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KNOCKANANNA

CO. WICKLOW · IE

Knockananna
Cnoc an Eanaigh, Co. Wicklow

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

Cnoc an Eanaigh · Co. Wicklow

A one-pub hill village in the far south-west of Wicklow, near the Carlow border - and, after Roundwood, the second-highest village in Ireland.

Knockananna is a small hill village in the far south-west corner of Wicklow, sitting up at around 205 metres on the border with Carlow, just above the town of Hacketstown. After Roundwood in the central mountains, it is the second-highest village in Ireland. The Irish name, Cnoc an Eanaigh, means the hill of the marsh, and the boggy upland ground around it is exactly what the name describes.

It is a parish before it is a village. There is one pub, one grocery shop, a GAA club that plays in red and white, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1978. The post office closed in 2010. The older church in the village was renamed the Blanchelle Centre in honour of Fr John Blanchfield, the priest who served here either side of 1800 and whose blessing the 1798 rebels sought before the second Battle of Hacketstown.

For its size the village has thrown up some names. Tom Kehoe, born in the area in 1899, was a member of Michael Collins's assassination Squad and was among those who carried out the killings of British agents on the morning of Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920; he died in 1922. The singer Orla Fallon, later of Celtic Woman, was born in Knockananna in 1974. Sinead O'Connor lived in the village for a stretch in the early 2020s.

Do not come expecting facilities. Come for a quiet pint in a genuine country pub, the long views off high ground toward the Wicklow Mountains and the Carlow lowlands, and the back roads between Tinahely, Hacketstown and Baltinglass. Everything with a visitor centre is a drive away; this is a place to walk the lanes and have one good drink.

Population

~143 (2016)

Pubs

1and counting

Founded

Hill settlement; name recorded from 1714. Church of the Immaculate Conception built 1978

Coords

52.8739° N, 6.4931° 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, one shop, one church, sitting at 205 metres on the Wicklow-Carlow border.

A small farming village above Hacketstown in the far south-west corner of the county. Around 143 people at the 2016 census. The grocery shop, O'Keeffe's pub and the 1978 church are the whole of it. The post office closed in 2010.

Walks & outings → 02 The height

Second-highest village in Ireland, after Roundwood.

Knockananna sits at about 205 metres above sea level. Only Roundwood, up in the central Wicklow Mountains, sits higher. The name itself - Cnoc an Eanaigh, the hill of the marsh - tells you the ground it stands on.

Stories & lore → 03 The history

1798 country, and home ground of one of Michael Collins's Squad.

Fr John Blanchfield blessed the rebels here before the second Battle of Hacketstown in 1798; the old church now carries his name. Tom Kehoe, born nearby in 1899, was a member of Collins's assassination Squad on Bloody Sunday 1920.

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:

O'Keeffe's Pub

Genuine rural local

Country pub, in the village

Knockananna's one pub, and a proper one - a traditional lounge bar with an adjoining games room, a kitchen doing food, and a beer garden out the back. Live music at weekends. It is the social centre of the village by default, because it is the only pub for some distance, and it is well thought of. If you have one drink in Knockananna, this is where you have it.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

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

A blessing before the second Battle of Hacketstown

1798 and Fr Blanchfield

This far south-western corner of Wicklow was deep in the 1798 story. The Republican tradition runs strong in the area, and the memory of Fr John Blanchfield - the parish priest here in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries - is part of it. Blanchfield had a local reputation for great sanctity, and the advice and blessing he gave the rebels who came to him before the second Battle of Hacketstown is still recalled in the village. The old church was later renamed the Blanchelle Centre in his honour. The hills you are looking at from Knockananna were rebel country in the summer of 1798.

Born near Knockananna, 1899

Tom Kehoe, Collins's Squad

Tom Kehoe was born in the Knockananna area in 1899 and became a member of Michael Collins's assassination unit, the Squad. On the morning of Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, the Squad killed a number of British intelligence agents across Dublin in a coordinated operation. Kehoe took the pro-Treaty side in the Civil War and died in 1922, still in his early twenties. For a village this small to have produced a member of the Squad is a real thread into the national story of the period.

The Knockananna voice in Celtic Woman

Orla Fallon, born 1974

The singer, songwriter and harpist Orla Fallon was born in Knockananna in 1974. She became one of the original members of Celtic Woman, the touring vocal group that found a large audience in the United States, and went on to a solo career. She is the best-known name the village has sent out into the world.

205 metres, beaten only by Roundwood

The second-highest village

Knockananna stands at roughly 205 metres above sea level, which makes it the second-highest village in Ireland after Roundwood, up in the central Wicklow Mountains. It is a piece of trivia the locals are happy to repeat, and it is true. The height shows in the weather and the views - this is open, exposed upland on the Wicklow-Carlow watershed, not a sheltered valley village.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

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

Village lanes and high ground There is no waymarked trail in the village, but the quiet upland lanes around Knockananna make a good hour on foot. Climb onto the higher ground for the views north toward the Wicklow Mountains and west over the Carlow lowlands. Exposed and boggy in places - the name means hill of the marsh for a reason - so bring boots and a jacket whatever the forecast says.

3-5 kmdistance

1 hourtime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The uplands green up and the lanes are at their best. Quiet, no crowds, and the long views are clear on a good day. A fine time to base yourself in the south-west of the county.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings, the beer garden at O'Keeffe's in use, weekend music, and the GAA season in full swing. The village itself stays quiet even when the rest of Wicklow fills up.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Clear, cool walking weather and the best light on the surrounding hills. The exposed high ground rewards a dry, bright day.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

This is the second-highest village in the country, on an exposed upland border. Short days, hard weather, and not much open beyond the pub. Fine as a quiet stopover, not a reason to travel.

◐ 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 a high street

Knockananna is a hill parish, not a market town. One pub, one shop, one church and a GAA pitch is the whole of it, and the post office is gone. For shops, food choice or anything resembling a tourist strip, Hacketstown, Tinahely and Baltinglass are the places to drive to.

Trying to reach it without a car

There is no train and no useful village bus. The nearest railway is on the coast at Wicklow or Rathdrum, the better part of an hour away, and rural bus links to this corner are thin. A car is the only practical way in and out.

Getting there.

By car

Knockananna sits above Hacketstown in the south-west of the county, on local roads off the R747 and R725 network. Hacketstown is a few minutes south over the Carlow border; Tinahely is about 15 minutes north-east and Baltinglass about 20 minutes north-west on hill roads. Dublin is roughly 1h 30m via the N81 or the inland routes.

By bus

No useful village service. Local Link covers the wider Hacketstown and Tinahely area with limited rural routes, and Bus Eireann runs an infrequent Dublin-Hacketstown service; check current timetables, as connections to the village itself are sparse.

By train

No railway. The Tinahely line closed in 1944. The nearest stations are Wicklow and Rathdrum on the Dublin-Rosslare line, both around 45 minutes to an hour away by car, with onward connections to Dublin Connolly.