in the Record of Protected Structures maintained by Wicklow County Council. Several other structures in the area, including several buildings associated with the Vartry Reservoir, are also listed as protected structures.

Sport

The local

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and ladies' Gaelic football club is An Tóchar GAA.

Twin towns — sister cities

Roundwood is twinned with the village of Spézet, in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

.Roundwood School News
Roundwood.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2007. The schools in both areas regularly communicate and engage with another. For many years, exchange programmes have been in place for the students.

References

External links