Wicklow

Discover Wicklow

Wicklow Town is the county town of County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland; in 2016 it had a population of 10,584. Its English name is simply Wicklow, probably from Wykinglo "Viking meadow", but the same name is also used for the county, so on these pages it's called "Wicklow Town" wherever ambiguity might arise. The Irish name is unrelated: Cill Mhantáin meaning "church of the toothless one", supposedly because a colleague of St Patrick got his teeth knocked out by hostile locals, but still succeeded in establishing a church here. The River Vartry, which is dammed to supply water to Dublin near its source above Roundwood, reaches the coast 4 km north of Wicklow. There it's trapped behind a spit and forms a long lagoon before entering the sea through Wicklow harbour.