Kiltealy, Cill Téile, Co. Wexford

Cill Téile · Co. Wexford

A crossroads in the Blackstairs foothills with a mountain at the back door.

Kiltealy is a small village on the eastern flank of the Blackstairs Mountains in north-west Wexford, about seven miles west of Enniscorthy on the R702. The name is from Cill Téile - the church of Téile, a saint about whom almost nothing survives. The village is a junction, a church, a graveyard, a pub and a handful of houses. It would be unremarkable except for the mountain over its shoulder.

That mountain is Mount Leinster, the highest of the Blackstairs at 795 metres, with a 2RN transmitter mast on the summit and a tarred service road that runs most of the way up. You can drive to the car park, walk to the top in an hour and see Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow and on a good day the Welsh coast. The whole western side of the parish is mountain - heather, granite, sheep, and the long ridge running south towards Blackstairs Mountain itself.

The other thing the village carries quietly is 1798. The rebellion of that summer ran through these hills constantly. Father Murphy's column passed close on its way north after Vinegar Hill; Kelly of Killanne grew up in the next parish; the road south from here drops you towards New Ross. There is no big monument, no museum. The mountain has the memory.

Population

c. 400

01 / 06

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The mountain

Mount Leinster sits right over the village.

795 metres of granite on the Wexford-Carlow line. A tarred service road climbs to the transmitter mast on top. Five counties on a clear day.

Walks & outings → 02 1798

Rebel country, in and out.

The Wexford rising swirled through these hills in the summer of 1798. New Ross is south, Vinegar Hill is east, Bunclody is north, and Father Murphy's column came this way more than once.

Stories & lore → 03 The parish

Templeshanbo and the Blackstairs.

A church, a school, a pub, a few shops, and lanes that lead up onto the ridge. The mountain is always to your west.

About Kiltealy →

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Summer of the Rising

1798 - the rebels in the hills

The Wexford rebellion of 1798 fits inside a small triangle of country and Kiltealy sits on its western edge. The big set-piece battles - New Ross on 5 June, Vinegar Hill at Enniscorthy on 21 June, Bunclody (then Newtownbarry) on 1 June - all happened within a day's march. Pikemen moved through these lanes constantly between them. Father John Murphy of Boolavogue led a column up this way after Vinegar Hill, looking for new ground in the Wicklow and Carlow hills; he was caught and hanged at Tullow in early July. John Kelly, the rebel of P.J. McCall's ballad, came from Killanne, the next parish over. The country between New Ross and the mountain was rebel country for three weeks in June 1798 and has carried the memory ever since.

1941

The Heinkel in the heather

On a winter night in 1941 a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber strayed off course over the Irish Sea and slammed into the side of the Blackstairs above Kiltealy. The four-man crew were killed. Ireland was officially neutral, and the bodies were buried with military honours by the Irish Army; the wreckage stayed on the hill for years and small pieces of it are said to still turn up in the heather. It is one of a handful of German aircraft that came down on Irish ground during the war, the kind of story the parish tells in the pub if you ask the right person.

Cill Téile to Anthony Kearns

The parish on the side of the mountain

The church the village is named for is gone - Cill Téile, the church of Téile, was an early Christian foundation about which the records are silent. The parish today is part of Templeshanbo and sits in the old barony of Scarawalsh. The most famous modern son is the tenor Anthony Kearns, born in Kiltealy in 1971 and one of the three original Irish Tenors with Ronan Tynan and John McDermott. The village will tell you about him without making a fuss. There is no plaque. There never will be. That is the parish way.

03 / 06

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Mount Leinster summit road The big walk in the parish. From the Nine Stones car park on the Carlow side, or from the Kiltealy side via the service road, you can climb to the 795m summit. The road is tarred all the way to the mast. View takes in five counties, the Wicklow hills, and the Irish Sea on a clear day.

8 km return from the car parkdistance

2-3 hours on foot, 20 min by cartime

The Blackstairs ridge Mount Leinster south along the ridge to Blackstairs Mountain (735m) and down. Open hill, not waymarked, map and compass weather. A second car at the far end saves a long road walk back.

12 km full traversedistance

5-6 hourstime

Cullentra Loop A waymarked looped trail from the village graveyard up onto the lower slopes and back. Moderate going, about 235m of climb, views east across Wexford to the coast on a clear morning.

7.6 km loopdistance

2-3 hourstime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Gorse on the lower slopes, lambs in every field, the summit road open and dry by April.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings on the ridge. The 1798 commemorations land in late June if that interests you.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Heather purple in August, bracken turning in October. The quietest months on the hill.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Cloud sits on Mount Leinster for days. The summit road ices up. Stay low or go properly equipped.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Coming just for the village

There is not much to it - a church, a pub, a junction, a few houses. The reason to come is the mountain. If the cloud is down on Mount Leinster, drive on to Bunclody or Enniscorthy and come back another day.

Driving the summit road in low cloud

The whole point is the view. If you cannot see the mast from the bottom of the hill, the top will be a wall of grey and the descent is not fun. Wait for a clear morning.

Hunting for a 1798 visitor centre

There is not one. The rebellion sites are at Vinegar Hill (Enniscorthy), the National 1798 Centre in Enniscorthy, and Boolavogue twenty miles east. Kiltealy is the country the rising moved through, not a stop on its tourist trail.

Getting there.

By car

Seven miles west of Enniscorthy on the R702. About 20 km north-east of New Ross on minor roads. Signposted off the main Enniscorthy-Borris road.

By bus

No direct service. Nearest Bus Éireann stops are in Enniscorthy and Bunclody; you will need a car from there.

By train

Nearest station is Enniscorthy on the Dublin-Rosslare line, about 15 minutes by car.

By air

Dublin Airport is about 2 hours by road. Waterford is closer but flights are minimal.

Next on the tour

Co. Wexford

Killanne

Next parish over, where John Kelly of the ballad was born. A crossroads, a church, a monument.

Co. Wexford

Bunclody

North side of the mountain on the Slaney, where Wexford ends and Carlow begins.

Co. Wexford

Enniscorthy

Vinegar Hill, the National 1798 Centre, and the Slaney running through the middle of town.