Blackwater, County Wexford

Blackwater
An Abhainn Dubh
Village
The R742 passes through Blackwater
Blackwater
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°26′42″N 6°21′00″W / 52.445°N 6.35°W / 52.445; -6.35
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Wexford
Elevation
48 m (157 ft)
Population
 (2022)
485
 (The environs of Blackwater village are sometimes labelled 'Castle Ellis' in census reports)[1][2][3]
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceT121342

Blackwater (Irish: An Abhainn Dubh, meaning 'the black river')[4] is a rural village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies mostly within the townland of Ballynaglogh (Irish: Baile na gCloch, meaning 'the town of the stones') on the R742 regional road 16 km (9.9 mi) north of Wexford town.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort, holy well, motte and ecclesiastical enclosure sites in the townlands of Ballynaglogh, Inch, Glebe and Castletalbot.[5][6] A church and graveyard site, in Glebe townland, contained a church that was standing as of the early 17th century but was in ruin by at least the mid-19th century.[7][8]

Blackwater village has historical ties to agriculture, trade, and the Norman influence in Ireland, and its location near the Blackwater River and the coast made it a key area for farming and fishing. During the 1798 Rebellion, Wexford was a stronghold for the United Irishmen, and Blackwater, like many nearby villages, was impacted by the uprising.

Castletalbot, a country house built c. 1753 and historically associated with the Talbot family, is to the north of the village.[9] St Brigid's Catholic Church, within the village, was built in 1831.[10]

Transport

Michael Gray operates a route linking the village with Wexford Mondays to Fridays inclusive [11] Bus Éireann route 379 serves the village on Mondays and Saturdays only linking it to Wexford, Gorey and intermediate locations such as Courtown Harbour.[12]

Amenities

The village has three pubs, Corrigan's, the Blackwater Lodge (which is also a hotel), and Whelan's. It also has a video arcade, a number of supermarkets, a large second-hand furniture store, and a clothes alterations shop.

In the 10 years between the 2006 and 2016 census, the population of the village increased from 173 to 339 people.[2][3] By 2022, it had a population of 485.[1] Blackwater has competed in "category B" (places with populations of between 201 and 1000 people) in the national Tidy Towns competition.[13][14]

Blackwater is close to Ballyconnigar beach, a site with one of the highest levels of erosion in the area, due to tidal forces. The stretch of beach from Ballyconnigar to Ballynaclash is used for bathing, walking and fishing. Species of fish encountered around this area include bullhuss, smoothhound, tope, bass, ray, codling, eels, and flounder. Other nearby beaches include Curracloe strand and Ballinesker beach, where the opening scene of the film "Saving Private Ryan" was filmed.

Blackwater also has a mobile-home holiday park called 'Abhainn Dubh Mobile home and Leisure Park' which has been open since 1993.[15]

Sports

The local GAA team is St. Brigid's Blackwater, established in 1885. The hurling team play in the Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship. The Gaelic football team won the 2009 Wexford Junior Championship.

Blackwater has a par 3 golf course which is located outside of the village between Blackwater and Kilmuckridge. The golf course itself was opened in July 1993 although Blackwater Golf Society had its first outing in 1991. Blackwater Golf Course also has a FootGolf course.

Blackwater served as a setting of Mary Kay Tuberty's 2015 novel Keeper of Coin.[16]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Census Interactive Map - Towns: Blackwater - Population Snapshot". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Sapmap Area - Settlements - Castle Ellis". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Blackwater (Castle Ellis) Census Town". City Population. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  4. ^ "An Abhainn Dubh / Blackwater". Irish Placenames Commission. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  5. ^ Moore, Michael J., ed. (1996). Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford. Dublin: Government Stationery Office. ISBN 070762326X.
  6. ^ Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1837). "Killely (Blackwater)". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Lewis.
  7. ^ "NMS mapping data - WX027-045001-" – via heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com. WX027-045001- [..] Church : Glebe [..] Situated on a low rise [..] The parish church of Killila is within an oval or sub-rectangular raised graveyard [..] in 1615 this church was impropriate to Henry Wallop [..] O'Donovan writing c. 1840 records that an old church existed here [..] St Bridget's Well (WX027-04----), a natural spring where a pattern was held [..] is c. 80m to the N
  8. ^ Hore, Philip Herbert, ed. (1911). History of the Town and County of Wexford, Volume 6. Elliot Stock. pp. 268, 272.
  9. ^ "Castle Talbot, Castletalbot, Blackwater, Wexford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Saint Brigid's Catholic Church, Ballynaglogh (Bal. By.), Blackwater, Wexford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. ^ http://www.journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie/nta/TTB/EFA03__00005866_TP.pdf
  12. ^ "Timetable - Route 379" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Rosslare, Ballycanew, Blackwater tops in tidy awards". wexfordtoday.com. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Tidy Towns: The full list of winners for 2019". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Abhainn Dubh, Mobile Homes Wexford, Blackwater County Wexford". abhainndubh.ie. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  16. ^ Tuberty, Mary Kay (31 August 2015). Keeper of Coin (The Carty Sisters Series). ISBN 978-0-9961734-5-2.
  17. ^ Max, D. T. (20 September 2021). "How Colm Tóibín Burrowed Inside Thomas Mann's Head". The New Yorker.
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