Wexford Historical Society

Please note that the Society can now be contacted by mail
C/o. St., Vincent De Paul
St Michael's Centre,
Green Street ,
Wexford

(No monies to this address, please)

The Society can also be contacted on our website
http://www.wexfordhistoricalsociety.com/

The site is well worth a visit and includes updates and information on events.

AGM 2010Our first lecture in January this yearWexford Historical Society on the 20th., January was given by

Mr Peter Pearson and was most enjoyable.

Annual General Meeting 17th Feb 2010
The Chairman,Mr Ian Hearn welcomed everyone and opened the meeting.The Secetary,Ms.Imelda Carroll read her report to the society. As Ms.Susan Kelly,Hon Treasurer,was not able to get to the meeting,Brian Matthews read her report . All reportes were proposed and agreed.

The Chairman then conducted the Election of Officers.

The following have been Nominated and are agreeable to act as officers:
President             Billy Colfer

Vice-President    Nicky Furlong

Chairman            Brian Matthews

Vice-Chairman As no Nomination must be appointed by incoming Committee

Hon Secretary    Imelda Carroll

Hon.Treasurer   As no Nomination Susan Kelly likely to be co-opted at 1st Meeting

PRO                Jarlath Glynn

Editor              To be only appointed by the incoming Committee

Election of Committee

Outgoing Committee Members agreeable and eligible for re-election:

Eamonn Dundon
Monica Crofton
John Gibbon
Ian Hearn
Imelda Loughman
John McCormack
Peter Pearson
Sean Rattigan

Retiring Committee Members are Anne Hickey and Jim Maguire both of whom we thank and in particular Jim who has served over 40 years including being chairman, contributor of articles and talks as well as organising numerous tours.

The Chairman then thanked the officers, committee and members who have organised, assisted and participated in organizing the events for the society. I have been privileged to have had Celestine Rafferty my predecessor as Chairman and Eithne Scallan as Secretary, both being role models. It has been a pleasure to have Imelda take over so easily from Eithne, to have Susan Kelly such an excellent treasurer and to have the expertise, experience and input of all the Committee.

We have tried to share out the work and improve fulfilment in running agreed and clearly defined functions of the society, compatible as far as possible with the and expertise of those concerned. (Is this of any interest to the general membership of the Society?)

Deceased Members and Relatives were remembered.Ian Hearn then finished up by saying, 'As Chairman and on your behalf I wish to thank Jim Maguire for his 40 years service as a Committee Member and in recognition I have much pleasure, on your behalf, in presenting him with a small appreciation of his work for the society over so many years. I would also like especially to thank the outgoing Committee who have been a real pleasure to work with and to be able to call on past members for their readily available help and advice-sincere thanks to you all. Our thanks also to the County Council, The Corporation, The Press, Hilary Murphy-our much esteemed Journal Editor, who as you know has retired at the launch of recent journal, our printers C&R Print, our Journal and School Essay contributors, our speakers, the management and staff of the Library, the Opera House, the Riverbank Hotel, the Talbot Hotel, Greenacres, our bus transport providers and all who have helped the Society in any way.

Welcome to new committee
I now welcome your new committee and have much pleasure in handing over to my former Vice Chairman and fellow Rossonian Brian Matthews who I also had much pleasure in proposing for membership and as vice chairman. Thank you Brian for all your assistance and the chair is now yours.'

At this stage Brian Matthews took over as Chairman and thanked Ian Hearn for a job very well done.

The new Chairman then introduced our speaker for the evening Ms.Monica Crofton who gave a great talk on walking tours of Wexford town.

PS . . . Could we issue a polite reminder to those who may have overlooked payment of their subscription for 2010 Subscriptions are now due €20 (single) or €25 (family). Payment or enquires regarding such to the Hon. Treasurer Susan Kelly, 11, Farnogue Park, Wexford. Please do not drop any monies into the Opera
House!

