Short History of Wicklow County Ireland

My name is Jack Finlay. I have created a short history of County Wicklow in Ireland. I hope you enjoy it. Subscribe for more videos on history of other counties in Ireland Wicklow, our beautiful county, has a history going back well over 3,000 years Established at the estuary of the Vartry, the settlement grew over the years. Folklore tells us of the arrival of St. Patrick here as a bishop in 432A.D. and of the unfriendly welcome which awaited both himself and his monks on their landing at Travilahawk Beach. It tells of how the local chieftain ordered his followers to drive the invaders away and in the ensuing stone-throwing incident one of Patrick’s monks lost his front teeth. This monk, who became known as Manntan meaning “Gubby,” later established a church here i.e. “Cill Mhantáin” (Gubby’s Church) which eventually became the Irish name for both the town and the county. With Ireland gaining a reputation as the Island of Saints and Scholars, the christian settlement of Cill Mhantáin was ripe for picking by the marauding Vikings from Scandinavia. In the early 9th century these Vikings realised that the estuary of the Vartry was an ideal site from which to raid the inland monasteries and eventually the town of Vikinglo (Wicklow) began to grow. With the invasion of the Normans in 1169 further conquest took place. The area around Wicklow, originally granted to Strongbow, eventually fell into the hands of the Fitzgerald family who proceeded to fortify the rock just south of the river estuary. The King’s Castle of Wicklow (The Black Castle) was constructed in the latter part of the 12th century. Under persistent attacks from the local clans, namely the O’Byrne’s and the O’Toole’s, it occasionally fell into native hands only to be re-captured by the forces of the Crown. It was finally destroyed in December 1645 when, during an attack by the O’Byrne’s, the castle caught fire and burned to the ground. The castle ruins, which are visible today, along with the ruins of the Franciscan Friary, are the only solid evidence of Norman influence in this area.