Wexford Loch Garman (Irish) | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Motto(s): Per Aquam et Ignem 'Through Water and Fire' | |
  Wexford Location within Ireland Show map of Ireland Wexford Location within Europe Show map of Europe | |
| Coordinates:52°20′18″N6°27′42″W / 52.33833°N 6.46167°W /52.33833; -6.46167 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Wexford |
| Government | |
| • Dáil constituency | Wexford |
| • EP constituency | South |
| Elevation | 1 m (3 ft) |
| Population | 21,524 |
| Time zone | UTC±0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST) |
| Eircode routing key | Y35 |
| Telephone area code | +353(0)53 |
| Irish Grid Reference | T051213 |
| Website | www |
Wexford (Irish:Loch Garman[ˌl̪ˠɔxˈɡaɾˠəmˠən̪ˠ];[2] archaicYola:Weiseforthe)[3] is thecounty town ofCounty Wexford,Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side ofWexford Harbour, the estuary of theRiver Slaney near the southeastern corner of theisland of Ireland. The town is linked toDublin by theM11/N11National Primary Route; and toRosslare Europort,Cork andWaterford by theN25. Thenational rail network connects it to Dublin and Rosslare Europort. It had a population of 21,524 according to the2022 census.[1]
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The town was founded by theVikings in about 800 AD. They named itVeisafjǫrðr, meaning "inlet of the mudflats". In medieval times, the town was known asWeiseforthe in theYola dialect ofMiddle English.[3] This, in turn became "Wexford" in modern English.[citation needed] According to a story recorded in thedindsenchas, the town's Irish name,Loch Garman (lake of Garman), comes from a man namedGarman mac Bomma Licce who was chased to the river mouth and drowned as a consequence of stealing the queen's crown fromTemair during the feast ofSamhain.
For several hundred years (from the 9th to the early 12th century), Wexford was a Viking town, a city-state, largely independent and owing only token dues to the Irishkings of Leinster. However, in May 1169Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster and hisNorman allyRobert Fitz-Stephenbesieged Wexford. TheNorse inhabitants resisted fiercely until theBishop of Ferns persuaded them to accept a settlement with Dermot.
Wexford became anOld English settlement throughout the early to late Medieval period. AnAnglo-Frisian language, known asYola, was commonly spoken in south Wexford from the time of the Norman invasion in 1169 until it began declining in the mid-19th century. While Yola was extinct by the 1870s,[4][5] its last speaker, a fisherman fromKilmore Quay named Jack Devereux, died in 1998.[6]
Compared to other parts of Ireland, the Irish language was not as widely spoken in the baronies ofForth andBargy, which include Wexford town, from the 9th century onwards due to heavy settlement of Norse, Norman and continental Europeans.[4][5] However,Leinster Irish was the main language spoken in the more northern baronies ofCounty Wexford, and it was spoken widely during the early to late Medieval period, until its decline in the 17th century.[7]
Following theCrusades, theKnights Templar had a presence in Wexford town. Up to the present, their name is perpetuated in the old Knights' Templars' chapel yard of St. John's Cemetery, on Wexford's Upper St. John's Street. Wexford received its firstcharter in 1318.[8]
County Wexford produced strong support forConfederate Ireland during the 1640s. A fleet of Confederateprivateers was based in Wexford town, consisting of sailors fromFlanders andSpain as well as local men. Their vessels raidedEnglish Parliamentarian shipping, giving some of the proceeds to the Confederate government inKilkenny. As a result,the town was sacked by theEnglish Parliamentarians during theCromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. Many of its inhabitants were killed and much of the town was burned. In 1659Solomon Richards was appointed Governor, but he was dismissed and imprisoned following theRestoration the next year.
Wexford's early- and mid- 18th-century history is less frequently remembered than later periods, however, the impact of this period is evident from the architectural fabric of the town such as the gabled Dutch Billy houses such as on Main Street.[9][10]
County Wexford was the centre of the1798 rebellion against British rule, and Wexford town was held by theUnited Irishmen throughout theWexford Rebellion. Nearby Scullabogue was thescene of a notorious massacre of localloyalists by the United Irishmen, and there were also executions and reprisals atWexford Bridge.
Redmond Square, nearWexford railway station, commemorates the elderJohn Edward Redmond (1806–1865) who sat in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom as aLiberalMember of Parliament (MP) for thecity of Wexford. The inscription reads:"My heart is with the city of Wexford. Nothing can extinguish that love but the cold soil of the grave." His nephewWilliam Archer Redmond (1825–1880) sat as an MP inIsaac Butt'sHome Rule Party from 1872 until 1880. Willie Redmond sat as an MP for Wexford from 1883 until 1885. The youngerJohn Redmond, was a devoted follower ofCharles Stewart Parnell and leader of theIrish Parliamentary Party until his death in April 1918. He is interred in the Redmond family vault, at the old Knights' Templars' chapel yard of St. John's Cemetery, Upper St. John's Street.