LECTURES SO FAR…

2010
January 20th., Lecture by Mr Peter Pearson at 20.00hrs in The Opera House
February 17th., AGM and Lecture by Monica Crofton at 20.00hrs in The Opera House
March 24th., Lecture,The Military Order of Knights,the Knights Hospitaller and The Knights Templar in the
South-East of Ireland. by Mr Niall Byrne

PLEASE NOTE , All lectures will be held in the new, St. Michael's Centre, Green Street,Wexford

Wexford Historical Society Tour to Cashel and Limerick Friday 7th May to Sunday 9th May 2010.Friday May 7th: Depart Talbot Hotel @9.00am. Travel to Cashel arriving at Bru Boru at 11.30 approx for tour of Rock of Cashel. Lunch in Palace Hotel at 2.00pm. After lunch we'll take a tour of the Cathedral and Bolton Library with Dean Philip Knowles.Check into our hotel, Kilmurry Lodge Hotel Castletroy, Limerick, 353(0) 61 331133 at approx 6.30pm. Dinner in the hotel.Saturday May 8th: 9.00am After breakfast, we depart the hotel with our coach to tour King John's Castle and Limerick City Museum. At mid-day (12.00) we have a tour of the Hunt Museum and lunch in the museum's restaurant, Ducati's. At 3.30pm we take a tour of Georgian Limerick with Mr. Brian Hodkinson of the Thomond Historical Society.Return to hotel for dinner.Sunday May 9th: Checkout of hotel and depart at 9.30am. Visit the Grange Standing Stones and Lough Gur and then on to Cahir for lunch in the River House. At 2.00pm we have a guided tour of Cahir Castle. Return to Wexford town for 6.30pm approx.(Comfort stops will be arranged.)Total Cost: €220 per person sharing (Single supplement €30 = €250)(Included 2 B&B, 2 Evening Meals, all entrance and guide fees and tea/coffee & scones on Friday morning. *Lunches are not included in totalcost.)If you would like to reserve a place on this tour please forward this slip with a deposit of €50.00 per person by 9t" April '09 to Imelda Carroll, Hon. Sec. or Susan Kelly, Hon. Tres., 11 Farnogue Park ,Carcur, Wexford.Name:Address:Contact Number:*Please make cheques out to: Wexford Historical Society.

June 5th, ( Saturday ) Day trip to Kilkenny leaving from The Talbot at 09.30 hrs.,

Saturday 26th., June a Memorial Service in Mulrankan Church of Ireland church for Philip Gibbon.
Philip gave us a fantastic lecture on John Philip Holland in February 2009 ( Holland & Submarines ).

Sunday 22nd., August a walking tour of the walls of Wexford to be organised by Wexford Co.Co.

September 12th., ( Sunday ) Day trip to Enniscorthy leaving from The Talbot at 10.00 hrs. Members only.

Lectures.
Wednesday,September 15th., Dr Liam Twomey will give a lecture on Michael Collins..

Wednesday,October 6th.,Mrs Eithne Scallan with give the Festival lecture on Dr Haddan who started 'The Old Wexford Society' in 1944

Wednesday,November 17th.,Mr Aidan O'Hara will give a lecture on emigration to Newfoundland.

Sunday 12th., December Christmas Lunch in The Talbot Hotel Wexford @13.30 hrs., After lunch talk by Mr Liam Gaul on Thomas Moore.

A limited number of back journals are still available.

FESTIVAL TOURS:

Society members and their friends are welcome to join the 2010 Wexford Festival Tours which are arranged by Nicky Furlong and are free. This year there are 8 in total starting from Tuesday 19th., October.
Lifts may be offered or accepted as appropriate with departure at 10.30, usually from Talbot Hotel.
See local press and Festival literature for full details or check the Historical Society website,Diary 2010.Events
.

PLEASE NOTE ,

All lectures will be held in the new,

St. Michael's Centre, Green Street,Wexford

Enniscorthy 2010

fine-art print by Peter Pearson for sale

Enniscorthy 2010, a fine-art print by artist Peter Pearson, was launched in Enniscorthy public library in late July. The print is a memento of this year’s 1500 celebrations. Only 250 signed copies are available for sale from Enniscorthy Library, Wexford Library and from Enniscorthy Town Council’s offices in Market Square. The price is €65.00 to individuals and €100 to institutions.

This print was commissioned principally as an illustration for the History of Enniscorthy book that has been edited by Colm Toibin and that will be launched later this year. It has been offered to the book designers as a possible end-paper inside of the cover and to act as a visual link to the text.

However the print makes a beautiful memento of our 1500 celebrations and of the town today. It’s a lovely present for a family member or a friend. Since each print is signed and numbered and each print is authenticated with a certificate, it can be expected to become more valuable as a piece of art as well as a heritage object, as time passes.
About the Artist:

Dubliner, Peter Pearson, has adopted Wexford as his home and is now based in Crossabeg. Peter is well known as an author, art-historian and conservationist. As an artist Pearson has exhibited for over 30 years and he has had many solo shows in Ireland and abroad. His work has been collected by institutions such as Irish Life, E.S.B, An Taisce, Trinity College Dublin, Office of Public Works and several local authorities.

