Wicklow Mountains

The Wicklow Mountains (Irish: Sléibhte Chill Mhantáin,archaic: Cualu) form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into Counties Carlow, Wexford and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Where the mountains extend into County Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains (Irish: Sléibhte Bhaile Átha Cliath). The highest peak is Lugnaquilla at 925 metres (3,035 feet).

The mountains are primarily composed of granite surrounded by an envelope of mica-schist and much older rocks such as quartzite. They were pushed up during the Caledonian orogeny at the start of the Devonian period and form part of the Leinster Chain, the largest continuous area of granite in Ireland and Britain. The mountains owe much of their present topography to the effects of the last ice age, which deepened the valleys and created corrie and ribbon lakes. Copper and lead have been the main metals mined in the mountains and a brief gold rush occurred in the 18th century.

Wicklow

Wicklow (Irish: Cill Mhantáin, meaning "church of the toothless one") is the county town of County Wicklow and the capital of the Mid-East Region in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,356 according to the 2011 census. The town is to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also linked to the rail network, with Dublin commuter services now extending to the town. Additional services connect with Arklow, Wexford and Rosslare Europort, a main ferry port. There is also a commercial port, mainly importing timber and textiles. The River Vartry is the main river which flows through the town.

Geography

Wicklow town forms a rough semicircle around Wicklow harbour. To the immediate north lies 'The Murrough', a popular grassy walking area beside the sea, and the eastern coastal strip. The Murrough is a place of growing commercial use, so much so that a road by-passing the town directly to the commercial part of the area commenced construction in 2008 and was completed in summer of 2010. The eastern coastal strip includes Wicklow bay, a crescent shaped stone beach approximately 10 km in length.

Wicklow (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Wicklow is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election is the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (PR-STV).

History and boundaries

The constituency was created for the 1923 general election and elected 3 deputies to Dáil Éireann until 1977, this was increased to 4 deputies in 1981. In part this was because, in 1977, parts of the county had been placed in the constituencies of Dublin County Mid and Dublin County West, while the 1981 constituency included the entire county. The number of seats was increased to 5 for the 1992 general election.

The constituency spans the entire area of County Wicklow, including the towns of Wicklow, Arklow, Greystones and Bray and includes a small part of eastern County Carlow containing the villages of Hacketstown and Rathvilly.

The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013 defines the constituency as:

Wicklow (disambiguation)

Wicklow is a town in Ireland.

Wicklow may also refer to:

Constituencies

The current parliamentary constituency bearing the County's name is:

The previous constituencies were: