Chadwicks Wexford Park is a GAA stadium in

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 ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) 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 (''Uí C ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

. It is the home of

Wexford GAA The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae Loch Garman) or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wex ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

teams. After a recent development the ground has a capacity of about 18,000. It is located in the Clonard area on the outskirts of Wexford Town, and although the ground does not have floodlights it regularly hosts evening matches during the brighter summer months. In 2015 a local technology company, Innovate Business Technology, signed a deal for the naming rights to the stadium. The new name unveiled was Innovate Wexford Park. In 2020 Chadwicks replaced Innovate as the name sponsor of the stadium.

Redevelopment

In 1997, Wexford received planning permission to redevelop Wexford Park. The redevelopment would cost

IR£ The pound (Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin ci ...

1 million. It was due to be completed for the National Feile Hurling Finals in 1998. However due to a long overrun, where both end terraces had yet to be constructed, in 2000 they were given an

Irish National Lottery The National Lottery ( ga, An Crannchur Náisiúnta) is the state-licensed lottery operator in the Republic of Ireland. Established in 1986 to raise funds for good causes, it began operations on 27 March 1987 when it issued its first Scratchcar ...

grant to cover some of the cost of the overrun. The pitch was discovered to require re-installation of the drainage system as well. The overall cost of the project was IR£3.3 million. The redeveloped stadium was opened in 2001 with a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

gathering with a veneration of the relics of Saint

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

and it was attended by the Apistolic Nuncio to Ireland, Dr.

Giuseppe Lazzarotto Giuseppe Lazzarotto KC*HS (born 24 May 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2017, with the rank of apostolic nuncio and an archbishop since 1994. Biography Giuse ...

and the Bishop of Ferns,

Brendan Comiskey Brendan Comiskey (born August 13, 1935), is the Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Ferns. He was born in Clontibret, County Monaghan, Ireland. He was ordained a priest of the little known Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus ...

. However, by 2011 the new design of the stadium caused problems. Due to the development including continuous benches along the length of the stand rather than individual seats, it made complying with health and safety regulations difficult due to having to estimate the number of fans that could be accommodated safely. This was seen when there was a Wexford double-header of Gaelic football and hurling with empty spaces in the stands being visible, despite being sold out.

References

{{Wexford GAA Gaelic games grounds in the Republic of Ireland Sports venues in County Wexford Wexford, County Wexford Wexford GAA

Redevelopment

See also

References