NEWCASTLE

Newcastle is situated on a link road that runs along the East Coast from Bray to Wicklow Town. The village is very close to the beach, which is excellent for walking and shore fishing. An Caislean Nua takes its name from the Castle (now a ruin), built by the Norman's on an earlier Irish fortification in the territory of the O' Byrne's. Constructed in the period between 1177 and 1184 by Hugh de Lacy then governor of Ireland under Henry 11, the Castle called Newcastle Mackynegan, became a major stronghold in the outer fortifications of the Pale