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ANNACURRA

CO. WICKLOW · IE

Annacurra
Áth na Cora, Co. Wicklow

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 08 / 08

Áth na Cora · Co. Wicklow

A one-pub farming village in south-east Wicklow where the Wicklow United Irishmen first sat down in 1797.

Annacurra is a small farming village in south-east Wicklow, in the old barony of Ballinacor South, sitting just off the R747 that runs from Arklow on the coast inland to Baltinglass. Aughrim is about a mile and a half north; Tinahely is the next town the other way. The River Derry runs through the surrounding land, and the hills around are given over to cattle and sheep.

It is the kind of place that is a parish before it is a village. There is one pub, one church, a national school of around a hundred and twenty children, a community centre and a GAA ground. Saint Brigid's Catholic church was built in 1862 and belongs, oddly for a Wicklow village, to the Diocese of Ferns rather than Dublin - a hangover from the old ecclesiastical boundaries that run through this corner of the county.

What Annacurra has that bigger places do not is a clean line into the 1798 story. In December 1797 the inaugural meeting of the Wicklow county committee of the United Irishmen was held in a house here. Within months the whole of west and south Wicklow was under martial law, and local men were among those who died in the rebellion of 1798. The hills you are looking at were rebel country.

Do not come expecting facilities. Come if you want a quiet pint in a genuine country pub, a look at a plain 1860s parish church, and a base in the lanes between Aughrim and Tinahely. Everything with a visitor centre - Avoca, the Avonmore valley, the Aughrim 1798 story - is fifteen minutes away by car.

Population

~150

Pubs

1and counting

Founded

Parish village; Saint Brigid's church built 1862

Coords

52.8419° N, 6.3569° W

01 / 08

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 village

One pub, one church, one GAA pitch, and the River Derry running past.

A small parish village in the Ballinacor South barony, off the R747 between Arklow and Baltinglass, about a mile and a half from Aughrim. Saint Brigid's church dates to 1862. Roughly 150 people in the village proper, more across the scattered townlands.

Walks & outings → 02 The history

Where the Wicklow United Irishmen held their first meeting in 1797.

The inaugural meeting of the county committee was held in December 1797 in a house in Annacurra. Parishioners died in the rebellion that followed in 1798. South-west Wicklow was a republican stronghold and martial-law country in those years.

Stories & lore →

02 / 08

The pubs.

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

The Saltee

Genuine rural local

Country pub with rooms, in the village

Annacurra's one pub, and a proper country one - a well-poured Guinness, a beer garden, and a handful of guest rooms upstairs. It sits beside the community centre in the middle of the village. Do not expect a gastro menu or late weekend crowds; expect the kind of bar where the regulars know each other and a stranger gets noticed in a friendly way. If you only have one drink in Annacurra, this is where you have it, because it is the only place you can.

03 / 08

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
The Saltee	Guest rooms over the village pub	The pub keeps a few rooms, which makes it the only bed in Annacurra itself. Simple country-pub accommodation rather than a hotel. For more choice, Aughrim a mile and a half north has guesthouses and the Brooklodge area beyond it, and Tinahely has options the other way.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

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

December 1797, in a house in Annacurra

The United Irishmen meet, 1797

The inaugural meeting of the Wicklow county committee of the Society of United Irishmen was held in Annacurra in December 1797. By that stage thousands of Wicklowmen had sworn the oath, emissaries having crossed in from Kildare and Dublin earlier in the year. West and south-west Wicklow was militarised from September 1797, placed under martial law, and turned into pike-making, arms-raiding country. When fighting broke out in May 1798 the parishes around Annacurra and Kilaveny lost men, and the wider district - Mount Pleasant near Tinahely was used as an insurgent camp under Billy Byrne of Ballymanus - was in the thick of it. For a village this small, that first 1797 meeting is a real anchor in the national story.

A plain parish church, and a borrowed diocese

Saint Brigid's, 1862

Saint Brigid's Catholic church in Annacurra was built in 1862. It is a plain rural parish church, not a showpiece, but worth the note that Annacurra sits in the Diocese of Ferns - the Wexford diocese - rather than Dublin, a survival of older church boundaries that cut across this corner of Wicklow. The parish chalice is recorded as carrying an inscription presenting it to the Parish of Kilpipe in 1809, older than the church it now serves.

The first three county titles, 1887 to 1889

Annacurra GAA, champions of the 1880s

Annacurra GAA, Áth an Churraigh, is one of the oldest football clubs in Wicklow and won the first three Wicklow Senior Football Championship titles in a row, from 1887 to 1889, in the very first years of the organisation. The club has taken nine senior titles in all over its history and plays at Joey Doyle Park in green and yellow. For a village of this size to have been county champions three times before 1890 tells you how seriously the game was taken in these hills.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

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

Village and River Derry stroll There is no waymarked trail in the village itself, but the quiet lanes around Annacurra and along the River Derry make an easy hour on foot through farmland. Flat, green, and largely traffic-free. Good for clearing the head, not for views - for those you climb out toward the higher ground around Aughrim and Tinahely.

2-3 kmdistance

45 minutestime

Aughrim river walks A mile and a half north, Aughrim sits where the Ow and Derry rivers meet and has proper riverside walks through the village and a granite-built main street. The easiest 'real' walk from an Annacurra base.

4 kmdistance

1 hourtime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The hills green up and the lanes are at their best. Quiet, no crowds, lambs in the fields. A good time to base yourself here and range out to Avoca and the Avonmore valley.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings, the beer garden at the Saltee in use, and the GAA season in full swing at Joey Doyle Park. The wider south Wicklow tourist sites are busy, but Annacurra itself stays quiet.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The best light on the surrounding hills and the woods around Avoca and Aughrim turning. Cool, clear walking weather.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and little open beyond the pub and the church. Lanes can flood. Fine as a quiet stopover, not as a destination.

◐ Mind yourself

07 / 08

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

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

Expecting a high street

Annacurra is a parish village, not a market town. One pub, one church, a school and a GAA pitch is the whole of it. If you want shops, a choice of food, or anything resembling a tourist strip, Aughrim and Arklow are the places to drive to.

Confusing it with Annamoe

Annacurra is in the south-east of the county near Aughrim. Annamoe is up in the central mountains near Roundwood and Glendalough. Two different villages, easily mixed up by name. Set the satnav by Aughrim and the R747, not by name alone.

Getting there.

By car

Annacurra is off the R747 between Arklow and Baltinglass. From Aughrim it is about a mile and a half south on local roads (5 minutes). Arklow and the N11 coast road are about 25 minutes east; Dublin is roughly 1h 15m via the N11 and inland roads.

By bus

There is no direct village bus service of note. Local Link Wicklow runs rural routes through the Aughrim and Tinahely area; check current timetables, as services are limited and infrequent in this part of the county.

By train

No railway. The nearest stations are Arklow and Rathdrum on the Dublin to Rosslare line, both around 25 to 30 minutes by car, with onward connections to Dublin Connolly.