Soon Fatt Chinese Take Away - Bray Town In County Wicklow (Ireland)

Soon Fatt Chinese Take Away - Bray Town In County Wicklow (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,872 making it the fourth largest in Ireland (excluding the five cities) as of the 2011 census. It is situated about 20 km (10 mi) south of Dublin on the east coast.

Bray is home to Ireland's only dedicated film studios, Ardmore Studios, where films such as Excalibur, Braveheart, and Breakfast on Pluto have been shot.

In medieval times, Bray was on the border of the coastal district, governed directly by the English crown from Dublin Castle, known as the Pale.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Bray was still a small fishing village, but during the latter part of the 18th century, the Dublin middle classes began to move to Bray to escape city life, while still being relatively close to the city.

The Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first in Ireland, opened in 1834 and was extended as far as Bray in 1854. With the railway, the town grew to become the largest Irish seaside resort.

The outbreak of World War II put the industry 'on hold' for its duration. However, during the 1950s tourists from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland returned to Bray in great numbers to escape the austerity of post-war rationing. The town's career as a resort declined from the 1960s onwards when foreign travel became an option for large numbers of people.