Wicklow Mountains - Toponymy

Toponymy

The Wicklow Mountains take their name from County Wicklow which in turn takes its name from Wicklow town. The origin of the name is from the Danish Wykynglo or Wykinlo. The Irish name for Wicklow, Cill Mhantáin, means "Church of Mantan", named after an apostle of Saint Patrick. Wicklow was not established as a county until 1606; prior to that it had been part of County Dublin. An early name for the whole area of the Wicklow Mountains was Cualu. There are also historic names for various territories in the mountains held by local clans: the north part of Wicklow and south Dublin was known as Cualann while the Glen of Imaal takes its name from the territory of Hy Mail. A sept of the O'Byrne family called the Gaval Rannall possessed the area around Glenmalure, known as Gaval-Rannall or Ranelagh. During the medieval period, prior to the establishment of County Wicklow, the English administration in Dublin referred to the region as the Leinster Mountains.