ByRoute 1.1 Co. Wicklow & Co. Wexford (E)
These pages describe ByRoute 1 between Shankill on the southern outskirts of DUBLIN and Wexford Harbour, Town & Environs.
Bray Co. Wiclow / Northeast)
Bray (Bré, formerly Brí Chulainn) (pop.30,000), (DART, Dublin Bus 45, 84, 145), the self-styled “Gateway to Wicklow”, is a Victorian seaside resort that has become a suburb of DUBLIN. It straddles the border between the two counties, once but no longer traced by the River Dargle that divides the town. Bray’s scenic setting is dominated by Bray Head and the two Sugarloaf hills.
Bray seen from Bray Head.
Bray History
Strongbow granted these lands in 1173 to Walter de Ridelesford, who later received a charter from King John to hold a weekly fair. His castle, of which nothing remains, was the first of four built to guard the approaches to the only practicable ford across the river for miles, of great strategic importance for many years in the defence of Dublin.
The riverside district known as Little Bray was once the edge of the Pale. The place now called Sunnybank, known for centuries as Bloodybank until “sanitised” by Victorian local authorities, was the site of a ferocious defeat inflicted by the “Bristolmen” of Dublin on the Gaelic O’Byrne and O’Toole clans in the C13th.
The settlement that grew up on the slopes south of the river came to be known as Much Bray. Records show that by 1615 a lot of people of English descent lived in the area. According to a Church of Ireland “regal visitation” of that year, the Vicar of Bray conducted services using a version of the Book of Common Prayer printed in Irish, indicating that the Gaelic tongue was in general use at the time in these parts, irrespective of religion or origin.
On the day after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, King James I arrived in Bray early in the morning and, learning that he was closely pursued, posted a strong force at the bridge, with instructions to oppose the passage of the pursuers, while he and his retinue made their escape through the Wicklow Mountains. A skirmish is said to have taken place, but appears to have been only a trifling affair.
In the early C19th, according to Weston St. John Joyce, the route from Bray Bridge towards the beach was the old road beside the river, and the present Quinnsboro Road was represented by a pathway through fields, while Quin’s Hotel possessed a splendid garden extending the whole way down to the sea.
There were only two habitations along the sea front, one “a mud hovel, so diminutive, so wretched and so miserable as to earn for it the local soubriquet of ‘The Rat Hole’, tenanted by an eccentric, solitary, tar-begrimed old fisherman, who took a delight in surrounding his unattractive abode with ill-smelling heaps of manure, offal, seaweed and every other abomination that came within his reach, until at last it became difficult to distinguish between the dwelling and these strange accessories.
“In the other cottage near the Head lived an elderly woman and her daughter, whose ostensible means of livelihood were seeking and selling the pebbles peculiar to the locality, known as Wicklow pebbles, but who really were engaged in the profitable business of smuggling, and, in conjunction with others, acted as agents for the various overseas craft that then frequented this coast for the contraband trade. The mother was a woman of great courage and strength of character, and always went about armed; she was known to have amassed a considerable fortune by her operations, and was, at least on one occasion, engaged in an affray with the Preventive men. When she died many years afterwards, her daughter found herself a rich woman.” Most of the smugglers’ activities were centred on Bray Head.
The extension of the Dublin & Kingstown Railway to Bray in 1851 transformed the hamlet into Ireland’s version of Brighton or Margate, attracting holidaymakers from all over the British Isles.
Although long past its heyday as a resort, Bray retains something of its former atmosphere, especially in summer, when it is invaded by hordes of day-trippers and young English language learners. The down-at-heel seaside amusement arcades, dodgems, ghost trains, candyfloss stands, chip joints and fortune-tellers’ signs do not entirely take away from a certain faded elegance.
The Victorian seafront esplanade, laid out by Willam Dargan in 1861, stretches along the full length of the pebble beach (totally eroded and replaced regularly); it is ideal for a stroll, as is easily-accessible Bray Head. The promenade is lined with hotels and guesthouses, many of architectural and / or historical interest.
