The Little Book of Wexford

by Nicky Rossiter

Overview

The Little Book of Wexford is a compendium of fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts about County Wexford. Funny, fast-paced and fact-packed, here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants and strange traditions alongside details of its flora and fauna, sporting heritage and of course it literary traditions. A reliable reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of this ancient country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780752498119
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	11/13/2013
Series:	Little Book Of
Sold by:	INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP - EPUB - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

NICKY ROSSITER, a Wexford man born and bred, is a writer and historian. His previously published works include My Wexford, Streets of Wexford and Remembering Wexford. He is a member of Wexford Historical Society and regularly broadcasts on South East Radio.

Read an Excerpt

The Little Book of Wexford

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By Nicky Rossiter

The History Press

Copyright © 2013 Nicky Rossiter
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7524-9811-9

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CHAPTER 1

A BRIEF HISTORY OF WEXFORD

We open with a look in brief at the history of the town in order to orient you and maybe to give you some pause for thought because, if truth be told, not all of our received truths are in fact true. The more we research, discuss and question our historical facts, the more we learn. In this short chapter we will do a quick skim of almost two millennia of Wexford history and, while doing so, may change your ideas about some events in its past.

BACK TO BASICS

The Wexford seen from the air today is very different to the scene 2,000 years ago, and it is not just the buildings that have changed. The land area of Wexford has expanded seawards at a rate that we all too often fail to consider. To illustrate this, let us do a mental tour.

First, remove the paved promenade and marina that has added metres to the town in the past decade or so. Next goes the bridge dating from 1959. Now remove the beloved woodenworks, because they only appeared in the late 1800s; not to facilitate the railway line as is so often thought, but to allow an area for railway wagons to be parked for loading on the waterfront. The actual railway line was always on solid ground other than at the Crescent Bridge.

Now remove the ballast bank and breakwater built in the middle of the nineteenth century, and instead cover the north and south Sloblands with water, almost tripling the harbour size. Also remove the Redmond Road area and Trinity Street, which were built on reclaimed land. The linear quays – Paul, Crescent, Custom House, Common and Commercial – are artificial constructs dating from the very early 1800s. These expanded the town seawards by many metres, culminating in the lovely stonework now only visible at the Crescent.

Unfortunately, we have now gone back past the era of reliable map making. Many of the maps of Wexford prior to this date are constructed from speculation based on text references to streets and other landmarks, rather than actual measurements.

Starting our imagined tour at Maudlintown, we find the almost cliff-like heights above the railway line denoting an area well above sea level. This height would have been maintained to modern-day Upper William Street as far as Fishers Row. The sea, shoreline or marshlands would have covered Trinity Street and lower Parnell Street, whilst the lawn of Taylor's Castle dipped towards the shore. The waters of the harbour are said to have lapped the base of the walls of Wexford Castle, where the military barracks stand, leaving the area of the Talbot Hotel and its car park underwater at high tide.

The area of Stonebridge and King Street were at the estuary, probably marshland, of Bishopswater River. This is evident if we walk the area today looking for high ground. Bunker's Hill (Lambert Place), Michael Street, Mulgannon, Bride Street, Joseph Street, etc. were the high banks of that river plain. Picture standing in Stonebridge car park and looking at the towering land mass on which the church and convent are built, and visualise water lapping at your feet.

South Main Street as far as the incline towards the top of Henrietta Street would have been marsh. The Deep Pool that the Crescent is now just a shadow of would have extended up Henrietta Street and Anne Street; a sandy shoreline was discovered at Anne Street during construction in the 1800s.

The Bullring and North Main Street from there (once called Foreshore Street) would have probably been strand or water, with the land on Abbey Street sloping down. Similarly, Selskar up to the walls of the abbey would have possibly been tidal; there are references to a causeway from the abbey to Selskar Rock. Continuing north, the outer edge of the town would have consisted of Westgate and Spawell Road.

