Wexford is a quiet picturesque old town on the south eastern shores of Ireland. Its quietness belies its remarkably long history. Its safe harbour was known to Ptolemy the cartographer and mediterranean merchant adventurers of classical Roman times. It was later used by the Vikings, who named it "Waesfjord, harbour of the mudflats"; invested by the Anglo-Normans in their 12th century conquest of Ireland; and turned into a garrison port by the infamous Oliver Cromwell after he captured the town and put some 3000 innocent townspeople to the sword in the bloody massacre of 1649.
It is the bird-rich mudflats that have brought modern day tranquility to this once thriving port. The beautiful River Slaney rises in the Wicklow Mountains to the north. Its calm waters meander through ever green farmlands, the tiny village of Clonegal, with its Norman and Gothic Huntingdon Castle, seat of the Strathlochs and headquarters of the Fellowship of Isis. It sweeps through peaceful small towns such as Bunclody, and the historic, embattled ancient market town Enniscorthy, to flow into the Irish Sea at last at Wexford. The river created the mudflats centuries ago, depositing the sediment that finally silted up the harbor.
Wexford puts aside its tranquil exterior however in October, when it becomes the unlikely venue for its internationally renowned annual Opera Festival, drawing great singers and followers from all over the world.
The Wexford Opera Festival grew from inauspicious beginnings as a local opera Club Meet to listen to gramophone recordings. Now over thirty years later it fills a popular international niche as the Opera Festival for seldom performed works by European musicians. A lively fringe Festival has grown up around the main event centered on the little gem of a theatre, the Theatre Royal, Visitors can enjoy a variety of musical events from morning until midnight.
There are a number of interesting restaurants in the town. Try The Granary in Westgate, the early Viking and medieval part of old Wexford. As its name suggests the restaurant was originally an old grain store, the original woodwork bearing witness to its earlier incarnation. A large and creative menu makes the best of the local seafood.
Like every self-respecting Irish town, Wexford is blessed with a plethora of pubs. With nearly 100 to choose from you should have little difficulty in getting to sample every one of Ireland's great whiskeys. I am indebted for the discovery of Fitzgerald's Redbreast to a self-proclaimed connoisseur of Irish Single Malts whom I met by chance at a riotous birthday party in Mulligan's Pub, Bunclody, one November night . Beware the joys of Redbreast. One glass of this liquid joy leads to another....
 |
 |
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Stuart Buchanan MacWatt's Royal Britain topic, please visit the Discussions page.