No one knows how old Arklow is. Although it is generally accepted that there were no towns as we know them in Ireland before the arrival of the Vikings in the late 700s,
Bronze Age burials and other archaeological evidence shows that people have lived in this area for at least four or five thousand years.
One of the seaboard settlements on a map of Ireland which dates to the 2nd century AD was called Menapia, and there is a strong argument that Menapia stood on the site of present-day Arklow. There had to have been some sort of trading post or village which the ancient cartographer felt deserved a place on his map.
Patrician legends from the 5th and 6th centuries also suggest that there was a settled community here at that time.
"Fantastic, thank you !" - LF Chesire (née Kavanagh), South Africa. (July 2016)
No one knows how old Arklow is. Although it is generally accepted that there were no towns as we know them in Ireland before the arrival of the Vikings in the late 700s. Bronze Age burials and other archaeological evidence shows that people have lived in this area for at least four or five thousand years. One of the seaboard settlements on a map of Ireland which dates to the 2nd century AD was called Menapia, and there is a strong argument that Menapia stood on the site of present-day Arklow. There had to have been some sort of trading post or village which the ancient cartographer felt deserved a place on his map. Patrician legends from the 5th and 6th centuries also suggest that there was a settled community here at that time.
"Fantastic, thank you Jim" - LF Chesire (nee Kavanagh), South Africa.
(July 2016)
No one knows how old Arklow is. Although it is generally accepted that there were no towns as we know them in Ireland before the arrival of the Vikings in the late 700s,
Bronze Age burials and other archaeological evidence shows that people have lived in this area for at least four or five thousand years.
One of the seaboard settlements on a map of Ireland which dates to the 2nd century AD was called Menapia, and there is a strong argument that Menapia stood on the site of present-day Arklow. There had to have been some sort of trading post or village which the ancient cartographer felt deserved a place on his map.
Patrician legends from the 5th and 6th centuries also suggest that there was a settled community here at that time.
"Fantastic, thank you !" - LF Chesire (née Kavanagh), South Africa. (July 2016)
Despite the lack of facilities, the entire community depended on the sea for its livelihood. By 1846 the fleet had grown to over 250 boats of various sizes, employing over 1,300 men. Ashore, an estimated 1,000 women and children were employed in manufacturing hemp which was used in making nets. What was surplus to local requirements was exported to Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Boatbuilding flourished and at times there were not enough shipwrights to meet the demand. In 1864, John Tyrrell opened his new yard on the south side of the river. Today, his great grandsons are still producing boats in steel on the north side.
The town developed from the cluster of huts built near the Viking fortress and later Norman castle. It spread eastward, down the slope towards the sea.
Before 1800, Arklow was little more than a single main street, with congested lanes of mud houses.
The improving fishing and trading industries however saw Main Street develop into what we know today. The population grew steadily, sometimes aided by leaps in numbers particularly after the famine years of the 1840s when people left the surrounding countryside for work in the town.
In the 1870s, non-maritime related industries first appeared in the town, with a chemical factory built on North Quay in 1870 and quarries opened by Charles Stewart Parnell at the Rock in the 1880s, continued today as Roadstone Quarries. In 1895, Kynoch Ltd bought Arklow Chemical Works and eventually covered over 300 acres along North Beach, employing 4,000 people during the First World War.
In 1934, Arklow Pottery was built and for sixty years was the economic mainstay of the town. Nitrigin Éireann Teoranta (N.E.T.) was established at Shelton in the early 1960s, closing forty years later as Irish Fertiliser Industries. There have been a host of other factories, churches, schools, social organisations, all the trappings of a developing town, each with a story to tell.
In fact, there are so many aspects to Arklow's long and fascinating history that it would be impossible to even list them here.
We will be posting snippets on our Facebook page on a regular basis and fuller texts will be added on other pages of this website from time to time. So, bear with us. Let us know what you want to see.
Despite the lack of facilities, the entire community depended on the sea for its livelihood. By 1846 the fleet had grown to over 250 boats of various sizes, employing over 1,300 men. Ashore, an estimated 1,000 women and children were employed in manufacturing hemp which was used in making nets. What was surplus to local requirements was exported to Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Boatbuilding flourished and at times there were not enough shipwrights to meet the demand. In 1864, John Tyrrell opened his new yard on the south side of the river. Today, his great grandsons are still producing boats in steel on the north side.
The town developed from the cluster of huts built near the Viking fortress and later Norman castle. It spread eastward, down the slope towards the sea.
Before 1800, Arklow was little more than a single main street, with congested lanes of mud houses. The improving fishing and trading industries however saw Main Street develop into what we know today. The population grew steadily, sometimes aided by leaps in numbers particularly after the famine years of the 1840s when people left the surrounding countryside for work in the town. In the 1870s, non-maritime related industries first appeared in the town, with a chemical factory built on North Quay in 1870 and quarries opened by Charles Stewart Parnell at the Rock in the 1880s, continued today as Roadstone Quarries. In 1895, Kynoch Ltd bought Arklow Chemical Works and eventually covered over 300 acres along North Beach, employing 4,000 people during the First World War. In 1934, Arklow Pottery was built and for sixty years was the economic mainstay of the town. Nitrigin Eacuteireann Teoranta (N.E.T.) was established at Shelton in the early 1960s, closing forty years later as Irish Fertiliser Industries. There have been a host of other factories, churches, schools, social organisations, all the trappings of a developing town, each with a story to tell. In fact, there are so many aspects to Arklow's long and fascinating history that it would be impossible to even list them here. We will be posting snippets on our Facebook page on a regular basis and fuller texts will be added on other pages of this website from time to time. So, bear with us. Let us know what you want to see.
Despite the lack of facilities, the entire community depended on the sea for its livelihood. By 1846 the fleet had grown to over 250 boats of various sizes, employing over 1,300 men. Ashore, an estimated 1,000 women and children were employed in manufacturing hemp which was used in making nets. What was surplus to local requirements was exported to Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Boatbuilding flourished and at times there were not enough shipwrights to meet the demand. In 1864, John Tyrrell opened his new yard on the south side of the river. Today, his great grandsons are still producing boats in steel on the north side.
The town developed from the cluster of huts built near the Viking fortress and later Norman castle. It spread eastward, down the slope towards the sea.
Before 1800, Arklow was little more than a single main street, with congested lanes of mud houses. The improving fishing and trading industries however saw Main Street develop into what we know today. The population grew steadily, sometimes aided by leaps in numbers particularly after the famine years of the 1840s when people left the surrounding countryside for work in the town. In the 1870s, non-maritime related industries first appeared in the town, with a chemical factory built on North Quay in 1870 and quarries opened by Charles Stewart Parnell at the Rock in the 1880s, continued today as Roadstone Quarries. In 1895, Kynoch Ltd bought Arklow Chemical Works and eventually covered over 300 acres along North Beach, employing 4,000 people during the First World War. In 1934, Arklow Pottery was built and for sixty years was the economic mainstay of the town. Nitrigin Eacuteireann Teoranta (N.E.T.) was established at Shelton in the early 1960s, closing forty years later as Irish Fertiliser Industries. There have been a host of other factories, churches, schools, social organisations, all the trappings of a developing town, each with a story to tell. In fact, there are so many aspects to Arklow's long and fascinating history that it would be impossible to even list them here. We will be posting snippets on our Facebook page on a regular basis and fuller texts will be added on other pages of this website from time to time. So, bear with us. Let us know what you want to see.