THE NAME

The trouble with the names of places is finding the first references. The 'maps' of Ptolemy are often quoted as giving us the first title of Wexford: 'Menapia'. Sadly in later years this has seen challenges, with somewhere like Arklow taking that name based on the 'Sacred Cape' being Carnsore. Conversely, if the cape became 'Hook Head' we would reclaim the old name.

Then of course we get Loch Garman. This is associated with the wonderful legend of Garman Garbh stealing a diadem, and the wronged goddess, in an effort to drown him, striking a rock which spewed forth water, thus creating the harbour of our town. This explanation has problems, not least that it is a story claimed by other locations; add to this that the harbour was unlikely to be mistaken for a lake (loch) and that it is tidal salt water.

Then we come to the current name and its many different spellings. The common root was always thought to be based on something like weiss fiord, which translated as 'ford/fiord of the mudflats'. Wexford was neither a ford or a fiord in the usual sense, however. Jim Jenkins took a deeper look at the options to find words like wick, weik and vig, denoting 'temporary market' or 'beach market'. Other translations in later periods included 'emporium' and 'trading place'. Jenkins noted a harbour of the river Vestfold in Norway called Viksfjord that may have had similar geography, and he speculates on our town being called 'The Irish Vicksfjord', which transmuted over the centuries to Wexford.

A SPRINT THROUGH THE HISTORY

The most likely origin for the population of the region is Wales, via the relatively short sea passage from South Wales to a safe harbour area.

The person credited with introducing the Christian message to this region of Ireland during the fifth century was St Ibar (a contemporary of St Patrick) who was also referred to as Yvorus, Iver and Iberius. Ibar founded a monastic settlement on Begerin, or Little Ireland, an island in Wexford Haven.

Sporadic raids by the Norsemen began and continued for almost a century before the men began to settle on these shores in the ninth century. Whether the Norsemen were Christianised here or brought their own form of the religion to Wexford is now speculated, as the Danes were converted between 800 and 1200. Their Christianity is evidenced by the proliferation of parishes associated with them.

In May 1169 the citizens of the town were warned of the approach of a Norman army. After a number of sorties the town surrendered and hostages were given, as was the custom of the time. Dermot McMurrough granted the town to Fitzstephens and his half-brother Maurice Fitzgerald. During the Norman period, the town walls were rebuilt and extended; much of which was undertaken by order of King Henry II after a visit to Wexford in 1172.

Life in Wexford in the 1300s, as in other towns, was rough and ready by modern standards. Streets and lanes harboured dunghills and pigsties, which, according to Hore in his History of Wexford, were said to infect the air and 'produce fevers, pestilence and death'. There was a tradition at this time of pilgrimage to the tomb of Friar John, where the sick were cured and, according to some, the dead revived. In 1348 the people flocked to the tomb to pray for deliverance from the Black Death as it raged across Europe. Whether it was by virtue of those prayers, or due to lack of documentation, there is today little evidence of the bubonic plague coming to Wexford.

In 1410, the Charter of Aylmer de Valence was confirmed and enlarged by King Henry IV. It clarified that the mayor and bailiffs were to be chosen annually, and that the mayor's court was held in the Tholsel. The charter of 1410 also gave the mayor the power to call men to arms and to set a fair price for goods sold in the marketplace.

In 1609, James I granted a charter to Wexford. It formed the basis for Municipal Liberties, it permitted the introduction of local laws and bylaws for the benefit of the inhabitants, and allowed the governing body of twenty-four burgesses to introduce new guilds.

The earliest mention of Wexford's Coat of Arms was in 1618. On the sketch of the crest, according to the chronicles of Hore, when Sir Daniel Molyneux, Ulster King of Arms, visited the town he returned the arms of the town as a ship in flames with the motto, 'Per aquam et ignem' ('through water and fire'). This is corroborated by a document in the British Museum containing a small sketch of a little brig surrounded by flames, with the words 'The Towne of Vexfort' above.

