Fethard-on-Sea or Fethard () is a village in southwest
County Wexford in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It lies on the
R734 road on the eastern side of the
Hook peninsula
The Hook Peninsula is a peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland. It has been a gateway to south-east Ireland for successive waves of newcomers, including the Vikings, Anglo-Normans and the English.
The coastline has a number of beaches. The peninsu ...
, between
Waterford Harbour
Waterford Harbour ( gle, Loch Dá Chaoch / Cuan Phort Láirge) is a natural harbour at the mouth of the Three Sisters; the River Nore, the River Suir and the River Barrow in Ireland. It is navigable for shipping to both Waterford and New Ross ...
and Bannow Bay.
The village had a population of 311 as of the 2016 census.
It lies in the Fethard electoral district in the
Wexford
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 ...
constituency. It is in the Templetown
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
in the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns
The Diocese of Ferns ( ga, Deoise Fhearna) is a Roman Catholic diocese in south-eastern Ireland. It is one of three suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the Archdiocese of Dublin.[ ...]
. Its main industries are fishing and tourism.
Public transport
Two
Bus Éireann routes serve Fethard-on-Sea: route 370 to
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
via
New Ross and a Tuesday-only route 373 to
Wexford
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 ...
via
Wellingtonbridge
Wellingtonbridge (), also spelled Wellington Bridge, is a village in south County Wexford, Ireland. It lies some 24 km west of Wexford and 28 km east of Waterford, at the intersection of the R733 and R736 regional roads. It was his ...
.
History
In the 12th century, Baginbun near Fethard was the site of Norman landings during the
Norman invasion of Ireland
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...
.
The remains of
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
-era earthworks and fortifications may be seen at Baginbun Bay, south of Ingard Point.
A 12th-century castle was built by
Raymond le Gros
Raymond (or Redmond) Fitz William Fitz Gerald (died 1185–1198), nicknamed ''Le Gros'' ("the Large"), was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland. Raymond was among the first of a small band of Norman knights who l ...
, which passed to the
Bishop of Ferns
The Bishop of Ferns () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...
and was used as an episcopal residence. There is little evidence of the castle today.
Alexander Devereux, the 16th-century bishop of Ferns and Abbot of Dunbrody, is buried in St. Mogue's
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
church.
Fethard was granted a charter by
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
,
and became a municipal borough, sending two members to the Irish parliament, before its dissolution. In 1798, a harbour,
was built and this was a landing site for French troops during the revolutionary wars.
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.
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 in County Tipperary, the name of the Fethard in County Wexford was reputedly changed to better distinguish the two.
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. Local tourist attractions include
Hook Head Lighthouse and
Loftus Hall
Loftus Hall is a large country house on the Hook peninsula, County Wexford, Ireland. Built on the site of the original Redmond Hall, it is said to have been haunted by the devil and the ghost of a woman.
Loftus Hall has a long history of own ...
, 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.
The boycott received national and international attention before it concluded.
The family was reconciled, with the daughters being home-schooled.
A film was made about the Cloney family and boycott. Released in 1999, ''
A Love Divided'' starred
Orla Brady
Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her work in televised programs, as well as starring in the ...
and
Liam Cunningham
Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''.
Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independe ...
. A review of the film by the American
Catholic League organisation questioned the film's depiction of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
">Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights: BBC Bashes Catholics in "A Love Divided"
See also
* Hook Head
Hook Head (), historically called Rindowan, is a headland in County Wexford, Ireland, on the east side of the estuary of The Three Sisters (Rivers Nore, Suir and Barrow). It is part of the Hook peninsula and is adjacent to the historic townla ...
* List of RNLI stations
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stations are the bases for the RNLI's fleet of search and rescue lifeboats that cover the coastal waters around the entire British Isles, as well as major inland waterways.
The service was establi ...
* List of towns and villages in Ireland
* Mervyn A. Ellison
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fethard-On-Sea
Towns and villages in County Wexford
Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns