Page 156 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

154  IRELAND REGION B Y REGION

for its intimate atmosphere –
both during performances and
afterwards, when artists and
audience mingle together in the
pubs; the Centenary Stores off
Main Street is a favourite.
Environs
Skirting the shore just east of
the town is Wexford Wildfowl
Reserve. It covers 100 ha (250
acres) of reclaimed land and is
noted for its geese: over a third
Wexford town and its harbour of the world’s entire population
of Greenland white-fronted
g Irish National The town’s singular style is often geese winter here between
Heritage Park linked to its linguistic heritage. October and April.
The yola dialect, which was The mudflats also attract large
Road map D5. Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford. spoken by early settlers, survives numbers of swans and waders.
Tel 053 912 0733. Open May–Aug: in the local pronunciation of The birds can be viewed from
9:30am–6:30pm (to 5:30pm Sep–Apr). certain words. hides and an observation tower.
Closed week at Christmas. & 8 Mar–
Oct. = 0 7 ∑ inhp.com Wexford retains few traces of Another way to enjoy the
its past, but the Viking fish bone region’s wildlife is to take a boat
Built on former marshland street pattern still exists, with trip up the Slaney River to Raven
near Ferrycarrig, north of narrow alleys fanning off the Point to see the seal colony.
Wexford, the Irish meandering Main Street.
National Heritage Park Keyser’s Lane, linking F Wexford Opera House
is a bold open-air South Main Street High Street. Tel 053 912 2400. - 7
museum. Trails lead with The Crescent, is a ∑ wexfordoperahouse.ie
through woods to tiny tunnel-like Viking O Wexford Wildfowl Reserve
replicas of homesteads, alley which once led Wexford. Tel 053 912 3406.
places of worship and to the Norse water- Open daily. 8 at weekends.
burial sites, providing a front. The Normans
fascinating lesson on were responsible for Boat Trips
Harbour Thrills, Seaview, Murrintown.
the country’s ancient Wexford’s town walls,
history (see pp36–7). remnants of which Tel 085 732 9787.
Highlights include include one of the
the Viking boatyard, original gateways. j Johnstown Castle
complete with raiding Sign of a popular Behind it lies Selskar Road map D5. Co Wexford. Tel 053
ship, and a 7th-century Wexford pub Abbey, the ruin of 914 2888. £ @ to Wexford. Gardens:
horizontal watermill. a 12th-century Open 9am–4:30pm daily (till 5:30pm
Augustinian monastery. King in summer). Closed 24 & 25 Dec. &
Henry II is said to have done
h Wexford penance here for the murder Johnstown Castle, a splendid
of Thomas à Becket in 1170. Gothic Revival mansion, lies
Road map D5. Co Wexford.
* 17,000. £ @ Wexford also has several amid gardens and woodland
n Quay Front (053 912 3111). handsome buildings dating 6 km (4 miles) southwest of
∑ discoverireland.ie/southeast from a later period, including the Wexford. In state hands since
18th-century market house 1945, the castle is closed to the
Wexford’s name derives from (now an arts centre), known as
Waesfjord, a Norse word the Cornmarket, on Main Street.
meaning “estuary of the mud The nearby square, the Bull Ring,
flats”. It thrived as a port for is of historic note: it was used
centuries but the silting of the for bull-baiting in Norman times
harbour in the Victorian era and was the scene of a cruel
put an end to most sea traffic. massacre by Cromwell’s men
Wexford’s quays, from where in 1649.
ships once sailed to Bristol, Wexford Opera Festival, held
Tenby and Liverpool, are in October, is the leading oper-
now used mainly by a fleet atic event in the country. It
of humble mussel dredgers. takes place at the state-of-the-
Wexford is a vibrant place, art Wexford Opera House on
packed with fine pubs and the site of the old Theatre Royal.
boasting a varied arts scene. Aficionados praise the festival Façade of Johnstown Castle
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp297–8 and pp311–13

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
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Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm