Rebecca organised RNLI water safety clinic

By Dan Walsh

Rebecca Doyle, Fethard RNLI’s Volunteer Water Safety Officer, commenced her new role by organising a Swim Safely Clinic given by the RNLI Water Safety Team which was attended by local swim group, Hooked on Swimming and the local Triathlon Club.

Killian O Kelly, RNLI Water Safety Education Manager, joined Rebecca and volunteer Water Safety Officers Declan Roche and Debbie Newport from Kilmore Quay RNLI to offer valuable advice and discuss water safety tips relating to open water swimming.

Speaking at the event, Killian offered the following main points to the swimmers, “Be prepared. Check the weather and tides, choose your spot, go with a buddy or group and have the right equipment with you. Make sure you acclimatise to avoid cold water shock. Be seen by wearing a bright coloured swim hat and take a tow float. Rotate members of the group on shore to act as a shore safety person.”

Killian went on to advise about ‘the importance always having a means to call 999 or 112 for help, in the form of a dry pouch to hold your mobile phone or a pea less whistle if you have someone listening out on shore.’

Rebecca Doyle, Fethard RNLI’s Volunteer Water Safety Officer, commenced her new role by organising a Swim Safely Clinic given by the RNLI Water Safety Team .(Pic; RNLI/Liam Ryan Photography)

As the event was attended by two local swimming groups, the Water Safety Team also discussed the huge benefits of the clubs having their own incident action plan, in case a member gets into trouble in the water.

The information offered on the evening was well received by all who attended, and they all received RNLI waterproof mobile phone holders. Speaking after the event, Rebecca Doyle said: “It was fantastic to see all the swimmers on Baginbun listening attentively to the Water Safety Team and taking on board our advice. We spoke about the benefits of having a whistle tied to your tow float while out swimming and I am delighted to say there were quite a few ordered online in the days following our clinic.”

This event marked the first of many that Rebecca will hold in her new role as Fethard RNLI’s Water Safety Officer.

Kilmore Quay Seafood Festival

The 36th annual Kilmore Quay Seafood Festival gets under way on Thursday evening at 7pm.

By Dan Walsh

Over half a century ago Enniscorthy founded one of the biggest festivals in the country using local produce as the anchor activity – the Strawberry Fair – and Kilmore Quay has followed a similar festive route with the Kilmore Quay Seafood Festival and the 36th year of family fun and festivities opens tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 7pm.

The festival opens with a colourful and musical parade of local organisations and supporters through the village to the main stage on the quayside where the recently elected Mayor of Wexford, Cllr Maura Bell, will declared the weekend festival officially opened.

The festival is run under the auspices of Kilmore Quay Community Development Association and Festival Chairman, John Nunn, told WexfordLocal.com; “The Seafood Festival is a wonderful celebration of the summer, the sea and local community that offers four fun-filled days for all the family, but it is also the main annual fundraiser for the close-knit village and the proceeds help fund important local initiatives.”

On opening night the winners of the hotly contested Seafood Platter and Seafood Chowder competition will be announced. Battling for top honours will be Kehoe’s Pub, the Wooden House, Saltees Coast Hotel, Rathangan Bar, Mary Barry’s, Coast Hotel Rosslare, the Red Door Café and the Coal Bunker.

Fish vans selling fresh ocean produce for fish lovers will be located in the harbour area, seafood platters will be available in the Stella Maris Centre and the existent outlets will have their doors opened for business. So plenty for everybody.

Some interesting maritime features on the vast programme of events (available on www.kilmorequayseafoodfestival.ie) such as environmentalist Jim Hurley’s lecture on ‘Local Whales and Dolphins’ and the Kilmore Walking Trail.

Kayaking will be held on the Little Beach on Friday and Saturday and the 5k Road Race under the auspices of Kilmore Athletic Club will be the highlight on Saturday evening.

Wexford Camera Club will hold an exhibition of works by its members in the Stella Maris Centre and that will be available all weekend.    

Yacht breaks down in Bannow Bay

By Dan Walsh

Fethard RNLI launched its inshore lifeboat on Wednesday evening to assist the crew of a broken down 8-metre yacht in Bannow Bay.

The volunteer crew were requested to launch their inshore lifeboat by the Irish Coast Guard just after 9.15 pm. The crew proceeded to Fethard Dock where they launched the lifeboat and made their way to an area north-east of The Windy Gap.

Weather conditions were good with a light Force 2 north-westerly breeze, calm sea conditions and good visibility.

The crew arrived at the broken-down anchored vessel at 9.40 pm. The lifeboat crew assessed the situation, decided to establish a tow line and retract the keel, before towing the vessel to the safe water of Bannow, north of the Cockle Strand.

