placenamesHollywood
Cillín Chaoimhín
Pilgrimage, an unusual carved stone and a well-preserved church give Hollywood a history extending far beyond its familiar name.
The name
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
- Cillín Chaoimhín · Irish · main form · validated name
- Hollywood · English · main form
Place & story
The way to Glendalough
Hollywood is one of the starting points of Saint Kevin’s Way, a route across the Wicklow Mountains to Glendalough. The Hollywood and Valleymount approaches meet at Ballinagee Bridge before continuing towards the Wicklow Gap. Wicklow Uplands Council identifies surviving stretches of old flagstones along the way as remnants of the earlier pilgrim route. The path connects the village with a wider landscape of religious travel rather than a single isolated monument. [2]
Saint Kevin’s Church of Ireland
Saint Kevin’s Church of Ireland church dates from the late seventeenth century and retains much of its early structure. The parish’s Heritage Week account draws attention to its rarity as a substantially surviving church of that period. Five medieval grave slabs, dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, were found in its graveyard. They provide evidence for an older ecclesiastical presence at the site, although the precise location of the earlier church remains uncertain. [3]
The Hollywood labyrinth stone
A boulder carved with a labyrinth was found at Lockstown, about three kilometres from Hollywood, and was moved to the National Museum shortly after 1908. Archaeologist Louise Nugent relates its position near Saint Kevin’s Road to the landscape of pilgrimage. She stresses that its date cannot be established conclusively: both early and later medieval origins have been proposed. Its possible use as a place for pilgrims to pause and pray is an interpretation, rather than a proven function. The stone subsequently went on display at Glendalough’s visitor centre. [4]
A village on film
Hollywood Tidy Towns’ village interpretation records the use of local streets for Michael Collins and Dancing at Lughnasa. Photographs show Liam Neeson during filming in 1995 and Meryl Streep outside Tutty’s pub in 1998. Local people also took part as extras in Dancing at Lughnasa. These productions brought a later kind of journey to the village, using its buildings and streets as settings for stories on screen. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Wicklow
- Barony
- Talbotstown Lower
- Coordinates
- 53.08735, -6.59687 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1411697 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Hollywood. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The St Kevin’s Way · Wicklow Uplands Council
- Heritage Week celebration: Saint Kevin’s Church of Ireland, Hollywood · Blessington Union of Parishes; National Heritage Week
- The Labyrinth Stone · Dr Louise Nugent, 2012; Glendalough Heritage Forum
- Hollywood village interpretation board: Movie Magic · Hollywood Tidy Towns; Johnny Glennon and Nicola Farrington
- Tutty pub, Hollywood, County Wicklow, as photographed in2007 illustration: based on a Hollywood, County Wicklow by Sarah777. 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 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.