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RATHNURE

CO. WEXFORD · IE

Rathnure
Ráth an Iúir, Co. Wexford

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

Ráth an Iúir · Co. Wexford

The parish that produced the Rackards. That's the line on the gate.

Rathnure is a small village on the R731 about 12 km west of Enniscorthy, in the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains. The parish takes in Rathnure itself, Killanne, Templeudigan and Ballywilliam, and runs to roughly 1,600 people spread across a wide handful of townlands. If you stop in the village proper you'll see a church, a school, a pub, a pitch, and a long view west to the ridge. That's most of it.

What lifts the place above the run of Blackstairs parishes is the Rackards. Nicholas - Nicky - Rackard was born here on 28 April 1922 and died on 10 April 1976. He played for Rathnure and for Wexford. He won All-Ireland senior hurling medals in 1955 and 1956 alongside his brothers Bobby and Billy, with a fourth brother, Jim, also in the county set-up. By the time he retired he held the championship goal-scoring record at 59 - a number that stood for decades. Most county teams have one player they build a statue to. Wexford built theirs to Nicky in the town. The parish kept the man.

Come for the hurling and you'll get the mountain thrown in. Mount Leinster and the Blackstairs ridge fill the western sky from any field in the parish; the summit road is twenty minutes by car and the views on a clear day are five-counties wide. There's one pub worth the visit - Conran's, in the village, named Best Local Pub in the South-East at the 2025 Irish Pub Awards. After that the parish goes back to being what it has always been: lanes, hedges, a few houses, a pitch, and the mountain.

01 / 07

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 Rackards

Four brothers, one club, two All-Irelands.

Nicky, Bobby, Billy and Jim - Rathnure men who carried Wexford to the 1955 and 1956 All-Ireland hurling titles. Nicky is on most lists of the greatest hurlers ever.

Stories & lore → 02 The mountain

The Blackstairs at the back door.

Mount Leinster, 794m, sits on the western horizon. The summit road climbs to a transmitter you can see from half of Wexford and most of Carlow.

Walks & outings → 03 The club

Rathnure St Anne's, founded 1931.

Hurling first. Most county senior hurling titles in Wexford history. The pitch is the centre of the parish - Sunday afternoons here are not casual.

About Rathnure →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Conran's Bar

Locals, GAA, music nights

Village pub

The pub in Rathnure. Run by the Conran family. Refurbished in 2024 - bigger bar, covered outdoor area, redone lounge. Named Best Local Pub in the South-East at the 2025 Irish Pub Awards. Sponsors the GAA and the soccer. If you're stopping in Rathnure for a pint, this is where the pint is.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

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

1922-1976

Nicky Rackard

Born in Killanne parish on 28 April 1922, raised in the Rathnure townlands, died in Wexford on 10 April 1976. Played senior hurling for Wexford from 1940 to 1957 - seventeen years on the county team. Captain of the side that lost the 1954 All-Ireland final to Cork, then back the next year to win it: Wexford 3-13, Galway 2-8, September 1955. They retained it in 1956, beating Cork 2-14 to 2-8 with Art Foley's save from Christy Ring and Nicky's late goal sealing it. He retired with 59 championship goals, a record that stood into the 21st century. Most lists of the greatest hurlers of all time have him in the top five.

Nicky, Bobby, Billy, Jim

The four brothers

Rackard wasn't one player, it was a family. Bobby - full-back, Texaco Hurler of the Year 1955 - played for Wexford from 1947 to 1957. Billy came in behind them and won a third Liam McCarthy in 1960 after the two with Nicky and Bobby in 1955 and 1956. Jim, the fourth brother, played football and hurling for the county. All four wore the Rathnure St Anne's jersey at club level. They are routinely named as the greatest hurling family in the game.

Founded 1931

Rathnure St Anne's

The club is what the parish does on a Sunday. Founded in 1931, principally a hurling club, named after the old church at St Anne's. Rathnure has won more Wexford senior hurling championships than any other club. The current generation play in a partnership with Killanne under the Rathnure-Killanne banner for some grades - two villages, one team, an arrangement that mostly works because the parish was always one community to begin with.

The wall to the west

The Blackstairs

The ridge that frames every view from the parish runs roughly north-south along the Wexford-Carlow line. Mount Leinster, 794.4m, is the highest point. The hills are old, smooth, and covered in heather and bracken; the summit road, built to service a TV transmitter operational since 1963, is the highest transmission site in Ireland. From the top you can see Wicklow, Slievenamon and Brandon Hill on a good day. From Rathnure you can see the mast.

04 / 07

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 standard route. Park at the Nine Stones viewing point on the South Leinster Way at about 400m and walk the tarred service road south to the summit at 794m. Not pretty walking - it's a road - but the view at the top is the point. Drive it in summer if the legs aren't in it.

4.5 km return from the Nine Stones car parkdistance

2 hours on foot, 15 min by cartime

Mount Leinster and Slievebawn Moderate loop taking in Mount Leinster and the neighbouring Slievebawn summit. Off the road, on the hill proper. Heather underfoot, bog in patches, big views the whole way. AllTrails-rated moderate but treat it as harder in cloud.

7.5 km loopdistance

3-4 hourstime

Blackstairs Loop The full Blackstairs day from Barrack. Hard hike, 840m of climbing, takes in Black Rock Mountain and Blackstairs Mountain. Map, compass, weather window. Not waymarked the whole way.

17 kmdistance

6-7 hourstime

The parish lanes The byroads between Rathnure, Killanne, Kiltealy and Ballywilliam are quiet walking country. Hedges, hay sheds, sheep, the mountain always to your west. Good for an evening hour after Conran's.

5-8 km loopsdistance

1-2 hourstime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Gorse coming yellow on the Blackstairs, lambs in every field, the summit road clear by April. Club hurling starting up.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings on the mountain. Wexford senior hurling championship games at the club ground if you can find a fixture. Pub busy on summer weekends.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Heather and bracken turning rust on the hills. Quietest time on the ridge. Club finals season.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Cloud sits on the ridge for days at a stretch and the summit road ices. The pub is good in winter; the mountain is for the equipped only.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

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 to "see the village"

Rathnure is a church, a pub, a pitch and a few houses on a road. The parish is what matters and the parish is spread out. Pair it with Mount Leinster, the Killanne stone, or Enniscorthy or you'll be back in the car in ten minutes.

Looking for a Rackard museum

There isn't one. The pitch is the museum. The Nicky Rackard statue is in Wexford town on Selskar Street, not here. The pub named after the brothers - Rackard's - is in Enniscorthy on Rafter Street. Rathnure has the parish, the club and the graves. That's the exhibit.

The summit road in cloud

The whole point of going up Mount Leinster is the view. If the top is in the cloud - and it often is - turn round and come back another day. The transmitter mast is not interesting up close.