In January 1642 more than sixty Protestants attempted to flee the town by boat, but their frigate foundered just outside the bay and all but one lost their lives. It was a time of great distress for those of the Protestant religion, who now found themselves on the receiving end of harsh rules and laws. In the summer of 1642, a declaration was made that no English or Protestant man, woman, child, beast or dog should remain, and that all the Bibles found belonging to those people in Wexford were to be burned.

On Easter Saturday 1647, Cardinal Rinucinni, the papal envoy, arrived at Wexford by river from Enniscorthy. He received a great welcome with cannon salutes from the town walls and from ships in the harbour. He was guest of honour at a reception hosted by the Corporation, followed by a liturgical reception in St Peter's church. On leaving Wexford on the following Wednesday, he described his reception as the greatest manifestation of loyalty to Rome he had experienced in Ireland.

On a stormy, rain-swept Tuesday, 2 October 1649, 7,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalry set up camp near Carcur. A fleet of twenty enemy ships moored offshore prevented from entering the harbour by the fortified Fort at Rosslare: Cromwell had arrived at Wexford. On 9 October, Cromwell's troops encircled Wexford and took up a new position beside the cannon battery at Trespan Rock. Wexford Castle was seen as the key point of the defences. If the castle, which stood outside the town wall, were taken, the rest of the town would follow. At first light on 11 October, the battery at Trespan opened fire on the castle. Almost 100 shots were fired at the stronghold and a number of breaches made. Still the defenders held out, and Colonel Sinnott sought to renew negotiations; Cromwell received his envoys. The terms asked were not to Cromwell's liking but, in order to avoid greater destruction, he was prepared to negotiate further. One of the envoys, James Stafford, governor of the castle, seeing the damage already done to his defences, decided to deliver his fortress to Cromwell in return for the lives of himself and his men. On taking the castle, the attacking army was in a commanding position to fire down in to the town. From various accounts between 1,500–2,000 townspeople died, either by the sword or by drowning while trying to flee.

Thomas Knox, a descendant of John Knox, the religious reformer, became Governor of Wexford in 1690. It was Thomas Knox who was instrumental in the settlement of some of the Huguenots, a French Protestant group, in the Faythe area of Wexford.

On 14 July 1690, the London Gazette reported that Wexford had declared for William III.

In 1757, Wexford was the scene of riots against the export of grain and other foodstuffs. There was a great fear of famine in the area. With no police or troops stationed in the town, aid had to be sought from New Ross. During the disturbances, ships were stripped of their sails and the storehouses of Wexford were burst open. Peace was eventually restored by an agreement that one-twentieth of all exportable food was to be set aside for sale to the poorer citizens at a special price. A ban was then imposed on the export of potatoes, eggs and fowl for a time.

The North Cork Militia, with their wives and children, moved into the barracks at Wexford on 26 April 1798. Flogging and half-hanging were everyday occurrences in the Wexford of 1798 and many people slept in the open for fear of being burned with their homes. On Whit Sunday, 27 May, Bagenal Harvey of Bargy Castle entered Wexford town in order to deliver arms collected for safekeeping by the military. On entering the town, he was arrested by Captain Boyd and thrown into gaol. On the same day, a Mr Turner arrived in town with news of people burning and plundering homes.

The rebellion of 1798 had started. Enniscorthy fell to the rebels and refugees fled to Wexford with tales of slaughter. All approaches to Wexford were barricaded; the old town gates hastily re-erected, and cannon commanded the streets. Civilians offered their services but there were only sufficient arms for 200 men. On the 29 May, 200 Donegal Militia with one six-pounder arrived from Duncannon, having marched all night. The Taghmon Cavalry also arrived on the 29th. With fear of the town being burned, all fires were ordered to be extinguished, even bakers' ovens, and all thatch was stripped from the houses in the town. The forces in Wexford town were: 300 Cork Militia, 200 Donegal Militia, 5 troops of volunteer yeomen, 5 troops of cavalry, and 200 armed civilian; making a total of 1,200 men. While the Richards' went to the rebel camp to negotiate, the professional soldiers were deserting, leaving the yeomen and armed civilians alone. The North Cork Militia tried to burn the barracks, but failed. The crowds who had gathered at Ferrybank now boarded up the burned part of the bridge and crossed into town.

