Newtownmountkennedy

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Newtownmountkennedy (Irish: Baile an Chinnéidigh, meaning 'Kennedy's town') is a small town in County Wicklow, Ireland. It developed within the historic townland of Ballygarny (Irish: Baile Ó gCearnaigh) (now Mount Kennedy Demesne), although all that remains is a motte where a church, graveyard and a castle or tower house once stood just 0.85 km (0.53 mi) north of the town. It acquired its present name in the mid-seventeenth-century, when Sir Robert Kennedy, M.P. for Kildare, made it his principal residence. It is just off the N11 road to Wexford, just south of Kilpedder and south-west of Greystones. It is about 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Wicklow town, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Bray and approximately 35 km (22 mi) from Dublin. The R772 regional road passes through the village. This was the main Dublin-Wexford route, the N11, but the village was bypassed by the new N11 dual carriageway in 1990. This town has one of the longest place names in Ireland. Between the 2011 and 2016 census, the population of the town increased by 17.6% (from 2,410 to 2,835 inhabitants), one of the highest growth rates in County Wicklow on the period. The area is a dormitory town for some workers commuting to Bray and Dublin.The headquarters of Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board, are situated in the village forest. Newtownmountkennedy is in the Roman Catholic parish of Kilquade and one of the Kilquade parish's two chapels of ease is located in the village at the junction with the Roundwood Road.