Wexford
Wexford is renowned for its colorful quay, its annual opera festival, and its narrow medieval streets, but it holds a special place in our hearts as the birthplace of our dad, the place our parents met, and the place they married. Located on the southeastern tip of Ireland where the River Slaney meets the Irish sea, a trip to Ireland wouldn’t have been complete without a visit.
We booked rooms on the outskirts of town at the Ferrycarrig Hotel on the River Slaney, right next to the Ferrycarrig Castle. The castle loomed large in our family lore and was a must see on our lists of places to visit—years ago, our neighbor, the artist Jens Peter Johansen, gifted our family an oil painting of the castle which, for as long as I can remember, hung on the living room wall of our childhood home for us to view every day. Ferrycarrig Castle is a rectangular tower house that sits high on the north side of the river and was built in response to the Norman invasion in the 12th century in order to keep watch over the River Slaney. It’s believed to be the first Norman fortification in Ireland.
Ferrycarrig
On the morning of our second day in Wexford, we explored Johnstown Castle, a beautiful Gothic Revival structure set among 120-acres of woodland paths, gardens, lakes, and wildlife, and beyond that, another 900+ acres of working research farmland. Johnstown Castle was built in the 12th century by the Esmondes, an Anglo-Norman family. During Cromwell’s military reign, the estate was confiscated, and later changed hands many times before being acquired by John Grogan in 1692. When Grogan’s descendants were unable to pay the taxes, a deal was made and the estate was gifted to the nation.
Johnstown Castle has undergone many additions and renovations—in fact, the left side was under construction the day of our visit. The castle tour was most interesting with secret doorways and long passageways, and a visit to the inhouse research lab where they once studied the agricultural environment and agro-ecology. Interestingly, our Uncle Frank worked in that very lab early in his career.
After the tour, we strolled through the spectacular gardens complete with three ornamental lakes, statues, towers, a cemetery, a walled garden, and arboretum. Most striking on our visit were the wild peacocks all around the property. As a symbol of prosperity, they were first imported to the castle by Esmondes family as a way to show off their wealth.
Back in town that afternoon, we took a leisurely walk visiting places that hold parts of our family’s history, like Charlotte Street where our dad’s childhood home was located, and Main Street, the narrow, cobbled street where our grandmother once lived in a four story house. Both places are gone now—our grandmother’s old house now the home of a sporting goods store. Inside the store, however, the original stairs still stand.
From there, we followed the spire to locate the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Rowe Street, where in 1954, our parents were joined in holy matrimony. Along with its twin church, The Assumption on Bride Street, the Gothic inspired church was built in the 1850s following the Catholic Emancipation. Both of the churches’ existence is notable because they were built during the time of the Irish famine, and funded by not only parishioners, but Wexford sailors and Irish exiles all over the world. The church sanctuary has beautiful features made from local as well as international artisans such as the statuary, stained glass windows, a pipe organ, carved pews and a sculpted main altar. We took a moment to light candles and have a prayer in memory of our dear parents married there sixty-eight years ago.
Our visit to Wexford wasn’t complete without time with our Irish family. That night after dinner at White’s Hotel with our aunt and cousin, we all went to an open-air production of the One Voice Festival 2022 performance of “Shadows and Street Corners,” and later popped into Mary’s Bar, one of the oldest pubs in Wexford, for a pint and a laugh. Slainte!