The first Republic of Ireland began in Wexford in the summer of 1798. George Taylor, who printed all proclamations and edicts of the rebel forces, was designated 'printer to the republic' on a sign displayed in his Wexford shop. General Moore and his troops now approached the town. All green emblems disappeared. The people who days earlier were so anxious to proclaim friendship with the rebels now proclaimed their loyalty to the Crown. Moore's troops, who were bent on the destruction of Wexford, were kept outside the town and camped at Windmill Hills, overlooking the streets and the harbour. Moore, who demanded that the leaders of the rebellion be handed over to him, insisted that failure to comply with this would mean the annihilation of Wexford. Those handed over, and any others thought suspicious, were thrown into gaol. Moore's army was brutal in victory; even bodies of those already dead were mutilated.

From about 1805 there was an increase in building and commercial expansion in Wexford. The old courthouse, where the severed heads of those killed in the Insurrection had been displayed, was demolished. The Corporation purchased a large area of the former shambles, or meat market, from Mr Sparrow for the construction of a Tholsel. The new building housed Corporation offices and a Court of Conscience, where the mayor presided over cases involving claims of less than 40s (£2). Beneath the Tholsel, in an arched recesses, a fish market was located.

A new gaol was built in Wexford in 1812, at the corner of Hill Street and Spawell Road. It comprised fifty-eight cells and sixteen airing yards, and served for almost 100 years. The walls of the gaol were 20ft high and public executions were carried out on gallows erected on the gaol green up until the 1860s.

In Grogan's Road a Fever Hospital was built in 1818. In 1832, the Wexford dockyard was opened by John Redmond on reclaimed land to the south of the quays. The yard could build ships of up to 360 tons and the first boat completed there was The Vulcan, for Nathaniel Hughes, launched in 1833.

In 1851, work began on not one but two new churches for Wexford. The foundation stones, which by tradition contained parchments detailing the names of the bishop, clergy, building fund committee, architect and contractor of both churches, were blessed amid great ceremony on 27 June 1851. Funds for the twin churches were raised by very many projects in the years shortly after the famine. Eminent members of the community contributed; promises of donations were secured and the amounts collected in instalments. Ships were visited and crewmen gave donations after each trip. The churches, which today dominate the skyline of Wexford, were built within seven years at a cost of £26,6268 each.

The Wexford county board of the GAA was formed at 2 Rowe Street on 21 November 1885. In 1887, over 25,000 attended a series of inter-county club matches at Maudlintown.

Among the town's major industries in the year 1906 were the foundries employing 600; the hat factory, with 100; the distillery, 50; Cousins Mineral Water, 50; Thompson's (constructing hay sheds), 50; and the dockyard with 60 employees.

The start of the twentieth century saw an era when the trade unions were beginning to emerge as a potent force. A dock strike, affecting the whole of the British Isles, came underway and the dockers of Wexford port joined it on 8 July 1911. Their demand for a wage increase, a ten-hour working day and the abolition of night work was conceded to on 21 July the same year. Wexford workers had realised the power of organised labour. Recruitment of members to the Irish Transport and General Workers Union spread from the docks to the foundries. By 16 August 1911, large numbers of foundry men had joined. History began to repeat itself.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Little Book of Wexford by Nicky Rossiter. Copyright © 2013 Nicky Rossiter. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page,
Dedication,
Introduction,
1. A Brief History of Wexford,
2. A Busy Port,
3. Wexford to Odessa,
4. Books and the Library,
5. Crime and Courts,
6. Lifecycle,
7. Lost Places,
8. Wexford Men of the Sea,
9. Money,
10. Musical Wexford,
11. Wexfordians,
12. That Fateful Thursday in 1911,
13. Old Newspapers,
14. The Rivers,
15. They're Only Words,
16. The Wexford Airbase,
17. The Banshee,
18. Other Interesting Items,
Sources,
Copyright,