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Welcome to the IRELAND GENEALOGICAL PROJECT ~ COUNTY WICKLOW PAGE.

This website provides a brief description of County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland as well as valuable links to County Wicklow genealogy resources.

County Wicklow, is known as the "Garden County" due to its scenic views,mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches and historical treasures. It is located on the east coast of Ireland, south of County Dublin and north of County Wexford.

The principal town of County Wicklow is also named Wicklow.



             

Finding Your Ancestors in Co Wicklow

 

When attempting to research your Irish ancestors, you should first understand the system of Irish land divisions.

The administrative divisions in Ireland consisted of a variety of land units in descending order of size: Province, County, Barony, Parish and Townland.

BARONY

Originally the landholding of a feudal baron, the barony is now an obsolete administrative unit that is mid-way in size between a county and a parish. The system of bringing Irish local kingdoms into the feudal system of baronies began in the medieval period but did not extend to the whole of Ulster until the early 17th century.

Large baronies were later subdivided until there were 58 baronies in the area that comprises the present day Northern Ireland.

Baronies of County Wicklow

  • Lower Talbotstown
  • Upper Talbotstown
  • Rathdown
  • Ballinacor North
  • Ballinacor South
  • Shillelagh
  • Newcastle
  • Arklow

COUNTY

A territorial unit equivalent to the English shire, it was created by the English administration in Ireland as the major subdivision of an Irish province and dates from the 13th to the 17th century. The counties as they are today were planned in 1584 but many existed long before this date.

Antrim and Down had been counties from the 13th or 14th centuries but their modern boundaries were not settled until 1605, while the modern boundary and the new county name of Londonderry did not come into existence until 1613 although it had existed from Anglo-Norman times with different boundaries and under the name of Coleraine.

PARISH

An ecclesiastical unit of territory that came into existence in Ireland in its present form in the 12th and 13th centuries and was continued by the Established Church of Ireland after the Reformation. It was then adopted as a civil administrative area but over time the boundaries of some civil and ecclesiastical parishes came to vary from each other. Roman Catholic parishes, for example, when re-instated, were often redrawn to suit the needs of their parishioners. Because civil parishes may extend across rivers that were often used to delineate the boundaries of counties and baronies, civil parishes can be in more than one county and in more than one barony.

PROVINCE

This is the earliest and largest administrative division in Ireland dating back into prehistory and early historic times. There were originally five Provinces in the island of Ireland with provincial 'overkings' who were supported by the kings of the smaller local kingdoms within them. However, by the 17th century this had been reduced to the four modern Provinces of Ulster, Connaught, Leinster and Munster.

Present day Northern Ireland comprises six of the nine counties established in the Province of Ulster - the Ulster counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan lie in the Republic of Ireland.


Towns & Villages
Aghavannagh
Annamoe
Arklow
Ashford
Aughrim
Avoca
Ballinaclash
Ballinakil
Ballycoogue
Baltinglass
Blessington
Bray
Brittas Bay
Carnew
Coolafancy
Coolboy
Coolkenno
Delgany
Donard
Dunlavin
Enniskerry
Glencree
Glendalough
Glenealy
Grangecon
Greenan
Greystones
Hollywood
Kilbride
Kilcoole
Killincarrig
Kilmacanogue
Kilpedder
Kiltegan
Knockananna
Lacken
Laragh
Manor Kilbride
Meeting of the Waters
Newcastle
Newtownmountkennedy
Poulaphouca
Rathnew
Rathdrum
Redcross
Roundwood
Shillelagh
Stratford-on-Slaney
Tinahely
Valleymount
Wicklow
Woodenbridge







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