Grangecon

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Village in County Wicklow, Ireland

title: "Grangecon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-and-villages-in-county-wicklow"] description: "Village in County Wicklow, Ireland" topic_path: "general/towns-and-villages-in-county-wicklow" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grangecon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in County Wicklow, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Grangecon
native_name	Gráinseach Choinn
native_name_lang	ga
settlement_type	Village
image_skyline	File:IMGGrangeconDirections 4432w.JPG
image_caption	Grangecon 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 Wicklow
unit_pref	Metric
population_as_of	2016
population_density_km2	auto
timezone1	WET
utc_offset1	+0
timezone1_DST	IST (WEST)
utc_offset1_DST	-1
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/IMGGrangeconSign_4435w.jpg" caption="Grangecon"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/IMGGrangecon_4428w.jpg" caption="Main street"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/IMGgrangecon_4431w.JPG" caption="Village centre"] ::

Grangecon () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It has a population of about 200 people, and is located between Baltinglass and Dunlavin.

History

While the name Grange Con is said to be of Celtic origin the earliest recorded history of it is from the Middle Ages when the Abbot of Baltinglass Abbey had a castle built there. The monks are also said to have had a mill there powered by the local stream. Most of the surrounding land belonged to the Abbey at the time. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Thomas Eustace was in 1541 made Viscount Baltinglass and granted the lands of the Abbey including the Castle and lands at Grange Con. These were forfeited in 1581 following a rebellion by the third Viscount and subsequently granted to Sir Henry Harrington. It appears that these lands remained in the Harrington family for a number of generations. The house at Grange Con Demesne later became the seat of the O'Mahony clan and remained so until about 1930 when Pierce O'Mahony, the last "the O'Mahony" died. See for more detailed information about the O'Mahony connection with Grange Con. Some ruins of an older castle still exist in the grounds but these are quite minimal. Grange Con Demesne is now home to the well-known Grange Con Stud, breeder of top grade thoroughbred racehorses.

The Hall

Grange Con village is still known by many as "The Hall".

Geography

The village is set in a valley in west Wicklow. The Wicklow Mountains are to the east, while to the west are the lowlands of Kildare and the midlands.

Transport

Grangecon railway station opened on 1 Sept 1885, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947, closed for goods traffic on 10 March 1947, and finally closed altogether on 1 April 1959. The station building and Station Master's house still exist today as private residences. Part of the original railway cutting can still be seen in the village, as can an original railway overbridge. School buses and Wicklow Rural Transport service the village.

Amenities and sport

The village has one pub and tapas restaurant, a cafe and a zero waste pop up shop operates in the village on most Saturdays through the year. Though the local post office, that had existed in the village since the mid-1840s, was closed down in 2007.

Grange Con National School is the only primary school in the village. There is no secondary school in the village.

St. Oliver Plunkett’s Church is a Roman Catholic church which stands in the centre of the village. It was built in 1978 and replaced an earlier structure on the site. The Church of The Ascension is a small First Fruits Church of Ireland church in nearby Ballynure which dates to 1814.

There is a local community owned park in the village where the local soccer club, Grange Con A.F.C, play their home fixtures and the local school children play football and hurling while football and hurling at juvenile levels and football up to senior level are played at the Stratford/Grange Con GAA club.

It is located in an area of mixed agriculture, and has much bloodstock activity including the breeding and training of racehorses. Paddy Sleator, a trainer of National Hunt horses, had his establishment here, as did Francis Flood. There are also several stud farms in the locality.

References

"Gráinseach Choinn".
[http://homepage.eircom.net/~grangecon/page23.html Monastic history]
[http://homepage.eircom.net/~grangecon/page23.html Dissolution of the Monasteries]
[http://homepage.eircom.net/~grangecon/page24.html Grange Con Demesne]
[http://www.grangecon-stud.com/home/ Grangecon Stud] {{webarchive. link. (2008-05-09)
(2022). "Discover Grange con". VisitWicklow.ie.
Frank, Harald. (1990-09-29). "Irish Post Offices and their postmarks 1600-1990". Forchumgs- und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Irland e.V..
Bunbury, Turtle. (5 April 2008). "The Irish village at a crossroads". [[Irish Times]].
(2023-02-17). "GRANGE CON N S".
"St. Oliver Plunkett’s Church, Grange Con".
"Church of The Ascension (Ballynure), BALLYNURE, Grange Con, WICKLOW".
[http://www.barronstown.com/index.php Barronstown Stud] {{webarchive. link. (2008-07-23)

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