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COOLBOY

CO. WICKLOW · IE

Coolboy
An Cúl Buí, Co. Wicklow

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

An Cúl Buí · Co. Wicklow

A one-pub village in the barony of Shillelagh, halfway between Tinahely and Carnew. Estate country, a handball alley, and the back roads into south Wicklow.

Coolboy is a small village in the barony of Shillelagh, in the south-west corner of Wicklow where the county runs down toward Carnew and the Wexford border. It sits on the R748, the road that links Aughrim with Carnew, a little over two miles south of Tinahely. The hills of the Wicklow uplands are behind you to the north and the land is flattening into farming country. A village you pass through rather than set out for.

What is here is honest about itself. There is one pub, The Little Moon, which doubles as the post office on the Carnew road. There is a Gaelic handball alley on the edge of the village and a handball team that uses it. There is no church - the nearest is two kilometres south at Coolafancy. Most of the houses date from the early nineteenth century, built when this whole stretch of country belonged to the Fitzwilliam family at Coollattin House, whose estate at its peak ran to 88,000 acres and twenty thousand tenants and covered close to a quarter of County Wicklow.

Coolboy is worth knowing as a waypoint. The Tinahely Railway Walk and the ancient oaks of Tomnafinnoge are a few minutes north, the Coollattin golf course is three kilometres off, and the back roads through here are quiet and good for cycling. Tinahely, with its August agricultural show, is the local town. If you want a pint and a sense of unhurried south Wicklow, this will do it. If you want sights, keep driving.

Population

~272 (2022)

Founded

Village largely early 19th century, on the Fitzwilliam Coollattin estate

Coords

52.7611° N, 6.4639° W

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 village

One pub, a post office, and a handball alley.

Coolboy is a small rural village on the R748 between Tinahely and Carnew. The Little Moon is the pub, the post office shares the same building, and the Gaelic handball alley on the edge of the village is home to the Coolboy team. Around 270 people. There is no church in the village - the nearest is two kilometres south at Coolafancy.

Getting there → 02 Estate country

Built by the Fitzwilliams of Coollattin.

Most of the village dates to the early nineteenth century, when this corner of Wicklow was part of the Coollattin estate - at its height 88,000 acres and 20,000 tenants, almost a quarter of the county. The eighteen-hole golf course at Coollattin, three kilometres off, is laid out on the old demesne.

Stories & lore →

02 / 07

The pubs.

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

The Little Moon

Old-world bar, the one place in the village

Village pub and post office, Carnew Road

The only pub in Coolboy, on the Carnew road, sharing its building with the village post office. A long-established old-world bar that serves as the local night spot, with a function room used for occasional live music and events. If you are in Coolboy of an evening, this is where the village is.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

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

The Fitzwilliams and a quarter of County Wicklow

The Coollattin estate

Coolboy and the country around it were, for most of two centuries, part of the Coollattin estate - the Irish holding of the Fitzwilliam family, the Earls Fitzwilliam, whose seat was at Coollattin House a few kilometres south near Shillelagh. At its height the estate ran to roughly 88,000 acres, carried around twenty thousand tenants, and covered close to a quarter of County Wicklow. The early-nineteenth-century shape of the village - the regular cottages, the layout of the lanes - dates from that estate period. The Topographical Dictionary of 1837 recorded Coolboy, also then called Castleboy, as a village of 105 inhabitants on the road from Carnew to Rathdrum, holding eight fairs a year. It noted Coolboy House nearby, the residence of John Chamney. The golf course at Coollattin is laid out on the old demesne land.

A village game in a one-pub village

The handball alley

On the edge of the village stands a Gaelic handball alley, home to the Coolboy handball team. The roofless ball alley was once the standard fixture of an Irish village the way a green or a cross might be elsewhere, and most have long since fallen out of use or been pulled down. Coolboy keeps its game going. It is a small thing, easy to miss from the road, and it tells you most of what you need to know about the place: a working rural village that holds on to what it has.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

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

Tinahely Railway Walk A few minutes north toward Tinahely. Opened in 2007 along part of the old Woodenbridge to Shillelagh railway line, running alongside the Derry River and through farmland between two fine stone railway bridges. Flat, well-surfaced, suitable for buggies and wheelchairs, with picnic tables along the way. It crosses the Derry on a wooden footbridge and links toward the oak woods at Tomnafinnoge.

2.3 kmdistance

45 minutes to 1 hourtime

Tomnafinnoge Woods North of Coolboy between Tinahely and Shillelagh. One of the largest surviving fragments of the old oak forests of Shillelagh, now a Special Area of Conservation. Ancient oaks, the Derry River, deer regularly about. The nearest proper woodland walking to the village.

Several waymarked trails, 1.3 km to 3.2 kmdistance

30 minutes to 1.5 hourstime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Tomnafinnoge is at its best in April and May with bluebells under the oaks, and the south Wicklow back roads are quiet. Good cycling weather without the summer traffic.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The August Tinahely agricultural show, a few minutes north, is the big event of the local year. Long evenings and a fraction of the crowds that hit Glendalough and the coast.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Tomnafinnoge in October, the oaks turning, the trails mostly empty. The drive through south Wicklow farmland in autumn light is reason enough.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

A quiet village goes quieter. The Little Moon keeps the lights on, but there is no particular reason to make a special journey, and the woodland paths turn muddy after rain.

◐ 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.

Expecting sights in the village itself

Coolboy is a pub, a post office, a handball alley, and a scatter of houses. There is no church, no castle, no monument in the village. The interest is in the country around it - the railway walk, Tomnafinnoge, the Coollattin demesne - not on the main street.

Looking for a meal here

There is no restaurant in Coolboy. The Little Moon is a pub. For dinner, Tinahely to the north or Carnew to the south-west are the practical options, with Gorey over the Wexford border for a fuller range.

Getting there.

By car

Coolboy is on the R748 between Aughrim and Carnew. Tinahely is a little over two miles north, about five minutes. Carnew is around ten minutes south-west. From Dublin, allow about 1 hour 30 minutes via the N11/M11 to Gorey, then north-west.

By bus

TFI Local Link covers this part of south Wicklow, connecting the villages around Tinahely, Carnew and Shillelagh, but services are infrequent. The car is the practical way in.