Avoca Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Town and Country Homes Association represent over 1000 quality approved Bed and Breakfast accommodations in every county in Ireland including Wicklow. Our B&B's in Avoca, County Wicklow offer comfort and value for money and you can be guaranteed of a warm welcome and kind hospitality when staying in Town and Country Homes accommodation in Avoca. Whether you wish to stay in town or in the country, we have a bed and breakfast to suit you in Avoca, County Wicklow.

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Avoca, County Wicklow Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Avoca (Irish: Abhóca) is a small town near Arklow, in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated on the River Avoca. The Avoca area has been associated with its famous copper mines for many years and the valley has been immortalised by Thomas Moore in the famous song The Meeting of the Waters. The name of the song derives from the meeting of the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers, about two miles from the village of Avoca. The song is said to have been written under a tree, the stump of which remains by the Meetings. Avoca is also famous for its handweaving. Avoca Handweavers are based in Avoca.

Avoca was once known as Newbridge. It subsequently became known as Ovoca, and then in Victorian times as Avoca. Ptolemy mentions the river Obhoca on his early map of Ireland. The official name of the village is now Avoca in English and Abhóca in Irish. None of the other names are used today. Avoca is the village where the BBC series Ballykissangel was filmed. In 1966, Avoca was one of the locations used in the film "Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon".

Avoca, County Wicklow

Avoca Handweaving

Avoca Handweavers is a clothing manufacturing and retail business in the Republic of Ireland. Sited in Avoca, County Wicklow, it is the oldest working woollen mill in Ireland. It is also Ireland's oldest surviving business.

The story of Avoca Handweavers begins way back in 1723 when travel was very difficult from the village of Avoca in a beautiful isolated valley in the heart of County Wicklow on Ireland's east coast. A barter system prevailed and the mill was at the heart of a tiny rural community grinding corn for bread and spinning and weaving wool from local sheep for clothing and blankets. Making the most of its resources, the mill was built on the banks of the fast-flowing River Avoca from which it drew power with a water wheel.

In 1760 a new loom which greatly speeded up the weaving process came to the valley. The Fly Shuttle Loom, on which the shuttle on tiny wheels seemed literally to fly across the loom, could weave up to 20 meters of cloth a day. The Fly Shuttle Looms, some of which are still used today by Avoca Handweavers, remain the fastest method of handweaving available.

In the 1920s three sisters, the Wynnes, inherited the mill, which had become run down. They injected new life into the enterprise, introducing colour from natural dyes. Soon they were selling their famous Avoca Handweavers tweeds all over the world, designing cloth for the Paris designer Elsa Schiaparelli, a waistcoat for King George VI and baby blankets for the children of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1974, Donald Pratt, a solicitor engaged to handle the sale of the mill which now faced closure decided to buy it himself. Along with his wife, Hilary, a teacher, he set about getting Avoca Handweavers back on its feet. The mill at Avoca Village was soon humming again, as the Pratts began exporting handwoven rugs and throws first to the UK and then beyond.

Managed now by 2 generations of the Pratt family, Avoca continues to develop with several large retail outlets around Ireland, in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Annapolis, Maryland, USA. Many of these also have large foodhalls & cafes attached as their food operations expand . The Avoca Cafe Cookbooks have proven to be popular bestsellers, these were inspired by Simon and Ivan Pratt.

The company has a number of women's clothing ranges which it sells through its own stores designed by the hugely talented Amanda Pratt, as well as wholesaling in Ireland and internationally. The best known of these is Avoca Anthology.Avoca now also manages one of Ireland's most well known gardens at Mount Usher in Ashford, County Wicklow. The gardens are open to the public from March to October annually.

Mining

Avoca river at Avoca village; note copper coloured stones on the river bedCopper mining is reported to have begun in the Avoca River valley around 1720 and it continued, with interruptions, until 1982. Earlier mining, perhaps dating back to the Bronze Age, may have occurred. The East Avoca site, today, is composed mainly of a number of rock waste spoil heaps, abandoned quarries (Cronebane and East Avoca open pits) and disused roads. The largest spoil heap, Mount Platt, was built up from waste rock excavated from Cronebane open pit. There was a mineral tramway built from the West Avoca mines, through the village (on the opposite side of the river) and on to Arklow Harbour. The route of most of this was subsumed into the Dublin - Rosslare railway line, but an arch and a tunnel under the road from Rathdrum to Avoca remains.

Transport

Avoca lies on the R752 regional road linking Rathnew with Woodenbridge. The village is served by Bus Éireann route 133 from Dublin (66 km) and Wicklow (21 km) to Arklow (10 km), with two departures in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays and one each way on Sundays.

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