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Arklow
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Arklow is situated at
the mouth of the River Avoca, the longest river entirely within
County Wicklow and was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century.
It was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798
rebellion. It is now a thriving commuter town with a rising
population.
The town is divided by the river, which is crossed by the Nineteen
Arches bridge, a stone arch bridge linking the south or main part of
the town with the north part, called Ferrybank. The Nineteen Arches
bridge is the longest hand made stone bridge in Ireland and is
considered a famous landmark.
In the past 5 years Arklow has witnessed a plethora of new private
housing developments, spanning from the Kilbride quarter on the
Dublin road almost to the N11 on the Wexford road. There are now 6
local authority housing estates and one Respond housing association
in Arklow.
Arklow has a rich and varied history, deeply entrenched in
seafaring, fishing and boat building industries. The oldest part of
the town is known as ‘The Fisheries’ named during the booming
fishing industry in the 18th century. The harbour still boasts a
sizeable fleet of fishing boats today. Both the north and south quay
are busy working areas, complete with an attractive marina, quayside
developments and sailing yachts. The harbour area is also home to
the RNLI lifeboat station, which is in operation since 1826. Every
year the town of Arklow celebrates its Maritime tradition on the
August Bank holiday in the form of the Maritime festival.
The national sail training vessel Asgard II, and Gypsy Moth III, the
yacht that Francis Chichester sailed on the first solo transatlantic
yacht race in 1960, were built by John Tyrrell & Son Ltd in Arklow.
Recent times have seen large reductions in cargo and fishing, and
the shipyards have closed.
Arklow Golf Links was formed by Hawtree & Taylor in 1927 and has
evolved with the aid of inputs from Eddie Hackett and in recent
times Eddie Connaughton. The links has been described as a hidden
jewel and the Southern Region of the Irish PGA held their 2001 and
2002 Championships on this links.
The town is an excellent base from where one can explore the Vale of
Avoca and the Wicklow Mountains, which are just a few kilometres
west of the town. The glorious sandy beaches of Brittas Bay and
Clogga are well worth a visit. There are many activities one can
participate in when you visit Arklow - angling, golfing and swimming
to say a few. For the younger generation the local Town Council has
recently installed a state of the art playground at Sea View Avenue
for 2 to 12 year olds. The playground is complete with colourful
climbing towers, swings, slides, it has protective tiling and is
fully surrounded by protective railings. Beside the playground is
the recently revamped Pitch and Putt links. |
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Arklow Holiday Homes - County Wicklow, Ireland