More information from
1. Joan Lambert, Enniscorthy Library, tel: 053 92 36055
2. Hazel Percival, Wexford Library, tel: 053 9121637
3. Fionnuala Hanrahan, Library HQ, tel: 087 2070551

2009 trip BRU NA BOINNE :

TO THE BANKS OF THE BOYNE: Bru na Boinne!last year John Gibbon lead a three-day field trip to the Boyne Valley on the 8/9/10 of May 2009 for 35 people. A full and interesting tour which included a visit to Beaulieu House, Knowth, the Battle of the Boyne Centre and other highlights!

BOOKS,

County Wexford in the Rare Oul’ Times, vol ix.

Nicholas Furlong & John Hayes.

Old Distillery Press, Wexford (2005).

The first three volumes in this series, featuring old and rare Wexford photographs, were remarkably successful and are now collectors items.

This edition features county Wexford at war, 1910–1924, with dramatic photographic coverage of World War I off the south-east coast of Ireland; the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War in county Wexford. Many of the photographs are published for the first time. This important volume will be of interest to the general reader and also for academic research.

Nicholas Furlong is the author of several books, stage productions and historical biographies. As a journalist of long standing he has contributed widely to many publication and currently contributes a weekly feature to the Echo Newspapers group.
John Hayes worked in the People Newspapers Group for many years. His expertise in the field of photographic restoration has been an outstanding feature of the series.

Prices:

Limited hardback edition: Ireland and United Kingdom: €30+€8 p.& p.
Elsewhere: €30 + €16 p.& p.
Softback edition: Ireland and United Kingdom: €23 + €4 p.& p.
Elsewhere: €23 + €5 p. & p.

Contact:
Nicholas Furlong,Rosslare Road,Wexford,Ireland.
Phone & Fax: 053 43063

Wexford’s Medieval Churches

In view of the proposed development of Selsker Abbey/Church and a report in the local paper of a suggestion to open up the town’s medieval graveyards as public spaces, a note on the historical

significance of these sites may be opportune. The complex nature of Wexford’s medieval ecclesiastical structure resulted from the combination of Gaelic, Hiberno-Norse and Anglo-Norman foundations both inside and outside the walls, leading to the establishment of five intramural and seven extramural parishes. The association of eight of the twelve churches with the complex Norse parochial system indicates that they were pre-Norman in origin. The extramural churches are located outside the gates of what is believed to have been the original Norse town. Of the five parishes inside the walls, four of the church dedications, St Doologue’s, St Mary’s, St Patrick’s and St Iberius, were Hiberno-Norse as the parishes predated the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. The modern church of St Iberius is believed to occupy the site of the medieval church of the same name: no trace survives of St Doologues; one gable of St Mary’s survives and there are substantial remains of St Patrick’s.

Four churches just outside the gates of the town (Holy Trinity, St Michael’s, St Bride’s and St Peter’s) were also associated with the Norse town. Of these only the graveyard of St Michael’s survives, the others are remembered in street names. The grant by Strongbow before 1176 of a free hospital at Wexford is probably represented by the church of St Mary Magdalene at Maudlintown, 1.5km to the south of the town. The principal Anglo-Norman foundation in Wexford was the priory of St Peter and Paul of Selskar founded as a priory for the Canons
Regular of St Augustine, probably on the site of an earlier foundation as Irish monastic houses frequently adopted the Augustine rule in the twelfth century.

The double-naved church, possibly of thirteenth-century date, is largely destroyed, except for the gables containing remnants of west windows and an arcade of four pointed arches separating the aisles. The battlements of the somewhat later fortified tower at the east end, described in 1834 as ‘much decayed’, were restored in the nineteenth century when the tower was adapted as a belfry for a new church. The extramural church of St John, at the junction of John’s Street and John’s Gate Street, was part of the preceptory of Knights Hospitallers, probably brought to Wexford by Strongbow who granted them the church of St Michael in the town. The Franciscans were the only medieval religious order to be established in Wexford, arriving about the middle of the thirteenth century. Their foundation, located just outside Kayser Gate, is still occupied by the order, providing a direct ecclesiastical link with the medieval town. The number of street names which originated as medieval church dedications is a clear indication of the influence of churches on the development of Wexford over the centuries.

It is clear that these church sites are an integral part of the fabric of Wexford. As the last resting place of generations of the town’s inhabitants, Gaelic, Viking, Norman and English, they are a repository of the town’s history and heritage over the past millennium. Any development must be carried out with great sensitivity and to the highest professional standards.