County Wicklow, Ireland Genealogy
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Guide to County Wicklow ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
History[edit | edit source]
County Wicklow is known as the “Garden of Ireland” because of its great variety of scenery and is located in the province of Leinster on the east coast of Ireland just south of County Dublin.
The County is named after the town of Wicklow, whose name is derived from Viking settlers in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Some historians believe the origin of the name is from Viking Alo (Viking’s Beacon) or Viking's Meadow.
The County’s Irish name is Chill Mhantáin (kill man-tawn). When St. Patrick returned to Ireland in 432 AD, he landed at Travilahawk. The local chieftain sent his people out to discourage their arrival. Stones were tossed down on them and one of St. Patrick’s monks lost his teeth. The toothless monk later returned to Wicklow Town to build a church and became known as Manntan (Gubby). They called the place Cill Mhantain (Gubby’s Church), which is the Irish or Gaelic name for County Wicklow.
Its length is 41 miles from Bray to the southern corner near Ballingate House and it is 31 ½ miles in breadth from Mizen Head to the boundary near Dunlavin. The area is 781.6 square miles (2,024.4 sq km).
The County was the territory of the O’Brynes and O’Tooles in pre-Norman times. Along its coast, there were also several Viking settlements including Wicklow and Arklow. The Normans invaded the County near the end of the twelfth century and the coastal towns were under their power. In 1606, County Wicklow was formed from land that was previously part of Counties Dublin and Carlow; becoming the last county to be formed in Ireland, about 400 years after the first county. After the Irish Catholic Rebellion in 1641, Cromwell took over the forts and strongholds, but the mountains of Wicklow provided refuge for the rebels until after the 1798 rebellion, when the Military Road was built through the mountains to provide access to end the rebellion.
In 1821, the County’s population was 110,767 and increased to 126,143 in 1841. During the Great Famine of 1845-1847, the population decreased until it was 98,979 in 1851. The population continued to decrease to 57,591 in 1926. In 2006, the population was 126,194. County Wicklow is predominately Roman Catholic. In 1891, the percentage of Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist was 79.3%, 18.7%, 0.7% and 1.0%. Overtime, the Roman Catholics increased to 81.8% in 2002, while the Church of Ireland, Presbyterians and Methodists decreased to 6.9%, 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, with other or no religions increasing to about 5.8%.
General Information about this county[edit | edit source]
- The county of Wicklow is a maritime county of the province of Leinster and is bounded by Dublin, Kildare, Carlow and Wexford.
- The county is partly in the diocese of Ferns, but chiefly in the diocese of Dublin. The county is divided into the baronies of Arklow, Balinacor, Newcastle, Half-Rathdown, Shillelagh, Lower Talbotstown, and Upper Talbotstown. The county contains the incorporated seaport, market and assize town of Wicklow; the incorporated market-town of Baltinglass; the seaports and market-towns of Arklow and Bray; the disfranchised borough, market and post-town of Blessington; the market and post-towns of Rathdrum, Carnew, Dunlaven, Tinahely, and Stratford-upon-Slancey; the post-towns of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy, Enniskerry, Ashford, Annamoe, Delgany, Glanealy, and Newbridge. The principle villages are Bolinolea, Rathnew, Donard, Kilcoole, Roundwood, and Redcross.
- Agriculture includes potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, and turnips.
Information provided by the 1847 edition of Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland."
General County Research Information[edit | edit source]
Further information about County Wicklow is available at the GenUKI site.
Archives and Libraries[edit | edit source]
Wicklow County Archives
Wicklow Local Authority Archive
Wicklow County Council Buildings
Station Road, Wicklow Town, County Wicklow
Telephone: 353-01-0404-20126
Website
Wicklow Family History Centre
Wicklow County Archives
Station Road, Wicklow Town, County Wicklow
Telephone: 00-353-(0)-404-20126
Fax: 00-353-(0)-404-61612
E-mail: wfh@eircom.net
Website
Wicklow Local History Ballywaltrim Library
Boghall Road, Bray, County Wicklow
Telephone: 353-01-2723205
Fax: 353-01-2866581
E-mail: wcclhq@eircom.net
Census[edit | edit source]
- 1901 Ireland Census, 1901 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
- 1911 Ireland Census, 1911 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
Church Records[edit | edit source]
- 1623-1866 Ireland, Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage License Bonds Indexes, 1623-1866 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
- 1701-1845 Ireland, Catholic Qualification & Convert Rolls, 1701-1845 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information[edit | edit source]
- List of County Wicklow Civil Parishes
- List of County Wicklow Catholic Parishes
- Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI has images of RC records for all of Ireland
Civil Registration[edit | edit source]
- 1845-1913 Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
- 1845-1958 Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
Directories[edit | edit source]
- 1880 Ireland, Thom's Irish Almanac, 1880 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index, images available on Findmypast
- 1884 Ireland, Thom's Irish Almanac & Official Directory 1884 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
Land and Property[edit | edit source]
- 1810-1926 Ireland, Dog Licence Registrations, 1810-1926 at Ancestry — index & images, ($)
- 1831 - 1856 Ireland, Valuation Office Books, 1831-1856 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
- 1847-1864 Ireland, Griffith's Valuations, 1847-1864 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
Maps[edit | edit source]
1885 County Map: Courtesy of London Ancestor
Military[edit | edit source]
- 1914-1918 Ireland, Memorial Record: World War I, 1914-1918 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
Probate Records[edit | edit source]
- 1595-1858 Ireland, Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
Societies[edit | edit source]
Bray Cualaan Historical Society
Attention: Claire Crowther
128, Newcourt Road
Bray
County Wicklow
Websites[edit | edit source]
To view a list of Wicklow web sites, visit FHLFavorites.info sites.