This launch marks the first shout for volunteer crew member Mick Cooper, as well as Mick Roche’s first launch as Helm.

Helm MICK ROCHE on his first shout aboard Fethard RNLI (Pic; RNLI/Mark Brennan)

Speaking after the shout, volunteer Helm Mick Roche said: “The crew of the yacht did everything right. They were well equipped with lifejackets, navigation tools, means of communication and great local knowledge, but were unfortunate to have engine difficulties. The crew did the right thing by alerting the Irish Coast Guard at the earliest opportunity.

“This call highlights the importance of always carrying a means of communication when involved in any water activities in or by the sea,” concluded Mr Roche.

200 gather for Wexford bookstore extension

By Dan Walsh in Wexford town

Two hundred people attended the enlargement and opening of a spacious extension to Red Books, a popular local bookstore in Wexford’s St Peter’s Square last Tuesday evening. 

In an age when many had written off physical bookshops as being feasible, veteran bookseller Anton O’Broin, who cut the ribbon on the new building, said that Wexford would never abandon the written word.

“Books have run hand in hand with the development of our nation,” said Mr O’Broin, who added; “From Thomas Davis distributing the Nation in the 1840s to the fact that many of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, locally and nationally, were writers and poets. They were drawn by the power of the written word, just as we are today.

“Our extension doubles the size of Red Books and increases our stock to a quarter of a million books,” Wally O’ Neill, the owner of Red Books, said. “It also affords us much needed space for book launches, writer groups and the many other events that happen around bookstores like ours.”

ANTON O’BROIN, who cut the ribbon and declared the RED BOOKS Bookstore extension officially open, pictured with WALLY O’NEILL and KIERAN O’BRIEN at the launch in St. Peter’s Square, Wexford.

Red Books began life in a converted bulls-shed in Bridgetown village five and a half years ago. It has since grown rapidly, expanding into Wexford town in 2019, and now doubling its size this year, despite pandemics, lockdowns and inflation.

“It’s gone from being the smallest bookshop in Ireland to being one of the largest independents,” Kieran O’ Brien, another local bookseller and MC for the launch, said. “It rivals anything in the big cities now, and many of them don’t even have a good independent bookshop left,” he concluded.

As well as being a bookstore, Red Books is also a publisher of local books, recently launching two new anthologies, the third issue of the Wexford Bohemian and the latest copy of Wexford Women Writing Undercover. Mr O’Neill told WexfordLocal.com that he anticipated that the bookstore would produce at least five more publications before Christmas, saying they were overwhelmed with the incredible array of diverse and powerful writing talent coming into the store every day.

“Wexford is certainly going through a literary renaissance,” he said. “You can’t throw a stone in this town without hitting a writer, poet, historian, artist, or musician, and all of them are contributing to the rich culture of the locality. We’re very proud to be part of all of this. 

John Updike said that bookstores “were lonely forts spilling light out onto the sidewalks. Well, thanks to our wonderful bookshop community, we’re a not so lonely fort on a hill, spilling books and poets, quare-hawks and visionaries out onto the footpaths of Wexford.”

Red Books is open seven days a week in Wexford’s St Peter’s Square.

Busy weekend at Wexford literary Festival

By Dan Walsh

The Wexford Literary Arts Festival is taking place over the weekend in Enniscorthy and Wexford town with a number of events occupying a busy programme.

A number of events happened on Friday with Margaret Galvin providing poetry workshops and the 2022 Wexford Literary Arts Festival Awards Night was held in the Presentation Art Centre on Friday night.

Congratulations were expressed to everyone who entered the competitions, were longlisted and shortlisted, and for those whose entry was placed in the top three, as follows:

Eoin Colfer International Short Children’s Story Award

Marie Day, of Wales, Winner for the story Monsters In The Snow.

Billy Roche International Short Play Award

First place: Megan O’Malley, of Wexford, for the play Unforgettable.

Second Place: Alice Lynch, of Cavan, for the play The Girls.

Third Place: Eamonn Dolan, of Waterford, for the play Aunty Maggies Remedy.

Anthony Cronin International Short Poem Award

First Place: Angela Patten, from Ireland living in Vermont USA, for the poem Shine.

Second Place: Derek Sellen, of Kent, England, for the poem G is for Grey.

Third Place: Liz Bryne, from Dublin living in Greater Manchester, England for the poem I Long To Lift A Saxophone.

Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award

First place: David Butler, of Bray, Wicklow, for the story The Witch.

Second Place: Gráinne Daly, of Tallaght, Dublin, for the story Little Jerome.

