a maritime county in the province of Leinster, in Ireland, bounded on the north by Dublin county, on the east by St George's Channel, on the south by Wexford, and on the west by Carlow, a detached portion of Dublin, and Kildare. It lies between 52°40' and 53°14' north latitude, and 5°57' and 6°46' west longitude, extending forty miles in its greatest length from north to south, and thirty-three in its greatest breadth from east to west, and comprehending an area of 781 square miles, or 500,178 acres, of which 280,393 are arable, 200,754 uncultivated, 17,600 in plantation, 341 in towns, and 1090 are covered with water.
The central part of the county consists of a range of elevated mountains, which contains the 201,000 acres of unimproved pasture land, 130,000 of which are situated in positions exceeding 1000 feet in elevation. It is probable that about 20,000 acres may be drained and cultivated advantageously; 70,000 acres may be drained, and thereby improved as pasture for sheep and young cattle, and about 111,000 acres must be considered as wholly unimprovable.
According to Ptolemy the geographer, the northern part of the county was the residence of the tribe of the Cauci, and the southern that of the Menapi. It was afterwards occupied by the Irish septs of the Byrnes and O'Tooles, who, though the district was claimed by the English after their settlement, as part of the county of Dublin, maintained their independence, and carried on an almost continual war against the new settlers, until the end of the reign of Elizabeth, after whose death the district was made shire-guard by her successor, James I., in 1605. The inhabitants adhered to the royal cause during the war of 1641, until the arrival of Cromwell, to whose superior force they submitted without opposition. No other occurrences of historical importance took place until the year 1798, when several bands of insurgents sought refuge in the mountain-fastnesses after the dispersion of their main body in Wexford, and continued to harass the neighbouring Wicklow counties, until tranquillity was restored, partly by making terms with their leaders, and partly by cutting roads and establishing military posts through the interior of the country, which till then had been nearly impassable.
The county forms one of the four great mountain-groups of Ireland. The land rises from the valley of the Liffey and Dublin Bay on the north, by successive ridges, increasing in height, and occasionally intersected by deep glens, to the middle of the county, whence it again subsides to the borders of Wexford and Carlow. The direction of the range is from north-east at Bray, to south-west, the central part of the line being usually the most elevated, and the surface declining to the sea on the east, and the level country of Kildare and Carlow on the west. Lugnaquilla, to the east of Baltinglas, is the most elevated point of the range. Its summit is 3039 feet above the sea-level. To the north, on the verge of Dublin county, are the Butter Mountain, 1459, Kippure, 2473, and the Three-rock Mountain, 1763 feet high; more southerly, Douce, 2384 feet, and Sugar-loaf, 1126. In the centre are Thonalaigue, 2683; Comaderry, 2296; Lugduff, 2148; Knockreagh, 1559; and Croglan, 2175. The glens form very striking and picturesque features of this romantic district, being deep, narrow, and several of them densely covered with wood. The most celebrated are the Dargle, near the county of Dublin; Glencree, the Glen of the Downs, the Devil's Glen, Glennmalure. More open and fertile are the Glen of Imail and the Vale of Ovoca. The rivers are few and small, all having their sources in the central group. The Liffey, which rises in Douce Mountain, and after a circuitous course through Kildare, discharges itself into Dublin Bay, is known chiefly as having the metropolitan city on its banks. The Slaney, which rises near Glendalough, is not navigable until it has traversed the greater part of Wexford county. The Ovoca is formed by the junction of the Owenmore and Owenbeg at the meeting of the waters in the romantic Vale of Ovoca. It is afterwards joined, at the "second meeting of the waters," by the Aughrim from the west, and empties itself into St George's Channel at Arklow. The Vartrey, a small stream, falls into the sea north of Wicklow Head. Numerous small lakes lie in the valleys between the central mountain-ridges. The most remarkable are Lough Bray, in Glencree, near the borders of Dublin; Lough Dan, Lough Tay, Luggela, and the lakes of Glendalough. The last form an object of peculiar interest, from their romantic situation, the remains of ancient ecclesiastical structures in their neighbourhood, and the popular legends connected with them. The coast presents a succession of fine prospects, but is much dreaded by mariners, in consequence of the sand-banks that skirt it. These are, the Kish Bank, each extremity of which is marked by a floating light; Bray Bank, the Codling, South Ridge, Wicklow, and Arklow Banks. The southern extremity of the last named is also marked by a floating light. The only harbours in this line of coast are those of Wicklow and Arklow, both fit only for small vessels. The projecting point of Wicklow Head is marked by two fixed lights. A few creeks afford shelter for fishing-craft. Herrings and round fish are taken off Wicklow Bank, where also oysters and lobsters are caught.
