Fethard-on-Sea

Last updated

Fethard-on-Sea
Fiodh Ard (Irish)
Village
Fethard Quay.jpg
Fethard Quay
Ireland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fethard-on-Sea
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°11′42″N6°49′59″W / 52.195°N 6.833°W / 52.195; -6.833
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County Wexford
Elevation
15 m (49 ft)
Population
 (2016) [1]
311
Irish Grid Reference S793049

Fethard-on-Sea or Fethard (Irish : Fiodh Ard, meaning 'high wood') [2] is a village in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R734 road on the eastern side of the Hook peninsula, between Waterford Harbour and Bannow Bay. The village is in Fethard civil parish and partly in Fethard townland. [2]

Contents

The village had a population of 311 as of the 2016 census. [1] It lies in the Fethard electoral district in the Wexford constituency. It is in the Templetown parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns. Its main industries are fishing and tourism.[ citation needed ]

Public transport

Two Bus Éireann routes serve Fethard-on-Sea: route 370 to Waterford via New Ross and a Tuesday-only route 373 to Wexford via Wellingtonbridge. [3]

History

In the 12th century, Baginbun near Fethard was the site of Norman landings during the Norman invasion of Ireland. [4] [5] The remains of Norman-era earthworks and fortifications may be seen at Baginbun Bay, south of Ingard Point. [6]

A 12th-century castle was built by Raymond le Gros, which passed to the Bishop of Ferns and was used as an episcopal residence. There is little evidence of the castle today.[ citation needed ]

Alexander Devereux, the 16th-century bishop of Ferns and Abbot of Dunbrody, is buried in St. Mogue's Church of Ireland church. [5]

Fethard was granted a charter by James I, [5] and became a municipal borough, with the parliamentary borough of Fethard sending two members to the Irish House of Commons until its dissolution in 1801. The seats were in the control of the Marquess of Ely. [7] In 1798, a harbour, [5] was built and this was a landing site for French troops during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.[ citation needed ]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened Fethard Lifeboat Station in 1886. Nine of the volunteer crew were killed while trying to save the crew of a Norwegian ship that had run aground at South Keeragh Island on 20 February 1914. The survivors of both crews were marooned on the island for two nights before they could be rescued. The lifeboat station was then closed but reopened in 1996 as home to an inshore lifeboat. [8] [9] [10]

Village name

Long known simply as "Fethard", the village became known as Fethard-on-Sea following events in 1914 when the lifeboat Helen Blake capsized. Nine of the lifeboat's fourteen-man crew were drowned during a service mission to the schooner Mexico off the Keeragh Islands. [11] There was an outpouring of sympathy for the village and charitable donations were posted from around the world. To avoid this post from being misdirected to Fethard, County Tipperary, the name of the Fethard in County Wexford was reputedly changed to better distinguish the two. [11]

Local businesses

There are three public houses in the village, a grocery shop and a number of cafes, B&B and a hotel that was refurbished and reopened in 2019. [12] Local tourist attractions include Hook Head Lighthouse and Loftus Hall, further afield on the Hook Peninsula.

Fethard-on-Sea boycott

In May 1957, Roman Catholic villagers ("incited by the local curate") boycotted Protestant-owned local businesses in response to the actions of a Protestant woman, Sheila Cloney, who had left her Catholic husband and the village, to avoid being obliged to send her children to the local Catholic school. [13] The boycott received national and international attention before it concluded. [13] The family was reconciled, with the daughters being home-schooled. [14] [15] [16]

A film was made about the Cloney family and boycott. Released in 1999, A Love Divided starred Orla Brady and Liam Cunningham. [17] [18] A review of the film by the American Catholic League organisation questioned the film's depiction of the Catholic Church in Ireland. [19]

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Wexford</span> County in Ireland

County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella, whose capital was Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 163,527 at the 2022 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wexford</span> Town in County Wexford, Ireland

Wexford 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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Ross</span> Town in County Wexford, Ireland

New Ross is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Waterford. In 2022 it had a population of 8,610 people, making it the fourth-largest town in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portaferry</span> Town on the Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland

Portaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Float Parade. It hosts its own small Marina, the Portaferry Marina. The Portaferry – Strangford Ferry service operates daily at 30-minute intervals between the villages of Portaferry and Strangford, less than 1500 metres apart, conveying about 500,000 passengers per annum. It had a population of 2,514 people in the 2011 Census. The town is located within the Barony of Ards Upper.

Seán Fortune was a Catholic priest from Ireland, and child molester, who allegedly used his position to gain access to his victims. He was accused of the rape and sexual molestation of 29 different boys. He committed suicide while awaiting trial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunmore East</span> Fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland

Dunmore East is a popular tourist and fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland. Situated on the west side of Waterford Harbour on Ireland's southeastern coast, it lies within the barony of Gaultier ; a reference to the influx of Viking and Norman settlers in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fethard, County Tipperary</span> Town in County Tipperary, Ireland

Fethard is a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland. Dating to the Norman invasion of Ireland, the town's walls were first laid-out in the 13th century, with some sections of these defensive fortifications surviving today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosslare Harbour</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

The village of Rosslare Harbour, also known as Ballygerry, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name, first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Railway to accommodate steamferry traffic between Great Britain and Ireland. This port also serves France and Spain, traffic is mainly roll-on roll-off (RoRo). Rosslare Harbour railway station opened on 30 August 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncannon</span> Village in Leinster, Ireland

