A note first: this is Aughrim in County Wicklow. The famous Battle of Aughrim in 1691 - the bloodiest battle ever fought on Irish soil - was at Aughrim in County Galway. Two different places. Worth knowing before you arrive expecting Williamite earthworks and find a Wicklow market town on the River Derry.
The Aughrim that is here is a small south Wicklow town with its own 1798 story. The United Irishmen rebellion of that year ran hard through this part of Wicklow - south Wicklow and Wexford were the epicentre - and the area around Aughrim was the operating ground of Joseph Holt, a Protestant farmer who became the Wicklow mountains' most capable guerrilla commander. Holt held out in the hills for months after the rising was crushed elsewhere, negotiated his surrender in October 1798, was transported to New South Wales, and eventually wrote memoirs that were published in 1838. He was not the romantic rebel of later mythology; he was a practical man who survived.
The town itself is a market village for south Wicklow agriculture. A few pubs, a church, the river, the hills. A useful stop between Rathdrum and the border country near Shillelagh and Tinahely.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
The 1798 United Irishmen uprising tore through south Wicklow. Prisoners taken in the area were killed by yeomanry near Aughrim in June 1798 - one of the atrocities that fed the guerrilla campaign that followed in the mountains.
Stories & lore → 02 Joseph HoltJoseph Holt (1756-1826) was a Protestant farmer from Mullinacuff near Aughrim who became the most effective rebel commander in south Wicklow after 1798. He negotiated his own surrender in October 1798 and was transported to New South Wales, where he eventually became a prosperous farmer.
Stories & lore → 03 The Derry RiverThe River Derry runs through the town. South Wicklow agriculture - cattle, sheep, the rolling hills toward Shillelagh - starts here. This is working country.
Walks & outings →The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.
There is no bad time. There are different times.
The south Wicklow hills are green and accessible. A useful stop on a circuit of the county.
The Tinahely Agricultural Show (August bank holiday Monday, 15 minutes west) is the big event in this corner of Wicklow.
Quiet, the hills are clear, the Derry River runs well after rain.
A small market town in the south Wicklow hills in January. Fine if passing through; not a destination season.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
That Aughrim is in County Galway. Two-and-a-half hours west. Different county, different battle, different century's significance.
Aughrim is a stopping point, not a destination. It earns a half-day if you're interested in the 1798 story; otherwise it's a useful lunch break on a south Wicklow circuit.
A small market town in south Wicklow. Opening hours outside tourist season can be limited. Ring ahead.
Rathdrum to Aughrim is 10 minutes south on the R753. Wicklow town is 25 minutes east.
Limited local services. Car is the practical option for this part of south Wicklow.