County Wexford
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| County Wexford | |
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| Area: | 2,352 km² |
| Capital: | Wexford |
| Code: | WX |
| Population: | 116,596 (2002) |
| Province: | Leinster |
Wexford (Loch Garman in Irish) is a maritime county in the southeast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. Area: 2,352 km² (908 square miles). Largely low-lying fertile land is the characteristic landscape of the county.
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County Wexford takes its name from the principal town, Wexford, founded by Vikings and named by them Waesfjord, meaning "inlet of the mud-flats" in the Old Norse language. The highest point in the county is Mt Leinster (795 m, 2610 ft). The economy is chiefly agricultural; however there is also much maritime activity. Wexford was the site of an invasion by Anglo-Normans in 1169 at the behest of Diarmuid MacMurrough Kavanagh, King of Leinster, which led to the subsequent colonisation of the country by the English.
Wexford, particularly the baronies of Bargy and Forth, was one of the the most heavy concentrations of medieval English settlement. An old dialect of English, known as the Yola, was spoken uniquely in Wexford up until the 19th century. The north of the county remained Gaelic Irish in character, predominantly under the control of the MacMurrough Kavanagh clan.
County Wexford produced strong support for Confederate Ireland during the 1640s. A fleet of Confederate privateers was based in Wexford town. As a result, the town was sacked by the English Parliamentarians during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
County Wexford was one of the main regions in which the 1798 rebellion was fought. There were significant battles at Enniscorthy and Boolavogue, the latter being remembered in a famous ballad. Carnsore Point was placed on national headlines in the 1970s after a proposal to build a nuclear energy plant. A wind farm has now been built on the site, featuring 14 windmills generating electricity.
Southeastern Wexford is an important site for wild birds - the north side of Wexford Harbour, the North Slob, is home to 10,000 Greenland White-Fronted Geese each winter (roughly one third of the entire world's population), while in the Summer Lady's Island Lake is an important breeding site for terns, especially the Roseate Tern.
Principal towns and villages:
- Castlebridge
- Curracloe
- Enniscorthy
- Gorey
- New Ross
- Wexford
Principal port:
External link
- County Council website (http://www.wexford.ie/)
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