The new Wicklow Town Heritage Trail, which has been in planning for over two years, is set to launch in August.
The Heritage Trail, which is funded by the County Wicklow Partnership, has been a core project for the Wicklow Town Team, with many months of work being put in by its Tourism subcommittee and Wicklow Municipal Council.
The Heritage Trail will feature 24 points of interest, detailing the history of Wicklow Town, from the landing of St. Patrick in 432 to the end of the Civil War in 1922.
There will be seven story-boards across the town featuring different stories of its past:
– The construction of St. Patrick’s church, which commenced in 1839
– The story of the Franciscan Abbey, which dates back to the 12th Century
– Robert Halpin’s achievement in laying the Trans-Atlantic cable
– The story of Billy Byrne and the 1798 Rising
– The history of the Black Castle
– The attempted landing by St. Patrick at Travelahawk beach
– History relating to the Barrow Green including stories of secret burials that took place there.
There is now a mural in place at the top of Quarantine Hill painted by local artist Robert Teeling, featuring a petty criminal being punished from the locals for the crime he had committed.
On each story-boards there will be QR codes, which will enable each tourist to view a video with local actors at each site telling the significance of each site.
Currently there are 10,000 brochures being printed, which will be available at key tourist points throughout the county to promote the new Wicklow Town Heritage Trail.
The Wicklow Town Team would like to give sincere thanks to local historian John Finlay for his expertise in ensuring the historical accuracy and context of all the material featured in the videos and printed brochures.
There will be a dedicated video section on the Wicklowtown.ie website in addition to all the text in relation to the significance of each of the 24 sites.
It is expected that the videos will go live in mid August when all of the other items in relation to the walk have been complete.
“Wicklow Town is currently undergoing a real revival, with the development of Fitzwilliam Square and the Market Square. This new Wicklow Town Heritage Trail will now provide the town with a first class tourist attraction,” the Wicklow Town Team said.
