Arklow is located on the East Coast of Ireland in Co. Wicklow. It is situated on the mouth of the River Avoca and is accessible via the N11 road or the Dublin/Rosslare rail line. Arklow is 72km (45 miles) south of Dublin and is an excellent base to explore the rest of County Wicklow and neighbouring counties. It is ideally centred between Dublin and Rosslare harbour ports and is an hour and fifteen minutes drive from Dublin airport.
Arklow is a lively, bustling town with its picturesque Main Street complete with ornate lighting and colourful shop fronts. Arklow is characterised by its bridge which is known as the ‘nineteen arches. The bridge was built in 1759, it is the longest stone arched bridge in Ireland and still one of the longest in Europe.
Arklow has a rich and varied history, deeply entrenched in seafaring, fishing and boat building industries. The oldest part of the town is known as ‘The Fisheries’ named during the booming fishing industry in the 18th century. The harbour still boasts a sizeable fleet of fishing boats today. Both the north and south quay are busy working areas, complete with an attractive marina, quayside developments and sailing yachts. The harbour area is also home to the RNLI lifeboat station, which is in operation since 1826. Every year the town of Arklow celebrates its Maritime tradition on the August Bank holiday in the form of the Maritime festival.
With the downturn in fishing, the main industry changed in Arklow to manufacturing. In the late 1800’s the Kynocks family set up their munitions factory, producing explosives that supplied the allies during World War 1. The town became home to the former Arklow Pottery and its sister company Noritake. Since the closure of Arklow Pottery, the pottery is fast becoming a collector’s item.
Arklow is currently undergoing some major changes, with new housing developments mushrooming all over the town. Its industry is changing too, whilst it still has a strong manufacturing industry, Arklow is a hugely popular holiday resort attracting visitors from all over the world.
With its beautiful north and south beaches and neighbouring Clogga beach, located just outside of the town, Arklow is an ideal seaside resort.
It boasts an excellent golf course, two indoor heated swimming pools complete with gymnasiums. There are numerous walks in and around the town, for more information on walks around Arklow, check out the Arklow.ie website.
For the younger generation Arklow Town Council has recently installed a state of the art playground at Sea View Avenue for 2 to 12 year olds. The playground is complete with colourful climbing towers, swings, slides, it has protective tiling and is fully surrounded by protective railings. Beside the playground is the recently revamped Pitch and Putt links.
Arklow is ideally located to explore the rest of Co. Wicklow. Places such as the beautiful village of Avoca, home to the former Ballykissangel TV series, and where one can also visit the famous ‘Meeting of the Waters’, just outside of Avoca. Visitors are also a short journey away from Brittas bay beach, Glendalough National Park and Avoca Handweavers.
For more information on Arklow please visit the dedicated Arklow website www.arklow.ie