Courtown
- The Seaside Resort
Courtown,
situated in the North East of County Wexford, on the wide
sweep of Courtown Bay, is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled
seaside resorts on the south east coast yet also offers to
the visitor a wide variety of attractions. |
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A
village with a population of just under one thousand people, Courtown's
real charm is to be found in its great natural beauty and the
atmosphere of peace.
Though
Courtown itself still retains its old world charm and natural
beauty, it is today a very modern resort with many amenities.
Prior to 1820, the village was completely under-developed, but
in 1830, the harbour was built by the Courtown family, on whose
vast estate it stood. It soon became a thriving fishing village.
The
present pier of the harbour was built by the Courtown family as
part of famine relief work in 1847. Courtown is especially popular
as a tourist resort. The tourists started to arrive in 1863, when
the railway line from Dublin reached Gorey,.
The
Ounavarra is the river which flows into the harbour. On a trip
up the river, the visitor passes through the wooded Courtown Estate
with its unsurpassed variety of scenery, past the site of where
Courtown House (the seat of the Courtown Family) once stood, and
on to Ballinatray Bridge. The bridge which carries the main Gorey
to Courtown road, spans a deep gorge, and is reputed to be one
of the highest old stone-work bridges in the country.
There
is also an ancient seven-foot High cross standing in the woods
beside the bridge.
Courtown enjoys one of the lowest annual rainfall in the South
East.
Link
- Courtown Woods (Feature on
courtown woods) 
Link - Courtown History /Stories/Poems/Songs
