Kilcoole: A History

Given just how close the two towns are positioned – just over 4 miles separating the two – there’s always been a strong connection between Kilcoole and Greystones.

Truth be told though, as with many a deep-rooted town, Kilcoole has a flavour and spirit all of its own.

You can see it in the face of Michael Kuntz. Of Elaine Cassidy. Of Bill Foley, Tom Fortune, Terry Meakin and James & Esther Gammell. The connection runs tribal deep in a town that has always lived somewhat by its own rules, surviving on the outskirts, happier doing their own thing in the shadows.

Which must be why JP Donleavy decided to call the place home during a particularly productive time for the writer of The Ginger Man and A Fairytale Of New York. You’ll find his home on the Ballydonarea Leap. Not that Donleavy’s now-fallen cottage delivered quite as many stories as the melting pot that was Kilcoole House.

And talking of writers, you can read through some 1930s Kilcoole schoolchildren’s local stories handed up to teacher Thomas Butler here.

It was also in Kilcoole, of course, that 600 rifles and ammunition were brought ashore for the Irish Volunteers back in August 1914, as Ireland braced itself for the somewhat inevitable Rising two years later. A monument down at the seafront railway station commemorates the event, and the town is clearly proud of its role in this significant moment in Irish history, with centenary celebrations both in 2014 and 2016. Heck, even the kids got involved.

Not that Kilcoole is all about the history. There’s that beautiful stretch of seafront, of course, with its lush wildlife and  its Little Terns bird sanctuary. Plus, for a town so small, there’s an incredible amount of art produced in Kilcoole, from JP Donleavy writing The Ginger Man whilst living here to one of RTE’s finest TV shows, Glenroe, calling Kilcoole home from 1983 to 2001. There’s also the aforementioned Elaine Cassidy, star of The Others, Harper’s Island and No Offence.

It’s in the world of music though that Kilcoole seems to shine the brightest, with, in recent years, bands such as Heathers, Adebisi Shank, Ememies, Croupier, Birds and Kidd Blunt – many coming out of the acclaimed Hive Studios – offering up, for the most part, some cocky young math rock to counter the old-school cock-waving blues rock of perhaps the town’s most acclaimed guitarist and singer, Brian Meakin. The latter is often backed by his ridiculously talented siblings. Paddy excepted, of course.

As for Kilcoole’s beginnings, its name came from the church that’s still just about standing in the town centre, whilst its future looks particularly bright these days, with the recent announcement of a €44,200 Town Renewal Scheme grant just as work on the town’s state-of-the-art new children’s playground finally gets underway.

That the Little Terns Playground was built right beside that old Kilcoole Church has a certain sweet symmetry…

Many of the old images of Kilcoole here from our own archives, but also we must give a big shout-out to Chris Dobson, one of the town’s finest photographers, who has long been pulling together old photos of his hometown on his Facebook page here. You can also check out our recent celebration of Chris’ wonderful work here.