The Esplanade Hotel
Esplanade Terrace, between Victoria Avenue and Convent Avenue, was the scene of some excitement in 1835, when workmen uncovered what was believed to be a Roman burial site.The Strand Hotel, originally called Elsinore, was built by Sir William Wilde as an investment; his famous playwright son Oscar inherited it along with adjoining property in 1876, and sold it two years later.
The Irish Sealife Centre (formerly the National Aquarium), featuring over 100 species of fish, mollusc etc., is worth a visit.
No. 1 Martello Terrace, at the northern end of the promenade, was home to James Joyce from 1887 to 1891, and is believed to be where the original Christmas Dinner scene described in Portait of the Artist took place. It is named for the nearby Martello Tower (the only one remaining of three built in the vicinity), once the private residence of rock band U2’s frontman Bono, overlooking the small idiosyncratic tidal harbour at the mouth of the river, inhabited by a colony of mute swans, herons, cormorants and gulls.
Quinsboro / Quinnsborough Road retains some traces of its original elegance, such as the townhouses on Duncairn (formerly Dargan) Terrace (1859) and Goldsmith Terrace (1863), while Prince of Wales Terrace (1861) is particularly splendid. Almost nothing remains of the former Turkish Baths. The War Memorial commemorates the 155 Bray men killed in WWI (out of over 900 who fought).
The Old Courthouse (1844) at the lower end of Main St. now houses an interesting Heritage Centre. Beside it is the Royal Hotel, formerly known as the Royal Starlight and originally opened in 1776 as the Meath Arms.
St. Paul’s church dates from 1610; closed as a Church of Ireland place of worship in 1973, it is now used as an organ factory.
Bray Bridge, first erected in 1666, collapsed in a storm in 1741 and was subsequently rebuilt. The present structure was designed by David Edge in 1856.
The People’s Park, laid out by the local landlord, William Brabazon, 11th Earl of Meath, has recently been restored.
The splendid old Town Hall at the top of Main St., designed in 1881 by Sir Thomas Newingham Deane and funded by the same Lord Meath, is now shamefully desecrated by a hamburger joint.
The Mermaid Arts Centre has a well-equipped auditorium which hosts a wide variety of music, theatre dance and film, an attractive gallery, a multi-purpose room for meetings and workshops, and a pleasant café. It is part of a modern complex also housing the offices of Bray Town Council.
Much of Bray’s attraction can be appreciated strolling through parts of the quiet residential area between Main St. and the sea, with names such as Florence Road, Sidmonton Avenue, Meath Place, Milward Terrace etc. Many of these old houses have beautiful mature gardens that attract songbirds, butterflies and squirrels.
Old Court / Oldcourt Castle, a Tower House built by the Earl of Ormond in 1433, stands in ruins on private land off the Vevay Road. An early Christian socket stone lies nearby.
Killarney Road is lined with opulent Victorian and Edwardian residences, joined in recent decades by housing estates of varying social cachet.
Hollybrook House, at the southern end of Killarney Road, is an impressive Tudoresque mansion built in 1835 to designs by William Vitruvius Morrison, damaged by fire in 1969, and now divided into multiple dwellings. The stables and remaining demesne are used by Brennanstown Riding School, an excellent equestrian centre.
Kilcroney is named after a ruined C13th church dedicated to the virgin Saint Croine. Celtic burial stones found nearby indcate religious use of the site dating back to the pre-Christian era.
The land was confiscated by King Charles II from Brian McAlexander O’Toole for his clan’s 1668 attack on Newcastle, and granted to Sir William Flower. In Cromwellian times, public hangings took place from tall trees beside the River Dargle.
Kilcroney House has been known since 1994 as the Dublin Oak Academy, a boys’ boarding school. This imposing Tudoresque mansion was designed by Sancton Wood in 1835 as a country residence for Rev. Humphrey Lloyd, Provost Of Trinity College, Dublin, and over the years has been variously used as a hotel, a sports club and a religious retreat centre.
