Wexford’s narrow, winding streets are so small that cars along Main St. must yield to baby carriages. The town’s quality pubs and restaurants line stone passageways that were built in the 12th century when the Normans conquered the Viking settlement of Waesfjord. Today, fishing trawlers line the harbor, and a newly constructed promenade encourages leisurely strolling by the waterside. Though Wexford has plenty of great shops, restaurants, and (of course) pubs, its compact size helps retain a small-town feel.
Drivers from Dublin arrive via N11; N25 heads along the Southern coast to Cork.
Most of the town’s action takes place one block inland along twisting, turning Main Street. A plaza called the Bullring is near the center of town, a few blocks from where North Main St. changes to South. Another plaza, Redmond Square, sits at the northern end of the quays near the train station. Two steeples and a number of towers—including the hilltop Franciscan Friary—define the town’s skyline.
If the hostels and B&Bs below are full, ask the proprietors for recommendations or look along N25 (the Rosslare road or New Town Rd.). If you plan to be in town during the opera festival (see Entertainment), book as far in advance as possible; rooms are often reserved up to a year ahead of time.
Dunnes Store, Redmond Sq., has everything from groceries to clothes. (☎45688. Open daily 8am-midnight.) SuperValu is in the parking lot off Custom House Quay. (☎22290. Open M-W and Sa 8:30am-7pm, Th-F 8:30am-9pm, Su noon-6pm.)
Westgate Tower. The remains of the Norman city walls run the length of High St. Westgate Tower is the only one of the wall’s original six gates still standing. The tower gate now holds the Westgate Heritage Centre, where an excellent 30min. audio-visual show recounts the town’s history. (☎46506; www.wexfordtourism.com. Near the intersection of Abbey and Slaney Pl. Center open M-Sa 10am-5:30pm, occasionally Su during summer. Audio-visual show €3.)
Selskar Abbey. The serene ruins of Selskar Abbey mark the site of Henry II’s penance for his role in St. Thomas Beckett’s murder. At the Creative Energy Craft Gallery, behind the Selskar Abbey, you can observe or participate in various craft demonstrations, watch a movie about Wexford, or visit the fair trade coffee shop. (Enter through the gate by the heritage center. Abbey open daily. Gallery ☎46506; selskardesign@eircom.net. Gallery open M-Sa 10am-6pm, Su noon-6pm.)
The Bullring. In 1621, the town’s butcher guild inaugurated bull baiting as a promotional device—the mayor got the hide and the poor got the meat. In the ring stands a statue of a stalwart peasant fearlessly brandishing his homemade weaponry. Known as The Pikeman, the edifice commemorates the 1798 uprising (see Rebellion and Union) and is the main attraction of today’s less lively Bullring. Nearby, another statue presides over Crescent Quay. It displays the dashing Commodore John Barry, native son and founder of the U.S. Navy, facing the sea. (The Bullring is marked by an open area between North and South Main St.)
Friary Church. Franciscan monks have called Wexford home since 1230. The Friary Church houses the “Little Saint” in the back corner of the nave. The wax effigy of young, half-lidded St. Adjutor shows the gash inflicted by the martyr’s Roman father. (☎22758; located in the Franciscan Friary on School St . Open daily. Free.)
Horseback Riding. Wexford’s countryside and beaches make for great riding. Shelmalier Riding Stables has horses waiting for interested visitors. (Stables 6km away off R733 at Forth Mountain on the way to the Wildfowl Reserve. ☎39251; book ahead.)
For detailed information on events throughout the county, pick up The Wexford People (€1.50) from any local newsstand or pub. The funky Wexford Arts Centre, in Cornmarket, presents free art exhibitions. Evening performances of music, dance, and drama occur here throughout the year. (☎23764; www.wexfordartscentre.ie. Center open M-W 10am-6pm, Th-Sa 10am-9pm. Tickets generally €10-15.) The Theatre Royal, High St., produces shows throughout the year, culminating in the internationally acclaimed Wexford Opera Festival, held for three weeks starting at the end of October. The festival uncovers three obscure but deserving operas from the artistic attic and performs them in an intimate setting. (☎22400, box office 22144; www.wexfordopera.com. Box office open M-F 9am-5pm. Tickets €12-100.) Enniscorthy’s Strawberry Festival leads into Wexford’s Hooves and Grooves Festival, complete with horse racing and plenty of free music in June and July (www.wexlive.com/grooves).
The Wildfowl Reserve is on the North Slob, 3.2km north of Wexford. Take Castlebridge/Gorey Rd. to well-signposted Ardcavan Ln. (€10 cab ride), or hike through the Ferrybank caravan park and along the increasingly sandy, picturesque beach for 40min. Bus Éireann departs Wexford for Curracloe M 10:15am, Sa 8:15am and 4:30pm; departs Curracloe M 4:36pm, Sa 1:11 and 5:43pm. Reserve Centre }23129. Open daily 9am-5pm. Free. Guided tours on request.
In the late 1840s the Slobs, which were originally boglands, were filled to create more land for agriculture. Actually two meters below sea level, they are constantly pumped out to keep the spongy land from being immersed in water. Though they’re still used for growing grasses and cereals, the Slobs are better known for attracting spectacular wildlife. The Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, a research center and haven for rare birds from around the world, covers 420 acres. Ten thousand of Greenland’s white-fronted geese (half of the entire species population) descend on the Sloblands between October and April, cohabiting with other birds from as far as Siberia and Iceland. You can spy on them, as well as on the resident Irish birds who are mating along the channels, from one of the many hides. The Reserve Centre has a new wing that details the creation of the Slobs, highlights the wildlife, and displays a water-based cannon formerly used to kill dozens of birds at one time. The observation tower affords a great lookout over the Reserve, and the Centre lends binoculars for better glimpses of the fowl.
Ten more kilometers down the coast lies broad Curracloe Beach, and beyond it Ballinesker Beach, where Spielberg filmed the D-Day landings in Saving Private Ryan. It doesn’t look all that much like Normandy, but it sure is beautiful. Untainted by buildings or other civilization markers, the beach is peaceful and the sand is soft; the exceptionally clean water looks almost tropical but is a good deal colder. Curracloe makes a fabulous cycling daytrip; the beach is lined with dune bluffs whose stature rivals the steeples on the far side of the Slaney. To get there by bike, follow Castlebridge/Gorey Rd. beyond the turnoff for the Slobs to a signposted right turn for Curracloe Town. Cycle past fields of sheep and turn right in Curracloe Town at the post office (35min. from the bridge, 10min. by car).
The park is 5km outside Wexford on N11. Taxis cost about €8. ☎20733; www.inhp.com. Open daily 9:30am-6:30pm, last admission 5pm, subject to seasonal change. Hourly guided tours included in the price of admission. Wheelchair-accessible. €7.50, students €6.
The Irish National Heritage Park packs 9000 years of history into a park barely 20 years old. Visitors stroll through reconstructions of a Stone Age campsite, an early Norman tower, and old Irish homesteads, tombs, and fortifications. Since the real sites are in various states of disrepair and are scattered across the country, the park attempts to show the sites as they would have looked in their heydays. It’s a good idea in theory, but the costumed guides, fake food and bones, and recorded noises make the whole thing seem a little artificial. A fake round tower just isn’t the same. If you get hungry afterward, hop over to the park’s restaurant, Fulacht Faidh , which serves carvery food and excellent chips. (Entrees €9-10. Open daily 12:30-5:30pm.)
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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