Vinegar Hill
About 2.3 km each way from the castle, measured on the mapped route · OpenStreetMap gives the summit as 110 metres elevation
About
Vinegar Hill is the bare hill on the east bank of the Slaney, above Templeshannon, with the stump of a stone windmill on top. After the rebels took Enniscorthy on 28 May 1798 they made their main camp here, and it became a refuge for their families as well. On 21 June General Lake's forces attacked from several sides; the rebel army got away towards Wexford, but the 1798 Centre's own history puts the dead at about 1,500, most of them women and children who had been sheltering in the camp. There is a free car park at the base with a memorial and information panels, and a paved path from there to the windmill at the top. On a clear day you look straight back across the river at the castle and the cathedral spire, and west to the Blackstairs. It is a good walk from the town centre too: about 2.3 kilometres each way from the castle, over the Seamus Rafter Bridge and up through Templeshannon.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The windmill ruin at the summit
- ✓Memorial and information panels at the car park
- ✓The view back over the Slaney to the castle and cathedral
- ✓The Blackstairs Mountains on the western skyline
Tips
- →The car park at the base is free; the path from it to the top is paved
- →The 1798 Centre and the castle also run guided tours of the hill for groups of ten or more
- →It is exposed at the top, so bring a layer even on a warm day