The western side of the county presents one of the great granite formations of Ireland, extending from Kingston Harbour to the south-western extremity of the county, and bordered on each side by a range of clay-slate rock. The rest of the county consists of clay-slate, graywacke, and graywacke slate, interspersed in various places with small patches of granite, quartz-rock, and greenstone-trap protrusions, with whim-dykes. The eastern side of the granitic range abounds with metalliferous veins, while the western is totally destitute of them. Lead has been raised near Lough Dan, at Luganure, in Comaderry Mountain, at Glendalough, and in Glennmalure; copper at Ballymurtagh, Wicklow, and elsewhere. In 1858, the mines of Wicklow produced 70,696 tons of iron pyrites, valued at £57,546. The granite supplies inexhaustible quantities of stone for building and flagging. Slates for roofing are procured at Dunstanstown and Carnew. The climate, though moist, is healthy; the lower lands near the sea produce the arbutus, myrtle, and laurestinus, which flourish in the open air, seldom requiring artificial protection during winter. The character of the soil is very various; near the sea, and along the banks of the larger rivers, it is rich, abounding with limestone, limestone-gravel, and marl. The mountainous tracts have generally a deep thick covering of heath and turf, based upon disintegrated granite. This part contains large tracts of bog. Along the verge of Dublin boundary, a substratum, lying within a few inches of the surface, forms a crust impenetrable to water, thus rendering the upper soil wholly unprofitable until this layer be broken up with the axe; for it resists the action of the spade or plough. Much of the natural timber with which the county was at a former period nearly covered, is still preserved, forming an important feature in the landscape; and young plantations are yearly rising around the mansions and villas with which this district, the chosen pleasure-ground of Ireland, is thickly studded.
The numbers of the population, as far as ascertained by reliable authorities, has been stated as follows:
| Year | Authority | No. of Inhabitants | |------|-----------|--------------------| | 1760 | De Burgo | 43,872 | | 1792 | Beaumont | 58,000 | | 1812 | Parliamentary census | 83,109 | | 1821 | Ditto | 110,767 | | 1831 | Ditto | 121,557 | | 1841 | Ditto | 126,143 | | 1851 | Ditto | 98,978 |
The latest of these returns gives an average of 127 inhabitants to each square mile, the smallest number in any county of Ireland. The return of the Commissioners of Public Instruction in 1834 gives a gross population of 118,661, of whom 25,005 were members of the established church, 322 Protestant dissenters, and 93,334 Roman Catholics. The number of children receiving instruction in the public schools at the under-named periods was—
| Year | Males | Females | Sex not ascertained | Total | |------|-------|---------|---------------------|-------| | 1821 | 5597 | 3108 | ... | 8,705 | | 1824-6 | 6377 | 4671 | 285 | 11,333|
The number of schools, and of pupils attending them, in 1851, was found by the Census Commissioners to have been—
| No. of Schools | No. of Children | |---------------|----------------| | National | 55 1,557 1,470 3,027 | | Church Education | 21 382 352 714 | | Endowed | 6 180 111 291 | | Boarding | 3 71 90 101 | | Private | 31 445 268 713 | | Parochial | 21 466 403 869 | | Free | 22 414 575 989 | | Workhouse | 4 402 521 923 | | Total | 163 3,957 3,730 7,687 |
The number of the children of each religious denomination, as stated in the return of 1824-26, being the only one Wicklow, in which this point is noticed, was members of the Established Church, 3666; dissenters, 31; Roman Catholics, 7270.
The county is divided into eight baronies:
| Baronies | Acres | Annual Valuation | |-------------------|-------|------------------| | Arklow | 67,357| 68,772 | | Ballinacor, North | 74,110| 15,676 | | Ballinacor, South | 78,316| 20,385 | | Newcastle | 52,296| 38,790 | | Rathdown | 32,879| 24,372 | | Shillelagh | 44,349| 23,046 | | Talbotstown, Lower| 88,361| 28,224 | | Talbotstown, Upper| 62,610| 32,636 | | **Total** | **500,178**| **251,791** |
These are subdivided into fifty-eight parishes, of which forty-nine are in the diocese of Dublin, two in Ferns, and seven in Leighlin. The diocese of Glendalough, which anciently comprehended the greater part of the county, having been united to that of Dublin in 1497, has been so intimately amalgamated with it that their respective boundaries cannot now be ascertained. The county returned ten members to the Irish parliament, two for the county at large, and two each for the boroughs of Baltinglas, Blessington, Carysfort, and Wicklow. All the boroughs were disfranchised at the time of the Union. The county is in the Leinster circuit. The assizes are held in the town of Wicklow, where the county court-house, prison, and infirmary are built. General sessions of the peace are also held there and at Baltinglas. There is a second infirmary at Baltinglas. Lunatics are sent to the district asylum in Dublin. Baltinglas, Rathdrum, and Shillelagh, are the seats of Poor Law Unions; and a small portion of the county is included in the neighbouring union of Rathdown.
