County Wexford
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Basic data | |
Country: | Ireland |
Administrative headquarters: | Wexford |
Province: | Leinster |
Irish name: | Loch Garman |
Surface: | 2365 km² |
Residents: | 149,605 (2016) |
License Plate: | WX |
Wexford ( Irish Loch Garman ) is a county ( county ) in the southeast of the Republic of Ireland and is situated in the province of Leinster . The name of the county comes from the capital of the same name, Wexford , which was founded by the Vikings and called Waesfjord ( Old Norse language for the entrance to the mudflats ).
geography
To the south and east lies the coast of the Irish Sea , to the west the River Barrow forms the western border of the county. Other major rivers in the county are Bann and Slaney . In the west are the Blackstairs Mountains , in the north the Croghan Mountains . The highest mountain in the county is Mount Leinster with a height of 795 meters.
Wexford consists mainly of low lying, fertile land, which is why agriculture is also the largest economic factor.
fauna
North of Wexford Harbor is the North Slob area , which is home to around 10,000 white-fronted geese each winter (just under a third of the world's population). Lady's Island Lake is also located in Wexford - an important breeding ground for terns every summer , especially the rose tern .
history
Until the Cambro-Norman occupation of Ireland, Wexford was part of the Kingdom of Leinster. In 1169 the Anglo- Normans landed in Ireland and subsequently conquered this area. The county was established in the 12th century. Wexford, especially the baronies of Bargy and Forth, were the regions of Ireland most heavily inhabited by English settlers in the Middle Ages . Yola , an old English dialect , was only spoken in Wexford until the 19th century. Only the northern part of the county received its Gaelic-Irish character during this period.
During the 1640s, Wexford provided great support to the Confederation of Ireland . A fleet of Confederate privateers was stationed in the port of Wexford. During the subsequent retaking of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell , the city was conquered, looted, and most of it burned down.
During the Irish Rebellion of 1798 various skirmishes took place in the county of Wexford, in particular the Battle of Vinegar Hill and the Battle of New Ross in 1798 - the traditional song Boolavogue is about the uprising in Wexford.
In the 1970s, Carnsore Point in Wexford hit the headlines when a nuclear power plant was to be built there. There are now 14 wind turbines in this area .
The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan was filmed on several beaches in Wexford .
politics
The distribution of seats in the county council after the local elections on May 23, 2014:
Political party | Seats |
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Fianna Fáil | 11 |
Fine Gael | 9 |
Sinn Féin | 5 |
Labor Party | 2 |
Non-party, small groups | 7th |
economy
The county is dominated by agriculture, with arable farming (barley, oats, potatoes and wheat) and livestock (pig breeding, sheep farming, dairy farming). There is also the food and fertilizer industry as well as agricultural machinery.
Cities
Attractions
- Ballybritta's portal tomb
- Dunbrody Abbey
- Clonmines
- TV
- Johnstown Castle
- Rathmarknee Castle
- Robinstown Great Stone Circle
- Tintern Abbey (Wexford)
- Tacumshane windmill
Wexford celebrities
- John Barry (1745–1803), founder of the US Navy
- David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871–1936), Admiral in the Royal Navy
- Anthony Cronin (1928-2016), writer
- John Banville (born 1945), writer
- Chris de Burgh (* 1948), musician
- Colm Tóibín (* 1955), writer
- Eoin Colfer (* 1965), writer
- Pádraic Delaney (born 1977), actor
- Kevin Doyle (born 1983), soccer player
Web links
- A tour of Wexford
- Map of Wexford ( Memento March 1, 2008 on the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 52 ° 28 ′ N , 6 ° 34 ′ W