The old Wexford Town Graveyards

[shorts]

I recall reading a couple of years ago that the Wexford Town Council were holding some sort of open day to allow people to wander around the old locked up graveyards in the Town. I think it was around July time. Is this an annual event in the town or was it a one off?

The only old graveyard I have managed to gain access to on my last couple of visits was  St Mary's Magdelan's in Maudlintown, south of the town and that was only because there was no lock on the gate. Luckily the vegetation had just been cut back on my last visit and I was able to gain access to some stones I hadn't seen before some of which go back to the late 18th century.

[aghadowey]

Perhaps contact the Council and ask them.

Wexford County Council-
http://www.wexford.ie/wex/

Wexford Borough Council-
http://www.wexfordcorp.ie/bc/
http://www.wexfordcorp.ie/bc/OurTownandHistory/BurialGrounds/

[shellback]

Unless you want to physically visit the graveyards details of all of them ,headstone inscriptions etc. are available for reference in the Wexford branch of the library. This is the result of the trojan work of the late Brian Cantwell and is titled Memorials of the Dead.

[shorts]

I enjoy actually visiting these ancient sites not just for the genealogy but more for the sense of history. For such a small town it strikes me that Wexford has an awful lot to offer, what with an ancient Abbey, ruined churches, old graveyards with 1798 victims and with a large portion of the old town wall still standing. Not to mention all the old mystical lanes.

It's just a shame the council (no doubt due to health & safety/cost reasons) keep these places under lock & key.

I have trawled through the old burial registers held on microfilm at the library looking for ancestors but I would still like to take a wander around these places. On my visits I always take in Crosstown cemetery and would like to visit the other graveyards as well.

I'll see what the council have to say.

[aghadowey]

The main reason the council might keep such graveyards locked is likely due to vandalism- they do seem to attract drink, drugs and other anti-social problems.

[shorts]

I don't think that's why they're locked - if it is it's a flimsy excuse. They just need to be locked up each evening in the same way Crosstown Cemetery is. With the public wandering around the undesirables are unlikely to cause problems. Crosstown is open all day and I don't think it has too many problems other than the odd theft from the carpark.

A couple of years ago whilst visiting the St Mary Magdelane Cemetery I disturbed a gang of youngsters puffing away in the undergrowth and they were clearly quite shocked to see me and soon dispersed. It's when theses graveyards are locked up that they become safe havens for illegal activity. I know because I used to dance on the old vaults in the very same locked graveyard as a 10 year old 40 years ago!!

[shellback]

Hi Shorts.I was born and reared right across the road from the St. Magdalen's graveyard and now live about 25 yards from it. Lately it has become a haven for winos ., sad to say. Like you I like to visit the cemeteries personally but I find Cantwell's a valuable tool for checking  out  particular  stones. Especially those way beyond the confines of the town.

[shorts]

Hi there

My mother lived close by in Saltee Ave from the late 1940's until moving to England in 1956. At the time she was working in the laundry in Dolphin Rd. In the 1960's and 70's I made a number of summer holiday visits to my Grandparents who remained in the Avenue until their deaths in 1976 & 1990 respectively.

Had some great summer holidays running the streets of Maudlintown with the Cullimores, Creanes etc and crab fishing down at Hole rock.  Most evenings there must have been upwards of 30 kids messing around at the end of the Avenue until about midnight - no trouble back in those days.

[shellback]

Looks like we were near neighbours ,your Mum and me. By the way it's Hore Rock,  not Hole .  Many's the happy hours we spent there and further down the line on Browne's Bank.er