John Spooner

• 27/Jul/2023 08:33:34

Trailer for the series Ballykissangel (about an English priest who gets appointed to a parish in Ireland) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr6gFZsEmuE The bridge can be seen at about 30 seconds, followed by the church.

robinparkes

• 27/Jul/2023 08:37:38

I won't be saying anything of value about the photograph but I've been through Avoca many times on my bike while on holiday and staying either near or in Arklow. I love the place.

John Spooner

• 27/Jul/2023 08:51:49

A screenshot from Ballykissangel Behind The Scenes Part One which explains why they chose Avoca, despite it being nothing like the village described in the script.

CASSIDY PHOTOGRAPHY

• 27/Jul/2023 09:10:57

Do you know there is an Avoca, Tasmania?

ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

• 27/Jul/2023 09:20:08

There is an earlier Cabinet photo from exactly the same spot. Thought it was the same day, but no - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000334422

suckindeesel

• 27/Jul/2023 09:24:19

https://www.flickr.com/photos/41048895@N03/ Also one in NY State. Called Ovoca in this photo, don’t know when or why the name change. Probably this one https://flic.kr/p/9MWXMC

ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

• 27/Jul/2023 09:40:02

"Avoca was once known as Newbridge. It subsequently became known as Ovoca, and then in Victorian times as Avoca. Ptolemy mentions the river Oboka 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." From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoca,_County_Wicklow#Toponymy The 1868 bridge says 'OVOCA' - via [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1155643335/]

suckindeesel

• 27/Jul/2023 11:38:27

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/32162360@N00/] maps.app.goo.gl/7pMKDaHgVpisTYYPA?g_st=ic Ovoca Bridge 1868

John Spooner

• 27/Jul/2023 12:08:20

Wexford Independent - Saturday 07 March 1868:

The Avoca Bridge. —There wore number of contracts given in for the erection of a new bridge over the Avoca, in place of the one which was swept away last spring. Mr. Edwards, £3,300; Mr. J. Cunninghain, Dalkey, £3,130; and Mr. Clarke’s, (the hitler gentleman) tender was accepted by the Grand Jury, but in consequence his securities not being present the giving of the contract was postponed.

John Spooner

• 27/Jul/2023 12:19:02

Yet another Avoca, this time in South Africa. A newspaper search found that several newspapers reported that "the river was 10 feet above the piers of the Avoca bridge", but the sentence continued "and the temporary bridge over the Crocodile River was washed away" and the heading was "DISASTROUS FLOODS IN TRANSVAAL" (Dundee Advertiser and others - Friday 01 March 1895)

CASSIDY PHOTOGRAPHY

• 27/Jul/2023 12:54:04

www.flickr.com/photos/184711311@N04/ I am guessing they didn't spend a heck of a lot of time in school, back then. So, probably not a name change as much as a misspelling. How many Irish immigrants had their names changed, upon arriving in New York, fresh off the boat?

suckindeesel

• 27/Jul/2023 15:22:48

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/41048895@N03/] Quite easily, here's a misspelling on an official road sign. The local council don't even know how to spell the name of their own park maps.app.goo.gl/GcN8rJxRJS9H3DKbA

Carol Maddock

• 27/Jul/2023 16:27:52

My parents went on honeymoon to Avoca in the 1940s, so from when I was small I always knew it was called the Meeting of the Waters.

suckindeesel

• 27/Jul/2023 16:58:28

John Spooner This is the bridge, contract awarded 1893 The only local Avoca I can find is a farm. flic.kr/p/iKmxiH There are many places called ‘Avoca’, and ‘Avoca Bridge’, around the world, but not ‘Ovoca’’. No doubt named by emigrants, so the Avoca name must have been in common usage when these places were founded.

suckindeesel

• 27/Jul/2023 19:54:53

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/41048895@N03/] The Tasmanian Avoca, in the parish of Cornwall, near the town of Longford, was renamed Avoca in 1837. So, that name was in use very early on. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoca,_Tasmania

nlpnt

• 27/Jul/2023 20:43:14

The one in NY is in the western part of the state, due south of Rochester but slightly more than halfway from it to the Pennsylvania state line.

ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

• 27/Jul/2023 21:27:54

Nearby-ish L_ROY_00599 - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000326166 - has a Mr Jaunty spotting, which might wrench us back to the early 1890s. But the Lawrence catalogue numbering system is a mathematician's nightmare ... [https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia/52003345155/]

ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

• 27/Jul/2023 22:37:34

THe NIAH has the church as 1862 - www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/16403... And the Duchas schools site has - "... There is a nice big church R.C. (?) which the miners built themselves in their spare time with free labour. It is called the church of St Brigid [Mary] and St Patrick. .." amongst other local folklore. See - www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5044759/5036651

staticgirl

• 09/Aug/2023 13:27:35

My grandad had the poem The Vale of Avoca printed on his funeral card. He learned it at school.

National Library of Ireland on The Commons

• 18/Aug/2023 11:25:09

https://www.flickr.com/photos/staticgirl It is amazing how the poems we learn at school often stick so firmly with us.