County Dossier
Wicklow
A mountain county of glens, coast and late shiring.
Wicklow lies directly south of Dublin, rising from the Irish Sea coast into one of the island's most extensive mountain landscapes.
At a glance
Wicklow at a glance
A mountain county of glens, coast and late shiring.
- Mountains, valleys and monastic glens
- Long one of the last districts to be fully shired
- Formed from South Leinster tribal lands
- Area: 781 sq miles / 2,023 km²
- Population: 136,448
- County Top: Lugnaquilla 3,035ft / 925m
County Geography
Wicklow meets Dublin to the north, Kildare to the west and north-west, Carlow to the south-west, and Wexford to the south, while the Irish Sea forms the county’s eastern edge. The county is shaped by the Wicklow Mountains, the long glens opening east and west from them, and the coast road and coastal plain along the Irish Sea.
Mountain core, long glens, and the east-coast frontage give Wicklow a strong and readable county form.
Map Reference
View Wicklow on the map
Wicklow is the county. The map shows its boundary, places, and neighbouring counties.
The county.
The county boundary.
Nearby counties and places.
Places and routes
Bray, Wicklow, Arklow, Baltinglass, and Blessington show the county from its coastal strip and northern side to its western and southern inland approaches.
Connections
The county’s routes have long followed the coastal strip between Bray and Arklow and crossed the uplands through the western valleys toward Baltinglass and Blessington. Movement follows the same coast, glen, and mountain-crossing pattern.
Names
- Wicklow
- County Wicklow
- County of Wicklow
- Contae Cill Mhantáin
Cill Mhantáin is the Irish form of Wicklow. County Wicklow is the formal historical style, the county name follows the coastal town, the Irish name preserves the older church of Mantan, and the county was one of the last districts in Ireland to be fully shired.
Wicklow was finally shired in 1606, but the mountain-and-glen setting that defines the county is much older than that. Mountain, glen, and coast geography still give the historic county a clear shape.