Blackwater | |
Native Name: | Irish: An Abhainn Dubh |
Native Name Lang: | ga |
Settlement Type: | Village |
Pushpin Map: | Ireland |
Pushpin Label Position: | right |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Ireland |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Ireland |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Leinster |
Subdivision Type3: | County |
Subdivision Name3: | County Wexford |
Unit Pref: | Metric |
Population As Of: | 2016 |
Population Note: | (The environs of Blackwater village are labelled 'Castle Ellis' in census reports)[1] [2] |
Population: | 339 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone1: | WET |
Utc Offset1: | +0 |
Timezone1 Dst: | IST (WEST) |
Utc Offset1 Dst: | -1 |
Coordinates: | 52.445°N -6.35°W |
Elevation M: | 48 |
Blank Name: | Irish Grid Reference |
Blackwater [3] is a rural village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies mostly within the townland of Ballynaglogh on the R742 regional road 16km (10miles) north of Wexford town.
Michael Gray operates a route linking the village with Wexford Mondays to Fridays inclusive [4] Bus Éireann route 379 serves the village on Mondays and Saturdays only linking it to Wexford, Gorey and intermediate locations such as Courtown Harbour.[5]
The village has three pubs, Corrigan's, the Blackwater Lodge (which is also a hotel), and Whelan's. It also has a video arcade, a number of supermarkets, a large second-hand furniture store, and a clothes alterations shop.
In the 10 years between the 2006 and 2016 census, the population of the village increased from 173 to 339 people.[1] [2] Blackwater has competed in "category B" (places with populations of between 201 and 1000 people) in the national Tidy Towns competition.[6] [7]
Blackwater is close to Ballyconnigar beach, a site with one of the highest levels of erosion in the area, due to tidal forces. The stretch of beach from Ballyconnigar to Ballynaclash is used for bathing, walking and fishing. Species of fish encountered around this area include bullhuss, smoothhound, tope, bass, ray, codling, eels, and flounder. Other nearby beaches include Curracloe strand and Ballinesker beach, where the opening scene of the film "Saving Private Ryan" was filmed.
Blackwater also has a mobile-home holiday park called 'Abhainn Dubh Mobile home and Leisure Park' which has been open since 1993.[8]
The local GAA team is St. Brigid's Blackwater, established in 1885. The hurling team play in the Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship. The Gaelic football team won the 2009 Wexford Junior Championship.
Blackwater has a par 3 golf course which is located outside of the village between Blackwater and Kilmuckridge. The golf course itself was opened in July 1993 although Blackwater Golf Society had its first outing in 1991. Blackwater Golf Course also has a FootGolf course.
Blackwater served as a setting of Mary Kay Tuberty's 2015 novel Keeper of Coin.[9]