94-569: Wexford ( Irish : Loch Garman [ˌl̪ˠɔx ˈɡaɾˠəmˠən̪ˠ] ; archaic Yola : Weiseforthe ) is the county town of County Wexford , Ireland . Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour , the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland . The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 National Primary Route ; and to Rosslare Europort , Cork and Waterford by
188-600: A Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
282-536: A council of war in the city, where Lundy informed them that it was pointless landing their troops as the city's defeat and surrender were imminent. Richards and Cunningham therefore sailed back to Britain without landing their troops just at the time when the Siege of Derry began in earnest. After their arrival back in England they were both dismissed from the command of their regiments for dereliction of duty. Richards
376-462: A seaport declined in the first half of the 20th century because of the constantly changing sands of Wexford Harbour. By 1968 it had become unprofitable to keep dredging a channel from the harbour mouth to the quays in order to accommodate the larger ships of the era, so the port closed. The port had been extremely important to the local economy, with coal being a major import and agricultural machinery and grain being exported. The woodworks which fronted
470-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
564-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
658-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
752-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
846-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
940-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
1034-693: A jury and a panel of Commonwealth judges, including Colonel Richards, for violating the Proclamation of 6 January 1653, which defined it as high treason for priests to remain in Ireland. In his own defense, Fr. Tirry replied that while he viewed the Commonwealth as the lawful government, he had no choice but to disobey its laws, as the Pope had ordered him to remain in Ireland. Fr. Tirry was according found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging , which
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#17327881086821128-579: A notorious massacre of local loyalists by the United Irishmen, and there were also executions and reprisals at Wexford Bridge . Redmond Square, near Wexford railway station , commemorates the elder John Edward Redmond (1806–1865) who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the city of Wexford . The inscription reads: "My heart
1222-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1316-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1410-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
1504-596: A research plant employing up to 160. Eishtec, which was acquired by Infosys in 2019, operates a call center in Wexford. Pamela Scott, A-wear and other retailers operate in the town. Public sector employers include Wexford County Council and Wexford General Hospital . Curracloe Beach , approximately 10 km north of Wexford town, was the location in 1997 for the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan . The Irish National Heritage Park at Ferrycarrig includes various exhibits spanning 9000 years of Irish history, allowing
1598-492: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
1692-723: A shuttle bus service which has stops at the town's main facilities. Rosslare Europort is 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Wexford. Car ferries run between Fishguard and Pembroke in Wales and Cherbourg and Roscoff in France. The ferry companies operating on these routes are Stena Line and Irish Ferries . Foot passengers can use the SailRail tickets from Wexford O'Hanrahan station via Rosslare Europort and Fishguard Harbour to reach Swansea , Cardiff Central and onwards including London Paddington . The closest airport to Wexford
1786-443: A story recorded in the dindsenchas , the town's Irish name, Loch Garman (lake of Garman), comes from a man named Garman mac Bomma Licce who was chased to the river mouth and drowned as a consequence of stealing the queen's crown from Temair during the feast of Samhain . For several hundred years (from the 9th to the early 12th century), Wexford was a Viking town, a city-state, largely independent and owing only token dues to
1880-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
1974-590: Is Waterford Airport which is approximately one hour away (70 km), but is not served by commercial flights. Dublin Airport is the closest airport to Wexford which operates commercial flights, which is approximately two hours away. Wexford Football Club was admitted to the League of Ireland in 2007, and was the first Wexford-based club to take part in the competition. The club was the brainchild of former property developer and politician Mick Wallace , who funded
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#17327881086822068-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
2162-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
2256-740: Is interred in the Redmond family vault, at the old Knights' Templars' chapel yard of St. John's Cemetery, Upper St. John's Street. Redmond Park was formally opened in May 1931 as a memorial to Willie Redmond , who died in 1917 while serving with the 16th (Irish) Division during the Messines offensive and was buried on the Western Front . Wexford hosts the Wexford Opera Festival every October. Started by Dr Tom Walsh in 1951,
