pop (2000e) 103 000; area 2352 km²/908 sq mi. County in Leinster province, SE Ireland; bounded by St George's Channel and Atlantic Ocean with bays at Wexford, Waterford, and Bannow; Wicklow Mts (N), Blackstairs Mts (W); watered by R Barrow and R Slaney; capital, Wexford; main seaport, Rosslare; rich farmland (cattle) and resort area.
Wexford (Irish: Loch Garman) is the county town of County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland.
History
Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney.
Wexford was the site of an invasion by Normans in 1169 at the behest of Dermot MacMurrough Kavanagh, King of Leinster, which led to the subsequent colonisation of the country by the English.
Wexford in the Middle Ages was an Old English settlement. An old dialect of English, known as Yola, was spoken uniquely in Wexford up until the 19th century.
County Wexford produced strong support for Confederate Ireland during the 1640s. A fleet of Confederate privateers was based in Wexford town, consisting of sailors from Flanders and Spain as well as local men.
County Wexford was the centre of the 1798 rebellion against English rule. Wexford town was held by the rebels throughout the fighting and was the scene of a notorious massacre of local loyalists by the United Irishmen, who executed them on the bridge in the centre of Wexford town.
Wexford was not very successful as a port, because of the constantly changing sands of Wexford Harbour. All major shipping now uses this port and Wexford port is used only by fishing boats and leisure vessels.
Present Day Wexford
The town of Wexford closely follows the quays, which run in a northwest to southeast direction. Almost all the shops in Wexford lie along this one line, although new retail centres on the town's outskirts are now attracting the larger multiples. Wexford serves a large hinterland in South County Wexford, including townlands and villages such as Ballycogley and Castlebridge. Other important Wexford towns include Gorey, Enniscorthy and New Ross, the ancestoral home of the Kennedy family whose members include JFK, Bobby Kennedy and senator Ted Kennedy.
A modern bridge connects Wexford town with the northern part of the county.
Wexford is known as one of the main shopping centres in the South east of Ireland.
Over the last decade, Wexford has witnessed some major developments such as the Key West centre on the Quays, the redevelopment of the Quayfront itself, Whites Hotel and the huge new residential development of Clonard Village, roughly 4km from the town centre.
Culture and trivia
Wexford town hosts the internationally recognised Opera Festival every autumn. Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series of children's books, is from Wexford, and is sometimes seen in the Wexford Book Centre on Main Street, signing books or promoting children's literature. an early example of the Mummers play is known from Wexford from about 1817 .
Father Ted, one of the main characters of the eponymously British named situation comedy, once served in Wexford.
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