Redmond Park was formally opened in May 1931 as a memorial toWillie Redmond,[11] who died in 1917 while serving with the16th (Irish) Division during theMessines offensive and was buried on theWestern Front.
Wexford hosts theWexford Opera Festival every October. Started byDr Tom Walsh in 1951, the festival has since grown and a fireworks display is sometimes held in conjunction with the annual festival.[12]
Wexford has a number of music and drama venues including:
Wexford is the home of several youth andsenior theatre groups, including theBuí Bolg Street Theatre Company, Oyster Lane Theatre Group, Wexford Pantomime Society, Wexford Light Opera Society and Wexford Drama Group. In 2024, Wexford hosted theFleadh Cheoil festival.[13]
TheNational LotterySkyfest was held in Wexford in March 2011 and included a pyrotechnic waterfall on the town's main bridge spanning 300m.[14] Buí Bolg also performed on the night.[14]
Until the mid-nineteenth century, theYola language could be heard in Wexford, and some words, phrases and place names are still used in the locality, particularly in the baronies of southern Wexford.[15]
Notable churches within the town include the "twin churches", Bride Street and Rowe Street with their distinctive spires;St Iberius' Church (Church of Ireland), which dates from the 18th Century;Saint Peter's College, with a chapel designed byAugustus Welby Pugin; and Ann StreetPresbyterian church. A formerQuaker meeting hall is now a band room in High Street. The twin churches can be seen from any part of the town and in 2008, their 150th anniversary was celebrated. The larger twin, on Rowe Street, contains a peal of ten change-ringing bells, cast byGillett & Johnston in 1930.[16]
In the early 21st century, Wexford saw the redevelopment of its quay front,[citation needed] and residential development at Clonard village.[17] Also, the relocated offices of theDepartment of Environment were constructed near Wexford General Hospital on Newtown Road and opened in 2010.[18]
Wexford's success as aseaport declined in the first half of the 20th century because of the constantly changing sands of Wexford Harbour.[19] By 1968 it had become unprofitable to keep dredging a channel from the harbour mouth to the quays in order to accommodate the larger ships of the era, so the port closed. The port had been extremely important to the local economy, with coal being a major import and agricultural machinery and grain being exported. The woodworks which fronted the quays and which were synonymous with Wexford were removed in the 1990s as part of a plan to claim the quay as an amenity for the town as well as retaining it as a commercially viable waterfront.
In the early 20th century, a new port was built about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south at Rosslare Harbour, now known asRosslare Europort. This is a deepwater harbour, unaffected by tides and currents. All major shipping now uses this port and Wexford Port is used only by fishing boats and leisure vessels.
Johnstown Castle, approximately 6 km from Wexford town, is headquarters toTeagasc, theEnvironmental Protection Agency and theDepartment of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Major private-sector employers in and around the town include Wexford Creamery, Celtic Linen, Wexford Viking Glass,Parker Hannifin IPDE, Waters Technology, Kent Stainless,Equifax andBNY Mellon.[citation needed]Coca-Cola operates a research plant employing up to 160.[20] Eishtec, which was acquired by Infosys in 2019,[21] operates a call center in Wexford.[22] Pamela Scott, A-wear and other retailers operate in the town. Public sector employers includeWexford County Council andWexford General Hospital.
Curracloe Beach, approximately 10 km north of Wexford town, was the location in 1997 for the opening scenes ofSaving Private Ryan.[23] A nature reserve and walking trail, at Raven Point Wood, is near Curracloe Beach.[24]
TheIrish National Heritage Park at Ferrycarrig includes various exhibits spanning 9000 years of Irish history, allowing the visitor to wander around re-creations of historic Irish dwellings includingcrannogs, Viking houses and Norman forts.[25] The grounds also feature the archaeological site of Newtown, considered the first Norman fortification in Ireland.[26]
TheWexford Wildfowl Reserve is aRamsar site based onmudflats, (known locally as slobland), just outside Wexford.[27] It is a migratory stop-off point for thousands of ducks, geese, swans and waders. Up to 12,000 (50% of the world's population) ofGreenland white-fronted geese spend the winter on the Wexford slobs. There is a visitor centre with exhibitions and an audio-visual show.[28]
Wexford O'Hanrahan railway station opened on 17 August 1872.[29] On 10 April 1966, the station was named afterMichael O'Hanrahan,[29] one of the executed leaders of the 1916Easter Rising. Therailway line fromDublin toRosslare Harbour runs along the quayside on the northeastern edge of the town. In 2010 the Rosslare Strand-Waterford rail services were suspended, due to budget cuts atIrish Rail.[30]
Wexford is also served by local and national bus networks, primarilyBus Éireann, Wexford Bus and Ardcavan Bus. There are direct bus routes toDublin,Carlow andWaterford.[31] There are also many local taxi and hackney providers. Wexford Bus also operates a shuttle bus service which has stops at the town's main facilities.