Fassaroe Castle was built by “Master Tresorver” for the Brabazon family in 1536, and was largely destroyed by Cromwellian forces in 1649. Nearby, the late medieval St Valerie’s Cross, thought to have originated elsewhere, is the tallest and most important of the so-called Fassaroe Crosses dotted around the Rathdown area, probably carved by the same stonemason; they are similar in style to C12th crosses found in Cornwall, England, with wheel-shaped heads bearing crucifixion scenes in false relief.
For a town of its size, Bray has an unusual number of religious structures. Roman Catholics attend the church of the Holy Redeemer (designed by Patrick Byrne in 1852, remodelled by William Byrne in 1898 and since considerably modified) on Main St. , St Peter’s church (1837) in Little Bray, Queen of Peace to the south and St Fergal’s to the west; the Church of Ireland community is served by Christ church (built in 1863 on a site on the Rock of Bray donated by Lord Herbert of Lea, to a design by William Slater) on Church Rd. and St. Brigid’s church (1859) in the townland of Kilbride, near Kilcroney; Presbyterians use St Andrew’s church (1858) on Quinnsboro Rd; Methodists have St Andrew’s church (1859) on Florence Rd; Baptists go to Calvary Bible church on Main St. Meeting facilities / places of worship have also been made available over the years for Quakers, Plymouth Brethren, Orthodox Copts, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Hindus and Buddhists.
Bray’s best-known upmarket restaurant is the Cypriot-owned Tree of Idleness, named in honour of an episode in Lawrence Durrell’s memoir Bitter Lemons. Italian venues abound, the least pretentious being Pizzas ‘n’ Cream near the Railway Station. The Jasmine House Restaurant at No. 85 Main St. proudly displays a plaque in Chinese and Irish commemorating the i911 birthplace of President Cathriul O’Dalaigh. There is an exceptionally good Indian take-away just off the seafront.
Bray has several other pleasant eateries, although it has to be said that there are also quite a few awful ones.
The same is true for pubs. Personal favourites include the eccentric old part of the Harbour Bar, believed to have been used in more films than any other pub in Ireland, and O’Driscoll’s Seaside Bar, owned by a grandnephew of James Joyce.
Ardmore Studios, Ireland’s only dedicated film making centre, located on Herbert Rd. since 1958, is one reason for Bray’s popularity as a film location; another may be the local residence of director Neil Jordan. Famous productions filmed in or near Bray include his Angel (1982), Michael Collins (1996) and Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot (1989) and In The Name of the Father (1993), John Boorman’s Zardoz (1974), Excalibur (1981) and The Tailor of Panama (2001), Martin Ritt’s The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965), John Guillermin’s The Blue Max (1966), Anthony Harvey’s Lion in Winter (1968), Yves Boisset’s Un Taxi Mauve (1977), Alan Parker’s The Commitments (1991), Ron Howard’s Far & Away (1992), Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995), Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane (2007) and the recent television seriesThe Tudors.
Sir Arthur Purves Phayne, who lived at No. 12 Goldmith Terrace on Quinboro Road, was Commissioner for Lower Burma in 1858, when the last of the Great Mughal Emperors was imprsoned in Rangoon following the so-called Indian Mutiny; he went on to become Governor of Mauritius. Other famous / interesting people associated with Bray include Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Lennox Robinson (who lived in the same seafront house at different times); John Millington Synge and Roger Casement (both pupils at Aravon School, where the novelist Monk Gibbon later taught); writers Richard Power, Liam O’Flaherty and Philip Rooney; folklorist William Larminie; Lusitania officer Captain Albert A Bestie; painter Paul Henry; musician Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty, conductor of the Halle Orchestra from 1920 to 1930; concert pianist Peggy Dell; tennis player Dr. Joshua Pirn; actor Cyril Cusack; journalist Dick Walsh and politicians Roddy Conolly and Dick Roche.
The volume of immigrants in recent years has earned Bray the nicknames “Brayrut” and ”Brayjing“. The number of residents of Oriental origin is particularly striking.
Bray hosts an annual international Jazz Festival on the May bank holiday weekend, each year, described by The Irish Times as “the connoisseur’s jazz festival“, and is also the venue for a popular Summerfest.
Bray is within easy reach of Enniskerry on ByRoute 2.
