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Parish of Kilcock and Newtown.

Kilcock and Newtown parish is located in North Kildare on the border of County Meath, ca.32km west of Dublin. The parish is part of the Disocese of Kildare and Leighlin. It has two churches - St. Coca’s Kilcock (1867 AD) and the Church of our Lady Newtown (2000 AD). The population of the parish is growing steadily and is currently ca. 5,000 people. There are five primary schools and one post-primary school in the parish, with a total student population of 1,800 pupils.

Kilcock gets it’s name from St. Coca, hence the name Cill Coca, Church of St. Coca. St. Coca was a 6th century Saint, legend has it that she was a sister of St. Kevin of Glendalough. She founded a monastry in the village, was associated with lacemaking and was known to be a strong character, which earned her the nickname of “wild dog” or “wolf”. An icon of St. Coca was consecrated in 1999 and occupies a special place of reverence in the parish church.

The parish also contains the settlements of Laragh, Tiermohan and Newtown, a small village near Enfield, Co. Meath. The Church of our Lady in Newtown, was blessed by Bishop Laurence Ryan in May 2000, after extensive rebuilding and renovations to the earlier 1975 church. The Newtown area was the birthplace of Teresa Brayton, a well known local poet and author, who composed the “Old Bog Road”, which lies within the parish boundary.

The parish of Kilcock and Newtown has become a welcome home to many new families in recent years. It combines the best of country style living with proximity to Dublin. The parish has many sporting clubs and societies – GAA, rugby, soccer, athletics, drama and many more, a newly opened rail link to Dublin, a magnificent harbour area for the Royal canal, which was the host to the 2003 European Canoe Polo Championships.

Fr. P.J. Byrne, PP is pleased to be working in partnership with the people of the parish to create a welcoming Christian community, where people feel they can belong and be part of something really special.

Welcome to our parish website, we look forward to meeting you again !