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
Baile an Chinnéidigh· Irish · main form · validated name
Newtown Mount Kennedy· English · main form
Place & story
People & connections
The Kennedys’ neighbouring settlements
The modern heritage report traces the town’s formation to the joining of Newtowne with the Kennedy family’s manorial lands at Mount Kennedy. The Hearth Money Roll of 1668 records eleven houses in Newtowne and a separate house at Mount Kennedy. Sir Robert Kennedy’s residence became a manor when he was created a baronet in 1665; his son Richard inherited the estate. The name thus gathered two neighbouring components into a later settlement.[3]
Fighting around the market house
On 30 May 1798 insurgents attacked the town and met a garrison of cavalry, militia and yeomanry. Lewis recounts fighting around the market house after houses had been set alight. Officers were killed or wounded before the attackers were driven off. The building at the centre of ordinary trading and public business became a focus of armed conflict.[2]
A school inside the old market house
By 1837 the market had been discontinued and the former market house was commonly called the courthouse. Lewis also records free education for about a hundred and twenty children there. Petty sessions, fairs and road sessions continued to bring people into the town. One modest central building therefore accommodated successive commercial, judicial and educational functions.[2]
Road travellers and estate planting
The town stood on the Dublin–Wexford mail-coach road and had an inn supplied with carriages. Nearby Mount Kennedy combined a substantial house with extensive planting and ornamental grounds. Lewis describes mature chestnut, oak and ash and views towards mountains and sea. Travel along the road and improvement of the demesne shaped different aspects of the town’s nineteenth-century setting.[2]
Newtownmountkennedy — Census 2016 settlement footprint
Population within 2016 settlement boundaries
3,590people · 2022
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Newtownmountkennedy — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
2,548people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
2,528people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: census town
2,183people · 1986
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow
Published census settlement populations
2,835people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames