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KILPEDDER

CO. WICKLOW · IE

Kilpedder
Cill Pheadair, Co. Wicklow

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 08 / 08

Cill Pheadair · Co. Wicklow

A roadside village off the N11 between Kilmacanogue and Newtownmountkennedy, with the Glen of the Downs oak wood on its doorstep.

Kilpedder is a north Wicklow roadside village just off the N11, between Kilmacanogue and Newtownmountkennedy and a little south of the Glen of the Downs. The Irish name, Cill Pheadair, means Peter's church and points to an early religious site, but there is nothing on the ground to show for it. The only church within living memory was a small Presbyterian one that operated from the 1850s to the 1940s, and even that has vanished.

Historically this was estate country. The land here was part of the Mount Kennedy estate, once called Ballygarney, granted to Alderman George Kennedy of Dublin around 1590 - the same Kennedy who gives nearby Newtownmountkennedy its name. The Land Acts broke the estate up in the late nineteenth century and sold it to the tenants; the last three hundred acres went to one Ernest Hull in 1938. What you see today is mostly the result of a different kind of land use: Dublin commuters. The population more than doubled between 1996 and 2016.

Do not come to Kilpedder for the village. It has two pubs, a petrol station, and an army rifle range, and that is an honest account of it. Come for what is around it. The Glen of the Downs oak wood is a few minutes up the road, the National Garden Exhibition Centre at Arboretum is over the new footbridge in neighbouring Kilquade, and Greystones and the coast are a short drive east. The footballer Paul McShane, capped for Ireland, is from here, which is roughly the village's claim to fame.

Population

1,255 (2016 census)

Pubs

2and counting

Founded

Townland on the old Mount Kennedy estate; Presbyterian church here c. 1850s-1940s

Coords

53.1136° N, 6.1049° 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 name

Cill Pheadair - Peter's church, though the church is long gone.

The name points to an early ecclesiastical site, but the only church anyone living remembers was a small Presbyterian one that ran from the 1850s to the 1940s and left no trace. What is here now is a commuter village strung along the back roads off the dual carriageway.

Stories & lore → 02 The wood

The Glen of the Downs sessile-oak reserve is a few minutes north.

Fifty-nine hectares of ancient oak in a glacial valley, a National Nature Reserve and Special Area of Conservation, with a 3.6 km loop and views to the two Sugarloaves. The finest oak wood of its type close to Dublin, and the main reason a walker stops anywhere near here.

Walks & outings → 03 The setting

Garden of Ireland countryside on the Dublin commuter edge.

The village grew from 480 people in 1996 to 1,255 by 2016 as Dublin spread south down the N11. Kilquade and its garden centre are over a new footbridge to the east; Newtownmountkennedy is south; Greystones and the sea are a short hop the other way.

Where next →

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 Kilpedder Inn

Traditional roadside local

Village pub with rooms, Kilpedder West

Established 1961, on the old Dublin-Wexford road through the village. A traditional Wicklow pub: decent pints, a friendly room, and a trad session on Sunday evenings through the summer. There are rooms upstairs, which makes it one of the few places to actually sleep in Kilpedder. The other pub in the village is a quieter local - this is the one most people mean.

03 / 08

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
The Kilpedder Inn	Rooms above the village pub	The simplest bed in the village, over the pub itself. Modest, traditional, and handy if you want to be on the N11 corridor with the Glen of the Downs and the garden centre within minutes. For anything more there are hotels at Newtownmountkennedy and Greystones a short drive away.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

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

Peter's church

Cill Pheadair, the church that left no stone

The name Kilpedder, Cill Pheadair, means Peter's church, the kind of name that almost always marks an early Christian foundation. But there is nothing left to point at. The only place of worship anyone can document is a small Presbyterian church that served the area from the 1850s to the 1940s, and not a stone of it survives. It is a common Wicklow story: a name that outlives its building by centuries, attached now to a village that grew up for entirely modern reasons along a main road.

Ballygarney, 1590-1938

The Mount Kennedy estate

The lands around Kilpedder belonged to the Mount Kennedy estate, earlier known as Ballygarney. George Kennedy, an Alderman of Dublin, picked up substantial grants in Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow around 1590, and Newtownmountkennedy down the road carries his name. The estate held the ground for three centuries until the Land Acts forced its sale to the tenants in the late 1800s. The remaining three hundred acres were sold to Ernest Hull in 1938. The commuter village you drive through today sits on what was once one landlord's holding.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

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

Glen of the Downs woodland loop The walk worth coming for. Park at the reserve car park off the N11 southbound, just before the Delgany exit, a few minutes north of Kilpedder. A signposted circuit climbs gently through ancient sessile oak, about 200 m of ascent, to lookout points with the Great and Little Sugarloaf across the valley. Twenty-one breeding bird species recorded in the wood. No charge, no opening hours, and properly muddy after rain - bring boots.

3.6 km loopdistance

1 hourtime

Kilpedder to Kilquade footbridge A pedestrian bridge now links Kilpedder with Kilquade over the dual carriageway, which is mostly a practical crossing rather than a scenic one. It does, though, put the National Garden Exhibition Centre at Arboretum, with its café and laid-out gardens, within an easy walk. A flat, all-weather option if the Glen of the Downs is too wet underfoot.

2 km returndistance

30 minutestime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The Glen of the Downs oak wood is at its best as the canopy comes in and the woodrush carpet greens up. Birdsong peaks in the breeding season. The countryside earns the Garden of Ireland tag.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Longest evenings for the woodland loop, the trad session running at the Kilpedder Inn on Sundays, and the garden centre at Kilquade in full swing. Greystones and the coast are close for a beach afternoon.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Oak colour in the Glen of the Downs and quieter trails. A good month for the walk before the ground turns.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and a woodland floor that turns to mud after rain. The walk still goes if you have boots; the village itself offers little shelter beyond the pub.

◐ 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.

The village as a destination

Kilpedder is two pubs, a filling station and a rifle range on the edge of a commuter belt. There is no heritage core to walk and no main street to speak of. Treat it as a base or a stop, not a sight.

Hunting for Peter's church

The Cill Pheadair name promises an old church, but there is nothing left to find - not the early site it is named for, nor the nineteenth-century Presbyterian church that came later. Save the search for the oak wood up the road.

The garden centre as a Kilpedder attraction

The National Garden Exhibition Centre at Arboretum is genuinely worth a visit, but it is in Kilquade next door, over the footbridge, not in Kilpedder. And its exhibition gardens have at times been closed for renovation - check before you build a day around them.

Getting there.

By car

Kilpedder sits just off the N11 Dublin-Wexford dual carriageway, with its own interchange. Dublin is about 40 minutes north; Newtownmountkennedy is 5 minutes south and Kilmacanogue 10 minutes north on the same road. The Glen of the Downs reserve car park is a few minutes north, southbound just before the Delgany exit.

By bus

Dublin Bus route 184 serves the area roughly half-hourly Monday to Saturday. Bus Éireann route 133 (Dublin-Wicklow-Arklow) calls about half-hourly at peak times. Both run along the N11 corridor.

By train

No station in the village. The nearest rail is at Greystones on the DART and Dublin-Rosslare line, a short drive east; Kilcoole station is also close.