Third Place: Fergal O’Byrne from Ireland living in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the story Sweetpea.

Sponsorship of these Awards is from Wexford County Council who has been a fabulous supporter for ten years, and from the entry fees from the competitors.

Book launches were the order of the day yesterday (Saturday). Derville Murphy launched her latest book in the Book Centre, Wexford, and the Underground Women’s book launch with Red Books by Deirdre McGarry took place at the same venue on South Main St., Wexford.

The festival continues today (Sunday).

Battle of Enniscorthy revisited

Scene from the re-enacted Battle of Enniscorthy at Castle Hill today.

By Dan Walsh at the Battle of Enniscorthy

Shots rang out on Castle Hill this morning as the Battle of Enniscorthy was re-enacted exactly a century after the event – July 2nd 1922 – and descendants of some families involved were present to witness the historic commemoration which was the highlight of the Wexford Library Arts Festival taking place this weekend.

CLLR CATHAL BYRNE hands over the chains of office to the new Cathaoirleach of Enniscorthy Municipal District Council CLLR AIDAN BROWNE today.

Aside from the re-enactment which featured members of Enniscorthy Re-enactment Historical Society and Lord Edwards Own with action emanating from Enniscorthy Castle pouring out onto the street, there were a number of speeches. Historian Barry Lacey acted as narrator and Maria Nolan was master of ceremonies.

Enniscorthy Municipal District’s Cllr Aidan Browne, who took over the chains of Cathaoirleach from Cllr Cathal Byrne, last Monday, welcomed the guests and the good sized attendance on the street, and offered some sobering words about the battle of a century ago.

Deputy Sean Haughey, grandson of former Taoiseach Sean Lemass, was the keynote speaker, while there were also contributions from Minister James Browne, Carmel Smyth, author of ‘Monteith-The Making of a Rebel and representative of the 1916 Relatives Committee.

COLM O’BRIEN and ORLA McKEOWN, relatives, laid wreaths at Enniscorthy Post Office in remembrance of Patrick O’Brien and Maurice Spillane who were shot dead on this spot in 1922.

Guests included Paul Kehoe T.D., Cllr George Lawlor, Cathaoirleach Wexford County Council, Cllrs Barbara-Anne Murphy, Kathleen Codd-Nolan, Jackser Owens, John O’Rourke and Cathal Byrne. Anne Gilpin and Carmel Long represented the Literary Festival Committee, Bernie Quigley, Enniscorthy District Council and the Council staff were also praised for their co-operation and encouragement in the staging of this novel event.

Rev. Canon Nicola Halford read a prayer; Liam Doyle played a piper’s lament; Maria Nolan read a prose extract and the pleasant ceremony concluded with the National Anthem.

Afterwards the re-enactors marched to the Post Office where Colm O’Brien and Orla McKeown laid wreaths at the site where Patrick (Paddy) O’Brien and Maurice Spilanne were shot during the Battle of Enniscorthy in 1922. Their memory is preserved by a plaque on the Post Office wall.

AUDIO ADDITION – Cathaoirleach Cllr Aidan Browne set s the scene for the Battle of Enniscorthy this morning.

AUDIO ADDITION ; Historian and narrator BARRY LACEY in an extract from the Battle of Enniscorthy this morning.
AUDIO ADDITION – How the Battle of Enniscorthy came to an end

€5.6m Lotto ticket sold in Enniscorthy

Pictured celebrating having sold the big Lottery winning ticket at Day Today store, Slaney Place, Enniscorthy are on left Michael Molloy from the National Lottery, with in front, Frank Jordan and Kieran Walsh store owners, standing behind are store staff, Paige Dunbar, Tricia Carberry, John Morrissey and Cora Redmond. Photograph: Patrick Browne/Mac Innes Photography

By Dan Walsh

The Day Today store at Slaney Place, Enniscorthy, was celebrating yesterday after it was revealed as the selling location of last Wednesday’s Lotto jackpot winning ticket worth €5,612, 385.

The store is owned by Tipperary friends, Frank Jordan and Kieran Walsh, and they were overjoyed to hear the news about one of their customers life-changing win.

Mr Jordan said; “People won’t believe this story but on the very day of the draw, our local National Lottery Rep visited the store and I jokingly told him to send a winning ticket my way! Low and behold, only a couple of hours later, one of our customers has had a truly life-changing win and honestly, we couldn’t be any more thrilled for them.”

The National Lottery have confirmed that the winner of last Wednesday’s Lotto jackpot worth over €5.6 million has made contact and arrangements are being made for the prize to be paid.

Lovely hurling at the Wexford races!

