Hacketstown

For the town in the United States, see Hackettstown, New Jersey.

Hacketstown (Irish: Baile Haicéid,^[2] IPA:[ˈbˠalʲəˈhaceːdʲ]), historically known as Ballydrohid (Irish: Baile an Droichead), is a small town and civil parish in County Carlow, Ireland, near the border with County Wicklow. The civil parish extends into County Wicklow.^[3]

Hacketstown Baile Haicéid
Town
Main Street
Hacketstown Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°51′50″N 6°33′25″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Carlow
Elevation	166 m (545 ft)
Population  (2022)[1]	653
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference	S972801
Website	www.hacketstown.ie

It is located on the R747 road at its junction with the R727. The River Derreen flows westwards just north of the town and the River Derry rises just south of the town.^{[citation needed]}

History

In the early thirteenth century, an Anglo-Norman castle was built on the site where St Brigid's Church sits now.^[4]

In the seventeenth century the wealthy Chetham family from New Moston, Lancashire, England acquired lands here. Although they lived mainly in England, a Chetham daughter married into the powerful Irish Loftus family.

Hacketstown was the scene of two battles during the 1798 rebellion. On 25 May 1798, there were several skirmishes in the town. Later, on 25 June, several thousand rebels including Michael Dwyer and his followers, tried to capture the military barracks to take the firearms and ammunition. The fighting lasted for the better course of a day. Most of the houses in the village were destroyed and several hundred rebels were killed during the fighting. The military evacuated the barracks and retreated to Tullow, a nearby town.^[4]

Hacketstown has a national school and secondary school, Coláiste Eoin. There is a Roman Catholic church, St Bridget's, and a Church of Ireland chapel, St John's.^{[citation needed]}

William Presley, an ancestor of Elvis Presley, was a resident of the town before emigrating to America over 200 years ago.^[5]

In 2011, the US town of Hackettstown, New Jersey, declared a sister city relationship with Hacketstown.^[6][7]

See also

• Category:People from Hacketstown
• List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. "Census Mapping – Hacketstown". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
2. "Baile Haicéid/Hacketstown". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
3. "Civil Parish of Hacketstown, Co. Carlow". townlands.ie. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
4. "Hacketstown History". Retrieved 14 November 2020.
5. "Elvis hails from Hacketstown – Celia Murphy explains further – Ireland's Own". Retrieved 14 November 2020.
6. lehighvalleylive.com, Steve Novak | For (15 March 2011). "Hackettstown, N.J., declares 'sister city' relationship with Hacketstown, Ireland". lehighvalleylive. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
7. lehighvalleylive.com, Steve Novak | For (23 January 2020). "What's in a name: A New Jersey town's weird Irish connection". lehighvalleylive. Retrieved 14 November 2020.