2350-585: Is less frequently remembered than later periods, however, the impact of this period is evident from the architectural fabric of the town such as the gabled Dutch Billy houses such as on Main Street. County Wexford was the centre of the 1798 rebellion against British rule, and Wexford town was held by the United Irishmen throughout the Wexford Rebellion . Nearby Scullabogue was the scene of
2444-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
2538-456: Is perpetuated in the old Knights' Templars' chapel yard of St. John's Cemetery, on Wexford's Upper St. John's Street. Wexford received its first charter in 1318. 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. Their vessels raided English Parliamentarian shipping, giving some of
2632-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
2726-657: Is used only by fishing boats and leisure vessels. Johnstown Castle , approximately 6 km from Wexford town, is headquarters to Teagasc , the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine . Major private-sector employers in and around the town include Wexford Creamery, Celtic Linen, Wexford Viking Glass, Parker Hannifin IPDE , Waters Technology, Kent Stainless, Equifax and BNY Mellon . Coca-Cola operates
2820-573: Is with the city of Wexford. Nothing can extinguish that love but the cold soil of the grave." His nephew William Archer Redmond (1825–1880) sat as an MP in Isaac Butt 's Home Rule Party from 1872 until 1880. Willie Redmond sat as an MP for Wexford from 1883 until 1885. The younger John Redmond , was a devoted follower of Charles Stewart Parnell and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party until his death in April 1918. He
2914-666: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
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3008-610: The Fleadh Cheoil festival. The National Lottery Skyfest was held in Wexford in March 2011 and included a pyrotechnic waterfall on the town's main bridge spanning 300m. Buí Bolg also performed on the night. Until the mid-nineteenth century, the Yola language could be heard in Wexford, and some words, phrases and place names are still used in the locality, particularly in the baronies of southern Wexford. Notable churches within
3102-527: The N25 . The national rail network connects it to Dublin and Rosslare Europort. It had a population of 21,524 according to the 2022 census . The town was founded by the Vikings in about 800 AD. They named it Veisafjǫrðr , meaning "inlet of the mudflats". In medieval times, the town was known as Weiseforthe in the Yola dialect of Middle English . This, in turn became "Wexford" in modern English. According to
3196-699: The New Model Army . He took part in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and was granted an estate of 3,000 acres at Solsborough in County Wexford , probably under the terms of the Act for the Settlement of Ireland of 1652. After Augustinian Friar William Tirry was arrested at Fethard while vested for Mass on Holy Saturday , 25 March , 1654, he was tried at Clonmel on 26 April, by
3290-590: The Penal Laws . Rather than raising his regiment in Ireland as might be expected, he recruited his men from London and the Home Counties . Following James's flight to France, he sided with William and his regiment became part of William's reformed Army. In the early phase of the ensuing Williamite war in Ireland , the city of Derry in Ulster , which was held for William by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Lundy ,
3384-575: The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 . It was thereafter represented by the South Wexford from 1885 to 1922, and by the Dáil constituency of Wexford from 1921 to the present. Wexford is twinned with the following places: Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is
3478-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
3572-575: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
3666-725: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
3760-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
3854-534: The 9th century onwards due to heavy settlement of Norse, Norman and continental Europeans. However, Leinster Irish was the main language spoken in the more northern baronies of County Wexford , and it was spoken widely during the early to late Medieval period, until its decline in the 17th century. Following the Crusades , the Knights Templar had a presence in Wexford town. Up to the present, their name
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3948-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
4042-545: The Cross Keyes. He married first Rhoda daughter of Samuel Wilson and Anne Miller. She was buried on 7 Nov 1645 at St Olave, Old Jewery having died in childbirth. They had a daughter Rhoda. He married secondly Abigail Goddard daughter of Henry Goddard, shipbuilder. The marriage took place before Henry made his will on 30 Aug 1647. Her brother Jonathon Goddard was Cromwell's personal physician. Solomon Richards served as lieutenant-colonel of Oliver Cromwell 's own regiment in
4136-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
4230-464: The Irish kings of Leinster . However, in May 1169 Dermot MacMurrough , King of Leinster and his Norman ally Robert Fitz-Stephen besieged Wexford . The Norse inhabitants resisted fiercely until the Bishop of Ferns persuaded them to accept a settlement with Dermot. Wexford became an Old English settlement throughout the early to late Medieval period. An Anglo-Frisian language, known as Yola ,
4324-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
4418-620: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
4512-746: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