By Dan Walsh at Bettyville Park

Heavy early rain eased off as this evening’s race meeting at Bettyville Park progressed, but it failed to dampen the spirit of Wexford GAA Raceday and an enjoyable social occasion was celebrated with beef and salmon on the menu and music.

There were no Wexford winners on the track, but two well deserved winners from the marquee – Gayle Flood won the ‘Best Dressed Lady competition’ sponsored by Sarah King Boutique, Wexford, and Ray McGlynn took the ‘Best Dressed Gentleman’ prize sponsored by Hore’s Stores. The panel of judges consisted of Niall Hore of Hore’s Stores, Mairead O’Connor of Sarah King, the Wexford Rose Joy Quigley and Maria Nolan from Cairde Loch Garman.

No Wexford winners, but Noel Dooly from Courtnacuddy, came close as Slate Gray with Tiernan Roche-Power in the saddle finished four lengths runner-up to Hazelhatch Lady (33/1) partnered by champion point-to-point rider of many seasons, Derek O’Connor.

Niall Moore rode his first winner in Ireland on Our Bobby (13/2) in the Tote Handicap Hurdle. Moore said afterwards; “I was with Evan Williams for fifteen months. It was great and I rode three winners for him. This success has been a while coming but I’ve had great support from the Burke’s who would be second cousins of mine. I’m from Gortnahoo, it’s a small parish in Tipperary. I’m based with Philip Fenton and Gordon Elliott. I’ve had a good few rides for them both and it’s going grand. It’s nice to get off the mark here.”

The Tote aggregate was €91,003.15 compared with €70,213.82 last year.

Next day’s racing at Bettyville Park takes place on Friday, August 5th and the theme is Ladies Day.

Wexford Menapians AC gets the cheque

By Dan Walsh

Wexford’s Menapians Athletic Club, county winners in the recent Texaco Support for Sport initiative, has been presented with a cheque for €5,000 which will be used to reserve venues and fund equipment for its proposed Wexford Summer League, an undertaking aimed at getting young athletes involved in the sport.

Established in 2001, Menapians AC is a progressive athletics club with a diverse membership in terms of age and ability ‘from young to old, from joggers to Olympians’. With training provided at various locations – including Rosslare Strand, Wexford CBS and Enniscorthy Sports Hub – the club maintains a prominent presence across the county. 

Under the scheme – similar to that which proved successful last year when the Wexford county award was presented to Kilmore United FC – the presentation was made to the Club by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand.

Now in its second year, the Texaco Support for Sport initiative sees an annual fund of €130,000 set aside for allocation in equal amounts of €5,000 to successful applicants chosen on a county-by-county basis.  Overseeing the adjudication process was Texaco Support for Sport ambassador, former Irish rugby international and broadcaster, Donncha O’Callaghan.

Entries to the Texaco Support for Sport 2023 initiative will open in the Autumn.

Wexford’s Menapians Athletic Club, County winners in the recent Texaco Support for Sport initiative, has been presented with a cheque for €5,000 which will be used to reserve venues and fund equipment for its proposed Wexford Summer League, an undertaking aimed at getting young athletes involved in the sport. The presentation to Wexford’s Menapians Athletic Club members Mick McKeown, Catherine O’Connor, Oliver Stack, Margaret Malone, and Roisin O’Reilly and Padraig Kelly (both front), was made at Boggan’s Service Station, Wexford. Pictured with them was Texaco Dealer, Mark Boggan (centre) and Valero Area Sales Manager, Niall O’Rourke (second right). Mac Innes Photography

Enniscorthy in weekend battle mode?

The Battle of Enniscorthy will be re-enacted in the town centre next Saturday and all are welcome to attend.

By Dan Walsh

There is tension in Enniscorthy town this week after rumours spread that the Battle of Enniscorthy is imminent and likely to lead to gunfire and re-enacted fighting in the Enniscorthy Castle area of the town around 11am next Saturday morning.

Locals have reported the presence of armed period dress personnel in the area on several evenings this week and it is expected that they may be preparing for battle!

Staff at Enniscorthy Castle have refused to comment, but they did admit to WexfordLocal.com that the roof of the castle is likely to be commandeered and used to exchange gunfire, and it is believed that no resistance will be offered, although an opposition group may be placed at ground level.

It is also learned that traffic management will be enforced in the Castle Hill, Church Street, Castle Street area on Saturday morning and barriers will be in place to ensure safety.

The public is invited to gather for the Centenary Commemoration event which is the first re-enactment of the Battle of Enniscorthy which occurred on July 2nd 1922 – a centenary to the exact day – at Enniscorthy Castle at 11am on Saturday morning.