placenamesValleymount
An Chrois
Valleymount’s distinctive church and the flooding of the surrounding valleys mark two major changes in the village’s built and physical setting.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Chrois · Irish · main form · validated name
- Valleymount · English · main form
Place & story
Saint Joseph’s distinctive front
Saint Joseph’s Church dates to 1803, with its elaborate frontage and porch added around 1835. Granite pilasters rise into tall pinnacles, while a level parapet conceals the nave’s gable behind a bellcote. The architectural inventory records competing explanations for the design, linking it either to Maltese churches or to parishioners’ experience of America. Neither suggested influence is established as certain. [2]
Inside the church
The interior forms a broad space with side aisles separated by columns and a chancel framed by a pointed arch. Timber lining covers the ceiling, with the roof trusses exposed. Stained glass occupies many of the pointed windows, including twentieth-century work in the aisles and chancel. The pinnacled boundary piers and large granite cross repeat elements of the church frontage at the roadside entrance. [2]
A landscape changed by water
The local school’s history recalls the earlier name Blackditches, once used for both the school and chapel. It also describes the transformation brought by the Poulaphouca reservoir project: the valleys of the Liffey and King’s River were flooded around 1939–1941 to create the present body of water. This engineering scheme reshaped the countryside around Valleymount and displaced families from the reservoir area. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Wicklow
- Barony
- Talbotstown Lower
- Civil parish
- Boystown
- Coordinates
- 53.10441, -6.52165 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1165914 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Valleymount. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, NIAH 16401002 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- History of the School: Saint Joseph’s National School, Valleymount · Saint Joseph’s National School
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.