Duncannon is a village in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. Bordered to the west by Waterford harbour and sitting on a rocky headland jutting into the channel is the strategically prominent Duncannon Fort which dominates the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilmuckridge</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

Kilmuckridge, formerly Ford or The Ford, is a village in County Wexford in Ireland, near the Irish Sea coast. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 722 people, having more than tripled in size in the 20 years since the 1996 census. It is known for the nearby beach at Morriscastle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hook Peninsula</span>

The Hook Peninsula is a peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland. It has been a gateway to south-east Ireland for successive waves of invaders, including the Vikings, Anglo-Normans and the English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilmore Quay</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

Kilmore Quay is a fishing village near Kilmore, in County Wexford, Ireland. As of 2016, it has a population of 372. It is a fishing village, but its leisure facilities such as sailing, and sea angling charters are also of economic importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campile</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

Campile is a small village situated in County Wexford in the south of Ireland. It is 14 kilometres south of the town of New Ross. As of the 2016 census, Campile had a population of 448 people.

The Ros Tapestry Project is a major community arts and history project centered on the town of New Ross in County Wexford, Ireland. The project is dedicated to producing a tapestry in fifteen panels which tells the story of the coming of the Normans to Ireland in the 12th century and the foundation of the port and town of New Ross at the beginning of the 13th century. Each tapestry panel is approximately four and a half feet deep (1.5m) by six feet (1.8m) wide and tells of a unique aspect of the epic story. Six panels were finished for an Exhibition in 2007 and a further nine panels are now (2020) completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncormick</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

Duncormick or Duncormac is a rural village and surrounding community located in County Wexford, Ireland. At the time of the 2016 census, the village of Duncormick had a population of 116 people. The village is 18 kilometres (11 mi) south-west of Wexford town, close to the fishing village of Kilmore Quay which is one of the largest fishing harbours in Ireland. 'Duncormick' is sometimes used to refer not only to a village, but also to the rural area surrounding it. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bannow</span> Village in County Wexford, Ireland

Bannow is a village and civil parish lying east of Bannow Bay on the south-west coast of County Wexford, Ireland. In modern times the main settlement is the village of Carrig-on-Bannow. In Norman times there was a borough called Bannow on Bannow Island at the mouth of the Bay. This town has since disappeared, probably due to the silting up of the natural harbour channels in the 14th century, and the former island is now attached to the rest of the parish.

The Fethard-on-Sea boycott was a controversy in 1957 involving Sean and Sheila Cloney, a married couple from the village of Fethard-on-Sea, County Wexford, Ireland. It resulted in a sectarian boycott, led by the local Catholic priest, of some members of the local Protestant community.

Fethard St Mogues GAA Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Fethard-on-Sea, County Wexford, Ireland. They are a dual Senior club. It plays in the Wexford GAA club championships, fielding teams in hurling and Gaelic football.

The Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by mid-tier Wexford GAA clubs. It is the 2nd teir of the Wexford GAA hurling championships.The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fethard Lifeboat Station</span> RNLI lifeboat station in County Wexford, Ireland

Fethard Lifeboat Station is the base for a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) inshore lifeboat at Fethard-on-Sea on the south coast of County Wexford, Ireland.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sapmap Area: Settlements Fethard-on-Sea". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Fiodh Ard / Fethard". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. 18 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Regional Services by County". Bus Éireann . Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Normans' Baginbun landing book release". wexfordpeople.ie. Wexford People. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Samuel Lewis (1837). Topographical Dictionary of Ireland - Fethard – via libraryireland.com.
  6. ↑ "Fethard-On-Sea". southeastireland.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2005.
  7. ↑ "Fethard (Co. Wexford)". History of the Irish Parliament. Ulster Historical Foundation.
  8. ↑ "The Fethard Life-Boat Disaster". Life-boat. Vol. 22, no. 252. 1914. pp. 144–146.
  9. ↑ Doe, Helen (2024). One Crew. Amberley Publishing. pp. 116–117. ISBN   978-1-3981-2235-2.
  10. ↑ "Fethard's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  11. 1 2 "A terrible loss... an incredible story of survival". Gorey Guardian. Independent News & Media. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  12. ↑ "Fethard on fire!". Irish Independent. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  13. 1 2 "A love divided, but never conquered". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 4 July 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  14. ↑ "Religion: Fethardism". Time. 19 August 1957. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "LOVE CONQUERS ALL; But for decades a village paid the price of – Sunday Mirror – Find Articles at BNET.com". Archived from the original on 2 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Fethard boycott recalled". mayonews.ie. The Mayo News.
  17. ↑ A Love Divided Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "'A Love Divided': In Ireland, The Zeal of Disapproval". washingtonpost.com. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights: BBC Bashes Catholics in "A Love Divided" Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ Reid, J. H. (1963). "M. A. Ellison (1909 - 1963)". Irish Astronomical Journal. 6: 152. Bibcode:1963IrAJ....6..152R.
  21. ↑ "Hurling legend being laid to rest in Clonaslee". Laois Today. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2023. Born in Fethard-on-Sea in 1939, Neville played for the Wexford senior hurling team
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.