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Population centre

Newbridge

An Droichead Nua

This canonical Newbridge record preserves the name used for the Wicklow village now known as Avoca.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of The River Avoca and riverside village, as photographed in March 2001.
Illustration, The River Avoca and riverside village, as photographed in March 2001
Recorded locationNewbridge52.85732° N · 6.21146° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

droicheadbridgenuanew

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • An Droichead Nua · Irish · main form · non-validated name
  • Newbridge · English · main form

Place & story

Before the name Avoca

Newbridge was the earlier name of Avoca village. The Archdiocese of Dublin’s parish history records that the older name continued into the late nineteenth century. This is the settlement in Castlemacadam parish, rather than the much larger Newbridge in County Kildare. [2]

A village recorded in 1837

Samuel Lewis described Newbridge on the eastern bank of the Avoca River, near the Dublin–Wexford mail road, with a penny post to Rathdrum. Its chapel had an attached national school. He included the village population in the parish return, rather than supplying a separate total. [3]

The bridge of 1868

The surviving Avoca Bridge dates from 1868. Three elliptical arches carry the road across the river; the granite structure has triangular cutwaters and stone parapets. Its inscription names H. Brett as engineer and M. Clarke as contractor. [4]

A modest courthouse

The former courthouse in Kilmagig Lower dates from about 1870. The architectural inventory records a single-storey building with four bays, sash windows and a slate roof, set directly on the road within the village. [5]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Wicklow
Barony
Arklow
Civil parish
Castlemacadam
Coordinates
52.85732, -6.21146
Logainm ID
113141 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Newbridge. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Avoca parish history: the earlier name Newbridge · Archdiocese of Dublin
  3. Newbridge, Wicklow: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 · Samuel Lewis, 1837
  4. Avoca Bridge, NIAH 16403511 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  5. The Old Courthouse, Kilmagig Lower, NIAH 16403514 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  6. The River Avoca and riverside village, as photographed in March 2001 illustration: based on a Avoca - River Avoca & Park at south end of Main St by Joseph Mischyshyn. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-06-08. How this page was prepared.