Have you ever heard of Gill’s Gate Field, Rushey Field, or Churchtown Big Meadow? What about Rape Field, Fernyfield, or Bottoms? These are some of the names of fields in our locality, and I happen to know these ones because they are marked on maps of the Powerscourt and Charleville estates. But every field had…
How we came to be
Everywhere we go, People always ask us, Who we are, And where we come from. A question often asked when you initiate a conversation about family history is: “how far back have you got?” Genealogy is a quest whose ultimate goal, it seems, is Adam and Eve. The Garden of Eden for Enniskerry and its…
Things to do in Enniskerry in 1943
Ciara O’Brien of Wicklow County Library Services recently posted an article on the County Wicklow Heritage website about an Irish Tourist Association survey of towns and villages of Ireland, carried out in the 1940s. The surveys for Wicklow are held in Local Studies Section in Ballywaltrim, and Enniskerry was one of the villages surveyed, in May…
“People of Enniskerry” Photograph Exhibition
Saturday 24th August 2013 Parochial Hall Enniskerry 2 – 5pm A small portion of the Enniskerry History Exhibition held in May included a collection of old family photographs that had been shared on the Enniskerry History web site. The photos were a great hit, with villagers recognising old neighbours, friends and family members. We are…
Heritage Week Village Walking Tour
Date/Time: 21 August : 18:30 – 20:00 Admission: Free, but booking essential. Please contact: mkseery@gmail.com Event Description: Walking Tour of Enniskerry recounting its history, people, and important buildings. Event Organiser: Michael Seery Venue: Town Clock, Enniskerry, Enniskerry Village, Wicklow. Any Other Details: The walk involves narrow paths and is wheelchair inaccessible in parts. However, there are alternative routes available. More Heritage Week…
In the driving seat
Something tells me they didn’t own this car… You can see all of the latest photos collected at the Gathering weekend at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61581709@N03/ Is this the same day? (Thanks to Dick Seery)
Mr and Mrs Reilly revisited
One of the first photos sent in to the website was this one of Mr and Mrs Reilly. All we knew was that it was possibly someone on the Powerscourt Estate, as it came from an old Wingfield album. Thanks to James Byrne, who called in last week to the Gathering Weekend, we now know…
School Days
After an incredible 45 years in service, Kay Smithers retired in 1982. She taught at least two if not three generations of Enniskerry children. Her career began before the “new” school was built beside St Mary’s Church. Here is a photo of the teachers in Enniskerry National School at the time of her retirement (thanks…
A Procession to the Town Clock
These two photos were part of the haul at the Gathering Weekend. The car registration ID 4735 suggests a Cavan car registered prior to 1958. Mr Corcoran, school teacher is at the front of the queue in the first image. Thanks to his son, Noel, for the images. Click on these thumbnails if you want…
Wicklow Hills Bus Company
Several photographs of Enniskerry exist showing a fleet of buses outside the Powerscourt Arms Hotel. These belonged to the Wicklow Hills Bus Company, the penultimate independent bus company to operate between Dublin and Wicklow before nationalisation brought all buses under one of a handful of national companies in the 1930s. The only exception was St…
Enniskerry History Exhibition
The history exhibition presented at the Gathering Weekend is now online! You can view it all by going to the History Exhibition page.
Moving East
My granny married a man from the village. I wonder how they met. Maybe they met at a local dance, or on the steps at the town clock. They probably went to the same school. It’s one of the many things I regret not asking her. She lived at Kilmalin, the eldest child in a…
Petty Sessions at Enniskerry Courthouse
Úna Wogan writes about Enniskerry Courthouse and the genealogical resource hidden in its archives. [A PDF of this article is here]. A fascinating, often overlooked, source of information about the residents of Enniskerry and the surrounding areas, and the way of life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries can be found in the records…
Powerscourt Church, ca 1905
Great photo from Michael Richardson of Powerscourt Church. Michael has done some detective work using the headstones and reckons this photo is about 1905, and certainly between 1901 and 1906. Using his new photo too, we can see that two of the trees are still there, but only a stump remains of the middle one….
Gathering our Genealogies: 2013 Journal Call for Submissions
Submissions are invited for articles to the 2013 Journal of Enniskerry and Powerscourt Local History. The theme this year is “Gathering our Genealogies“. The journal is a serial published in hard copy annually. Previous journal issues can be found on the journal page. It is hoped that this journal will allow people to showcase their…
Enniskerry Map and Historical Walking Tour
A map and tour is available to download at the link below. If you have any amendments suggestions for future updates, let me know. https://www.enniskerryhistory.org/downloads/enniskerry-map-and-tour.pdf
The day the bus crashed into the Town Clock
Who remembers this? Apart from the obvious subject of the scene, I love how this picture shows how much the houses in the background have changed.
Hydroelectric dam at Knocksink
Just above Knocksink bridge, there is the remains of an old hydroelectric dam that was apparently used to power Powerscourt House. Some photos are below. The area is accessed by a pathway running along side the Parish House; once over an intimidating gravel bank, you are into a Sylvan scene. Hard to believe more isn’t…
St Mary’s Church, Enniskerry
Thanks to Brian White, Local Historian extraordinaire for sending on this image of St Mary’s Church, Enniskerry, which looks like it was drawn to help the appeal for funds to build the new church in late 1858/early 1859. The image appeared in Battersby’s Catholic Directory, Almanac and Registry of the Whole Catholic World (now there’s…
Website Photos/Discussion Board
Local Photos The Local Photos page was never satisfactory as it was difficult to explore, zoom in, or comment on the pictures with the former set-up. I have moved the photos to a Flickr page – you can see all of them and comment on them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61581709@N03 Over the next while, I hope to…