Rosslare Europort is 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Wexford. Car ferries run betweenFishguard andPembroke in Wales andCherbourg andRoscoff in France. The ferry companies operating on these routes areStena Line andIrish Ferries. Foot passengers can use theSailRail tickets from Wexford O'Hanrahan station via Rosslare Europort andFishguard Harbour to reachSwansea,Cardiff Central and onwards includingLondon Paddington.
The closest airport to Wexford isWaterford Airport which is approximately one hour away (70 km), but is not served by commercial flights.[32]Dublin Airport is the closest airport to Wexford which operates commercial flights, which is approximately two hours away.
Wexford Football Club was admitted to theLeague of Ireland in 2007, and was the first Wexford-based club to take part in the competition. The club was the brainchild of former property developer and politicianMick Wallace, who funded the construction of a complex for the new team's home at Newcastle, Ferrycarrig. In 2015, the team won theLeague of Ireland First Division. The club launchedWexford Youths WFC, aWomen's National League team, in 2011. A new team, Yola FC, was proposed in 2020 but was refused a license by theFAI.[33]
Wexford is also home to severalGaelic Athletic Association clubs. Though the town was traditionally associated withGaelic football, with six teams providing ample outlets for its youngsters, it was not until 1960 that hurling took its foothold, with much due to local man Oliver "Hopper" McGrath's contribution to the county'sAll-Ireland Hurling Final triumph over the then-championsTipperary. Having scored an early second-half goal to effectively kill off the opposition, McGrath went on to be the first man from the town of Wexford to receive an All-Ireland Hurling winner's medal.
Although the team has not achieved county senior football success since 1956, St. Johns Volunteers of Wexford Town hold a record eleven county senior titles, as well as six minor titles. Other notable Gaelic football clubs in the town are Sarsfields, St. Mary's of Maudlintown, Clonard and St. Joseph's.
One of the town's localhurling clubs,Faythe Harriers, holds a record fifteen county minor championships, having dominated the minor hurling scene in the 1950s, late 1960s and early 1970s. The senior side has also won fiveWexford Senior Hurling Championships.
The clubhouse and course of Wexford Golf Club were finished in 2006 and 2007 respectively.[citation needed]
As of 2024,Wexford Wanderers RFC was playing in Division 2A of theLeinster League.[34]
Ireland's formerboxing head coach and OlympianBilly Walsh is a native of Wexford and is associated with St. Ibars/Joseph's boxing club in the town.[35]
There are fivesecondary schools serving the population of the town. These are Wexford CBS, Loreto Secondary School (girls' school);St Peter's College (boys' school); Presentation Secondary School (girls' school); and The Vocational College/Selskar College (mixed school).
The historic borough of Wexford was abolished under theMunicipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840.[36] However, by petition, it was re-established in 1846.[37] Under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898, the area became anurban district,[38] while retaining the style of a borough corporation.[39] Wexford Borough Corporation became a borough council in 2002.[40] The boundary of the town was extended in 2008.[41][42]
On 1 June 2014, the borough council was dissolved and the administration of the town was amalgamated withWexford County Council.[43][44] Thelocal electoral area of Wexford forms the borough district of Wexford, as the town retains the right to be described as a borough.[45][46] The chair of the borough district uses the title of mayor, rather than Cathaoirleach.[47]
Theparliamentary borough of Wexford returned two MPs to theIrish House of Commons until 1801. Under theAct of Union, theparliamentary borough returned one MP to theUnited Kingdom House of Commons, until its abolition under theRedistribution of Seats Act 1885. It was thereafter represented by theSouth Wexford from 1885 to 1922, and by theDáil constituency ofWexford from 1921 to the present.
Wexford istwinned with the following places:
Annapolis, MD, United States[50]
Couëron,Loire-Atlantique,Pays de la Loire, France[51]
Lugo,Ravenna,Emilia-Romagna, Italy[52]
Media related toWexford at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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