Wexford Town - connections & tales

[nickr90]

I will post various pieces on Wexford Town here if you would like it.
Please feel free to send me information on your people who may have lived in Wexford and any anecdotes pictures or stories. My eventual goal is an on line encyclopedia of Wexford - town only.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU FIND ITEMS OF USE.

[Ruskie]

Hi Nick!

A Wexford expert - excellent! You might be a very handy person to know  .

I hope it is OK if I ask you a question? I have ancestors from Wexford (gg grandparents). I've done a bit of reading and research online so have an idea what steps to take to try to trace them but wonder if you can answer a couple of really basic questions.

My gg grandmother Mary Jane Connor came from Wexford, Wexford (this is written on her marriage certificate). I imagine this is Wexford Town? She married in a RC church in Australia. Do you know what RC church may she have been baptised in if she was born c 1864 (birth estimate from age at marriage and death)? Plus parish/townland etc? Her parents were Denis/Dennis Connor and Mary Murphy.

I have been told that the surname may even have been O'Connor, but the O may have been omitted so the name appeared less Irish. Would you agree with this?

Please PM me if you think this question is a little "off topic". Thanks a lot.

PS. I tried to view your website but was unable to. (URL not found)  Never mind, I will try again later.

 

[nickr90]

Hi from Wexford.
You are probably right on the O'Connor bit.
Unfortunately for research O'Connor and Murphy are some of the most common names in Wexford.
If she were baptised after 1858 in Wexford town the records would be in either of the twin churches Church of Immaculate Conception (known here as Bride St) or Church of The Assumption (her it is Rowe Street). One possible contact is the library service www.wexford.ie will have links to them with telephone numbers.
The site seems to be okay. http://www.iol.ie/~wexfordways/index.htm
If I come across anything I will post it.
Nicky

[Ruskie]

Thanks very much for the reply Nicky! (And yes, your site is working too)

Yes, I know about the commoness of the (O')Connor and Murphy surnames.  I gave up on Mary Murphy before I'd even started. I thought I might have a chance with Dennis Connor as Dennis is perhaps not quite so common as a first name?

I will look at the library site and the churches - thanks for those.

Now this you probably won't be able to assist with this, but my gg grandfather came from New Ross, born about 1863. Does your knowledge of the county cover that area well enough to know the church he may have been christened in? His name was Thomas Joseph Healy. I thought I'd struck gold when I discovered his parent's names - Darby Healy and Anastasia Ryan! But there even seem to be a couple of them around.

I recently did some thinking and wondered if the forenames I thought of as unusual - Darby and Dennis are possibly anglicised too. There are Irish versions of these names. And Anastasia isn't at all rare in Ireland ... never mind ...

If you ever come across these names or anyone researching them, please let me know.

Wexford looks like a lovely place - I sometimes wish my ancestors had stayed there  .

PS. Have you thought about a Wexford surnames section for your website? Perhaps somewhere people could list the names they are searching for? Also a list of the most common names in Wexford?

[nickr90]

Just a bit of nostalgia.

Way Back When?

C.I.E. excursions from Wexford to Rosslare Strand ran from the North and South stations and cost four shillings for adults and two shillings for children in 1971. Who can remember just a little further back when hordes of Wexford families used these excursions on a regular basis? Picnics were packed including primus stoves to boil the kettle and whole families descended on the stations to await the train. Platforms were thronged with people.
After a warm happy day beside the sea these throngs of people converged on Rosslare Strand station to await the return train. Rosslare Strand station was popular with young people because as you waited for the train, the big high grassy banks were ideal as slides.

In 1971 in ‘His and Hers Boutique’ at 91 South Main Street you could purchase “Dainty Dresses in sizes 34 to 42 for £2-10-0. A Hot Pants Dress and matching skirt would set you back just under four quid and they also offered “Men’s Flared Slacks and gorgeous shirts with matching ties”. But bargain of the week had to be “Kinky Safari Trouser Suit at 99 shillings”.

The Wexford People’s Regatta in 1971 had sponsors including The Granada Grill, Woolworth’s, Hore’s Radio Store, The Free Press, Fine Wool, TVRS and Cousins Mineral waters.

 “Dun Mhuire Goes Discotheque” was the newspaper headline announcing the arrival of Star Trek Promotions to the Parish Hall with their ‘lights, discs and go-go dancers’.
Nicky Rossiter

[nickr90]

Another snippet of Wexford - would you like more posted here?

Maybe you don't want these as ancestors.

"News Report: 1872 – Oct 26

Wexford petty Sessions -Wednesday

Joseph SCALLON v. William COAL. Both were eight years of age. Case dismissed

Judith HESS v. Edward HESS. Mother and son. Jane Winup was a sister-in-law of Edward. Guilty

James DUGGAN v. Denis WHELAN for assault. Guilty

Moses ROCHE  for drunken and disorderly conduct. Fined

Margaret CLARKE and James CLARKE v. Denis LACEY and Thomas LACEY.  Seems the Lacey's buried a Mary Lacey in a plot that the Clarke's felt was theirs and that Mary Lacey was not part of their family.. It was finally determined that Mary Lacey DID belong to the family of the Clarke's and that Mary Lacey's grandfather had purchased the plot.

Mary NEVILLE v. Ellen LACEY Two "Old scolds" having a fight. Ellen Lacey fined for spitting in the face of Mary Neville."

[leprechaun]

 Hello Nick. I would just like to say how much I have enjoyed your site of Wexford. Lep

[Myfi!]

Another snippet of Wexford - would you like more posted here?

Ooo yes, more please
never know, you may have snippets on my Berry family 


Myfi

[nickr90]

What Berry branch?