4606-548: The borough district of Wexford, as the town retains the right to be described as a borough. The chair of the borough district uses the title of mayor, rather than Cathaoirleach. The parliamentary borough of Wexford returned two MPs to the Irish House of Commons until 1801. Under the Act of Union , the parliamentary borough returned one MP to the United Kingdom House of Commons , until its abolition under
4700-589: The city on 15 April 1689. That very day Lundy suffered the defeat of the Battle of the Fords , where he led his Irish Protestant force in an attempt to prevent the Irish under Richard Hamilton and de Rosen from crossing the River Finn and approaching Derry. As Lundy's poorly organised troops streamed back towards the city walls, he issued several contradictory orders to Cunningham and Richards. They were summoned to
4794-509: The construction of a complex for the new team's home at Newcastle, Ferrycarrig. In 2015, the team won the League of Ireland First Division . The club launched Wexford Youths WFC , a Women's National League team, in 2011. A new team, Yola FC, was proposed in 2020 but was refused a license by the FAI . Wexford is also home to several Gaelic Athletic Association clubs. Though the town was traditionally associated with Gaelic football , with six teams providing ample outlets for its youngsters, it
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#17327881086824888-664: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
4982-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
5076-419: The festival has since grown and a fireworks display is sometimes held in conjunction with the annual festival. Wexford has a number of music and drama venues including: Wexford is the home of several youth and senior theatre groups, including the Buí Bolg Street Theatre Company, Oyster Lane Theatre Group, Wexford Pantomime Society, Wexford Light Opera Society and Wexford Drama Group. In 2024, Wexford hosted
5170-430: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
5264-452: The following twenty-seven years he lived quietly on his Irish estate at Solsborough. In September 1688 he was commissioned by King James II to raise a new regiment of foot to provide him with reliable troops to counter the menace of William 's invasion. As a Protestant Richards seems an unusual choice but he was a nonconformist and James tried to create an alliance of Catholics and non- Anglican Protestants, both of whom had suffered from
5358-498: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
5452-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
5546-425: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
5640-399: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
5734-404: The minor hurling scene in the 1950s, late 1960s and early 1970s. The senior side has also won five Wexford Senior Hurling Championships . Wexford Golf Club's clubhouse and course were finished in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Wexford's rugby club, Wexford Wanderers RFC , plays in the Leinster League . Ireland's former boxing head coach and Olympian Billy Walsh is a native of Wexford town and
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#17327881086825828-497: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
5922-409: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
6016-522: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
6110-448: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
6204-415: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
6298-428: The proceeds to the Confederate government in Kilkenny . As a result, the town was sacked by the English Parliamentarians during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. Many of its inhabitants were killed and much of the town was burned. In 1659 Solomon Richards was appointed Governor, but he was dismissed and imprisoned following the Restoration the next year. Wexford's early- and mid- 18th-century history
6392-467: The quays and which were synonymous with Wexford were removed in the 1990s as part of a plan to claim the quay as an amenity for the town as well as retaining it as a commercially viable waterfront. In the early 20th century, a new port was built about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south at Rosslare Harbour, now known as Rosslare Europort . This is a deepwater harbour, unaffected by tides and currents. All major shipping now uses this port and Wexford Port
6486-419: The quayside on the northeastern edge of the town. In 2010 the Rosslare Strand- Waterford rail services were suspended, due to budget cuts at Irish Rail . Wexford is also served by local and national bus networks, primarily Bus Éireann , Wexford Bus and Ardcavan Bus. There are direct bus routes to Dublin , Carlow and Waterford . There are also many local taxi and hackney providers. Wexford Bus also operates
6580-436: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
6674-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
6768-712: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
6862-480: The team has not achieved county senior football success since 1956, St. Johns Volunteers of Wexford Town hold a record eleven county senior titles, as well as six minor titles. Other notable Gaelic football clubs in the town are Sarsfields, St. Mary's of Maudlintown, Clonard and St. Joseph's. One of the town's local hurling clubs, Faythe Harriers , holds a record fifteen county minor championships, having dominated
6956-476: The town and in 2008, their 150th anniversary was celebrated. The larger twin, on Rowe Street, contains a peal of ten change-ringing bells, cast by Gillett & Johnston in 1930. In the early 21st century, Wexford saw the redevelopment of its quay front, and residential development at Clonard village. Also, the relocated offices of the Department of Environment were constructed near Wexford General Hospital on Newtown Road and opened in 2010. Wexford's success as