The rich low lands near the sea, and along the banks of the Slaney and Ovoca, are under tillage, all the operations of which are carried on according to the most approved systems. The extent of land under each description of crop in 1849 and 1859, was—
| Crops | 1849 | 1859 | |------------------------|------|------| | Wheat | 7,817| 7,994| | Oats | 44,597| 31,109| | Barley, bere, rye, beans, and peas | 4,272| 2,494| | Potatoes | 11,177| 16,315| | Turnips | 5,303| 3,850| | Other green crops | 1,357| 1,467| | Flax | 7 | 4 | | Meadow and clover | 50,793| 56,716| | **Total** | **126,251**| **119,949**|
Much of the mountain-district is adapted for pasturage, particularly for feeding a small breed of sheep, whose meat is much prized in the Dublin market. The quantity of stock in the county in 1849 and 1859 was—
| Live Stock | 1849 | 1859 | |------------|------|------| | Horses | 11,464| 12,748| | Cattle | 67,428| 82,781| | Sheep | 139,235| 161,293| | Pigs | 19,972| 21,728|
The mountain of Lugnaquilla has a fine sheep-walk on its summit. Lime and marl are the chief manures: the former is brought by sea from Howth to the districts near Wicklow, the coast; it is also drawn in large quantities from Carlow to the inland parts. Butter is made in large quantities in the dairies, which are generally attached to the farm-houses. The fences in the most highly improved districts are of white thorn; in other parts earthen mounds, and in the rocky mountainous heights dry stone-walls.
The manufacture of flannels was formerly carried on extensively, and a market-house for their sale was erected at Rathdrum; but it has declined, and the woollen manufacture is now nearly confined to the fabrication of friezes and coarse cloths for home-consumption. Some coarse linen is also wrought for the same purpose. But the county owes its wealth wholly to its agriculture.
Though the high state of prosperity this county displays is mainly attributable to the well-directed efforts of agricultural industry, yet some portion of it must be allowed to arise from the number of men of landed property whom the extraordinary beauty of the country has induced to make it their chosen place of residence, thus heightening its natural advantages of scenery by the adventitious ornaments of splendid mansions and villas, surrounded by demesnes laid out in the most refined style. Two main lines of road conduct the stranger through it. The one on the eastern side, and mostly near the sea-coast, presents an almost uninterrupted succession of splendid prospects, through a highly-cultivated country. Proceeding from the city of Dublin, through the Scalp, are the lands of Powerscourt, the Dargle, the Glen of the Downs, Delgany, the Devil's Glen, Luggela, Glendalough, and the Vale of Ovoca, and the eye finds everywhere scenes of rural beauty. The other main road, along the western side, chiefly through the rich valley of the Slaney, presents a similar succession of scenery of a less romantic character. Even the intermediate space, though wholly composed of mountain-tracts little capable of high cultivation, presents several wild landscapes of combined cliff and glen, to which an easy access is found through the military road already noticed.
The peasantry, notwithstanding the proximity of the metropolis, resembles that of the more remote agricultural districts in habits, dwellings, and mode of life; the chief article of food being the potato, and the fuel turf, though coal imported from England is in general use among the wealthier classes, especially near the sea.
There are several cromlechs still existing, and many raths. Ruins of monastic buildings are to be seen at Baltinglas, Wicklow, Rathdrum, and Glendalough or "the Glen of the Two Lakes," where there is a pillar-tower, and the remains of several places of religious worship (one of them being the cathedral of the ancient diocese), from which it has acquired the name of "the Seven Churches." It had been the site of a city, the metropolis of the sept of the O'Toole's, and is now a place of great resort for visitors, from its picturesque scenery. Several castles were built in this county by the English, the sites of most of which can still be ascertained by what is left of their structures.
assize-town, is built on an elevated spot projecting into the sea near the mouth of the Vartrey. It was originally the site of a castle erected by Maurice Fitzgerald, and was long maintained as a post of importance, under the superintendence of a constable. It is a branch of the port of Dublin, the harbour being formed by the river Vartrey, but owing to a bar it is only accessible to vessels of small burthen. There are eight feet of water on the bar at spring tides, and only five at neap. Most of the ore produced by the Wicklow mines is shipped here for smelting. The town is small and irregularly built, owing most of its support to the assizes and sessions. It was a borough by prescription, but its corporate rights were confirmed by a charter of James I., granted in 1613, to be enjoyed under a port-reeve, burgesses, and freemen, who WIDIN had a right of exemption from harbour-dues, and of pasturage on the common. By the municipal corporation act, the old corporation was dissolved, and, under certain conditions, power is to be given to create a new one, styled "the portreeve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the town of Wicklow." There are a Saturday market, and four fairs annually. Races are held every year at the Murragh, a border of dry sandy land, extending for several miles along the seashore to the north of the town, forming a peninsula, which encloses a long narrow basin. The population in 1821 amounted to 2146, in 1831 to 2472, and in 1851 to 3141. The population of the other towns having each upwards of 2000 inhabitants was, in 1851, as follows:—Bray, 3156; Arklow, 3306.