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Rathdangan

Not to be confused with Rathangan, County Kildare or Rathangan, County Wexford.

Rathdangan
Ráth Daingin
Village
Rathdangan village
Rathdangan village
Rathdangan is located in Ireland
Rathdangan
Rathdangan
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°55′N 6°33′W / 52.917°N 6.550°W / 52.917; -6.550
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Wicklow
Area
 • Total52 km2 (20 sq mi)
Population
 (2006)
 • Total543[1]
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

Rathdangan (Irish: Ráth an Daingin[2], meaning 'Ringfort of the Stronghold') is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is in the Electoral Division of Rathdangan, in Civil Parish of Kiltegan, in the Barony of Upper Talbotstown.[3]

History

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Evidence of habitation is shown by a Bronze Age burial cist, a fort dating from at least the eight-century and a Norman moat at Killamoat. A 1668 survey records 18 houses in the village. Due to its mountainous elevation, in the severe winters of 1947, 1963 and 1982, Rathdangan was isolated for weeks.[4] In 1985 the town was caught up in the moving statues phenomena gripping Ireland when people claimed to see the Rathdangan Marian Year Virgin Mary statue move.[5]

Toponymy

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In Liam Price's extensive survey of place names of County Wicklow he recorded that in the Down Survey, dated 1655-9, the name is first noted as Radangin, but the 1660 the Books of Survey and Distribution now uses the spelling Radanginge. A few years later, in 1668, Rathdangin is stated in the Hearth Money Roll of County Wicklow, followed by Radangin in the 1685 Hiberniæ Delineatio. Finally the current village name is shown in A.R. Neville's Map of County Wicklow from circa 1810.[6]

Geography

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Rathdangan is at an elevation of 207m.[7] and is located on the road from Aughrim to Baltinglass joining the east and west of County Wicklow.[4] To the north-east the terrain rises up to the summit of Lugnaquilla, the highest mountain in Leinster[8] while Keadeen Mountain at 653 metres (2,142 ft) lies to the north.[9] The village has experienced severe weather with heavy snowfall, cutting off the village for days, during the winters of 1947, 1963 and 1982.[4]

Places of interest

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Rathdangan once had two pubs, two shops and a post office. One pub remained known by locals as Junior's but closed during Covid-19 and was put up for sale in July 2022;[10][11] the name over the door is Byrne's, per the family name. This pub, built in the early 1800s, was the first building in Rathdangan and one of three pubs in the village.[4] A community shop operates most mornings, in the parish hall "The Village Pantry".[12] An amenity park and playground was opened in July 2018.[13]

Tober Owen Well

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A holy well, Tober Owen, or St. John's Well, is a short distance from the village on the left side of the road leading to the Glen of Imaal. A festival used to take place on the saint's day, June 24. An ancient tree used to grow over the well and a man called Moore was eventually hanged on the tree, having been on the run for quite some time, for murdering Hume of Humewood who hunted rebels of the 1798 rebellion. The tale goes that nothing grew upon the limb on which Moore was hanged and when the tree was blown down in a storm, it was used as firewood by some locals but those pieces of the branch used to hang Moore exploded and scattered all around the place.[14] A memorial to Moore was erected beside the well.[4]

Saint Mary's Catholic Church

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Rathdangan post office soon after its closure in 2007

The local church at Killamote, about 1 km the village, is Saint Mary's Catholic Church, built in a classical style in 1847 and renovated in 1968. The tall windows, mainly of stained glass have semi-circular heads and two of them are by the stained-glass artist Harry Clarke. They depict the Crucifixion (1920), and the Nativity (1925).[15]

Post office

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In 1889 a question were asked in the House of Commons on the possibility of opening a post office but, while it had been considered, it was refused by the Postmaster General on the grounds there was insufficient mail to warrant the cost.[16] Six years later, in 1895, the post office had been opened[17] and closed in mid-2007.[12]

Shoeing stone

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Until the 1950s, the large flat circular stone, inside the bridge wall, was used to install iron bands on wooden cart wheels.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Rathdangan Community Council, Co. Wicklow". Muintir na Tire. 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  2. ^ Gasaitéar na hÉireann/Gazetteer of Ireland. Dublin: Ordnance Survey of Ireland. 1989. p. 149. ISBN 0-7076-0076-6.
  3. ^ "Rathdangan Townland, Co. Wicklow". Townlands.ie. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Points of Interest in Rathdangan". Wicklow Uplands Council. 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  5. ^ Nugent, Brian (1 January 2015). Marian Apparitions in Ireland: and related phenomena. Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu.com. pp. 500–502. ISBN 978-1326139926.
  6. ^ Price, Liam (1949). The Place-names of Co. Wicklow: The Barony of Ballinacor South, Volume 3. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. p. 113. ISBN 0901282359.
  7. ^ "Elevation of Rathdangan, Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland". Worldwide Elevation Map Finder. 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  8. ^ Simon Stewart (October 2018). "Arderins: Irish mountains of 500+m with a prominence of 30m". MountainViews Online Database. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Keadeen Mountain". MountainViews Online Database. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  10. ^ Mac Raghnaill, Eoin (24 August 2022). "End of an era as Junior's Bar in Rathdangan goes on the market". Wicklow. Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Junior's Bar Rathdangan". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  12. ^ a b Buchanan, Myles (28 April 2015). "Tearoom brings community together". Bray People. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Excitement as new Rathdangan play park opened". Wicklow People. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  14. ^ O'Toole, Edward (1933). "The Holy Wells of County Carlow". Béaloideas. 4 (2). Dublin: An Cumann Le Béaloideas Éireann/Folklore of Ireland Society: 122–124. ISSN 0332-270X. JSTOR 20521779=. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Killamoat Lower, Rathdangan, County Wicklow". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 12 August 2003. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Post Office at Rathdangan". Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. 340 (8). London: The Hansard Parliamentary Union: 239–240. 1889. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  17. ^ Frank, Harald; Stange, Klaus (29 September 1990). Irish Post Offices and their postmarks 1600-1990. Munich: Forchumgs- und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Irland e.V. p. 298.
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