7050-460: The town include the "twin churches", Bride Street and Rowe Street with their distinctive spires; St Iberius' Church (Church of Ireland), which dates from the 18th Century; Saint Peter's College , with a chapel designed by Augustus Welby Pugin ; and Ann Street Presbyterian church. A former Quaker meeting hall is now a band room in High Street. The twin churches can be seen from any part of
7144-726: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
7238-465: The visitor to wander around re-creations of historic Irish dwellings including crannogs , Viking houses and Norman forts. The grounds also feature the archaeological site of Newtown, considered the first Norman fortification in Ireland. The Wexford Wildfowl Reserve is a Ramsar site based on mudflats , (known locally as slobland), just outside Wexford. It is a migratory stop-off point for thousands of ducks, geese, swans and waders. Up to 12,000 (50% of
7332-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
7426-422: The world's population) of Greenland white-fronted geese spend the winter on the Wexford slobs. There is a visitor centre with exhibitions and an audio-visual show. Wexford O'Hanrahan railway station opened on 17 August 1872. On 10 April 1966, the station was named after Michael O'Hanrahan , one of the executed leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising . The railway line from Dublin to Rosslare Harbour runs along
7520-462: Was a professional soldier who fought in Ireland first for Cromwell and then for William of Orange . He is best known for his part in a failed attempt to relieve the Siege of Derry in 1689. He was born in 1619 and his baptism on 14 November 1619 is recorded in the parish registers of St Andrew, Holborn. The register states that he was the son of Salloman Richards and his wife Ann, a cutler living near
7614-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
7708-538: Was carried out in Clonmel on 2 May 1654. In 1659 Col. Richards was appointed Governor of Wexford town. That was after Cromwell's death and perhaps even after the end of the protectorate in May 1659. At the Restoration in 1660, he was deposed as governor of Wexford and was briefly imprisoned. He was released and was confirmed in the possession of his newly acquired lands by the Act of Settlement of 1662. For
7802-461: Was commonly spoken in south Wexford from the time of the Norman invasion in 1169 until it began declining in the mid-19th century. While Yola was extinct by the 1870s, its last speaker, a fisherman from Kilmore Quay named Jack Devereux, died in 1998. Compared to other parts of Ireland, the Irish language was not as widely spoken in the baronies of Forth and Bargy , which include Wexford town, from
7896-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
7990-518: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Solomon Richards (soldier) Solomon Richards
8084-541: Was involved in training at St. Ibars/Joseph's boxing club. There are five secondary schools serving the population of the town. These are Wexford CBS, Loreto Secondary School (girls' school); St Peter's College (boys' school); Presentation Secondary School (girls' school); and The Vocational College/Selskar College (mixed school). The historic borough of Wexford was abolished under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 . However, by petition, it
8178-466: Was menaced by the Irish army of Tyrconnell and James II. William sent Colonel Cunningham with an expeditionary force to Derry to defend the city. This force consisted of two regiments of foot, Cunningham's own and Richards's, together about 1600 men. They sailed from Liverpool in 1689 on nine transport ships escorted by the fourth-rate frigate HMS Swallow and reached Lough Foyle downstream of
8272-407: Was not until 1960 that hurling took its foothold, with much due to local man Oliver "Hopper" McGrath's contribution to the county's All-Ireland Hurling Final triumph over the then-champions Tipperary . Having scored an early second-half goal to effectively kill off the opposition, McGrath went on to be the first man from the town of Wexford to receive an All-Ireland Hurling winner's medal. Although
8366-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
8460-518: Was re-established in 1846. Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 , the area became an urban district , while retaining the style of a borough corporation. Wexford Borough Corporation became a borough council in 2002. The boundary of the town was extended in 2008. On 1 June 2014, the borough council was dissolved and the administration of the town was amalgamated with Wexford County Council . The local electoral area of Wexford forms
8554-538: Was replaced by George St George , another Irishman. As Derry was able to hold out until a second relief force under General Percy Kirke arrived, questions were raised in the English Parliament about Cunningham's and Richards' conduct. He died in 1691 and was buried in the North Cloister of Westminster Abbey on 6 October 1691. Richards had many children. It is sometimes wrongly stated that he
8648-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
8742-479: Was the father of Jacob Richards an engineer officer, who also served William in Ireland (1689–91) where he was wounded during the Siege of Carrickfergus . Jacob and his brothers Michael and John were the sons of a certain Jacob Richards and his wife Ann. This mistake seems to have originated in one Betham's sketch pedigrees Four hundred years after Col. Richards condemned him to death, Fr. William Tirry
8836-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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