WKXKORD. 



WEXFORD. 



not 



bride*. MM! which U there joined by the Dill and the Wetzbach. 

 Tkfftown U surrounded with wall*, has six gates and two suburbs, 

 ad u built oo the aide of a hill. The cathedral of St Mary U a 

 cntcioui aod fine edifice, with 28 altan ; it it divided between 

 tk Catholics and ProtwUnta ; the portal entrance U aaid to date from 

 UM Mil century. The Jewi have a synagogue. The town has an 

 fcmnitil a gymnasium, a school of industry, and about SSUO inhabit- 

 ant*. The houwu are built in the ohl-faahioued German style. The 

 inhabitant* have tome manufactures of stockings, glove*, aud tobacco, 

 OHM tuuMCtM and oil-mills, and a trade in iron. Wetzlar was for- 

 merly a free imperial city, and, from 1693 to 1806, the seat of the 

 imperial chamber, or supreme court of appeal of the empire. By the 

 CoognM of Vienna it was assigned in 1815 to Prussia. The town 

 derive* some celebrity alo from bving the scene of Qothe's ' Sorrows 

 of WerUr.' The circle of Wetxlar lies on both sides of the Lahn, and 

 k inclosed by Nassau and HoM-Dwntttadt. 



W EX FORD, a maritime county in the province of Leinster, Ireland, 

 U bounded N. by the county of Wicklow, E. by St. George's Channel, 

 a by the Atlantic Ocean, and W. by the counties of Waterford, 

 Kilkennv, and Carlow. It lies between 52 6' and 62 48' K. lat, 

 6* 8' and 7* 2' W. long. Its greatest length from north to south is 

 Si miles ; from ea*t to west 34 miles. The area is 900 square miles, 

 or 676,588 acres. The population in 1841 was 202,033 ; in 1851 it 

 was 180,159. 



Coaii-iixe. Owing to the position of Wexford at the south-east 

 corner of Ireland, more than half of its boundary is formed by the 

 sea. Kilmichael Point is the easternmost point in the couuty, and the 

 northern extremity of its coast-line. The whole line of coast from 

 Arklow, which lies a little north of the northern boundary of Wex- 

 ford, to Wexford Harbour, presents no opening which can afford 

 shelter from foul weather, except to small craft ; and the danger to 

 shipping is increased by a range of sand-banks which lie parallel to the 

 shore at the distance of a few miles, towards the northern extremity 

 of which the Arklow light-ship is stationed. Wexford Harbour is 

 large, and of very irregular form ; but the navigation is dangerous, 

 and the entrance is obstructed by a bar. The entrance is between the 

 extremities of two long narrow sandy peninsulas the Raven Point oil 

 the north and Russian; Point on the south ; and though it is less than 

 a mile wide, the harbour almost immediately expands to a width of 

 more than eight miles. The town of Wexford lies opposite to and 

 about four miles from the entrance of the harbour, which contracts so 

 suddenly opposite the town as to be crossed by a bridge 1571 feet 

 long, a portion of the roadway of which U made moveable, to allow 

 the passage of masted vessels into the inner portion of the harbour, 

 which again extends, though only for a short distance, to the width of 

 about two miles. A bank of shifting sand outside the entrance to the 

 harbour leaves so little depth of water as to render the entrance to 

 the harbour inconvenient for any vessel above the burden of 200 tons, 

 and the navigation of the interior is both intricate and shallow. The 

 harbour contains a few small but inhabited islands. In two of these, 

 called Beg Erin (or Little Ireland), and Great Island, there are remains 

 of monastic buildings. From Kosslare Point to Greenore Point, nearly 

 7 miles in a south-easterly direction, the coast forms another bay, 

 called Greenore Bay, and opposite the point, about 3 furlongs from 

 the shore, is a detached rock called Carrick Beacon. From this point, 

 for rather more than 6 miles, the coast again trends a little westward 

 in an irregular line to Carusore Point, which forms the south-eastern 

 angle of the county and of the whole of Ireland. Opposite to this 

 portion of the shore, about 7 miles S.E. from Greenore Point, is the 

 Tuscar rock, the position of which is marked by a revolving light, and 

 by a bell in foggy weather. On the southern coast, from Carnsore 

 Point to Crosafarnogue Point, a distance of between 9 and 10 miles in 

 straight line, is a shallow bay, into which two considerable lakes, 

 called Lady's Island Lake aud Tacuuixhin Lake, open, the former by 

 an artificial communication which is cut every three or four years 

 through the sand-bank which separates it from the sea ; this lake is 

 remarkable for the circumstance that while it receives several small 

 rivulets it has no natural outlet. South of Crossfaruogue Point are 

 the Great and Little Saltce islands, the neat-eat of which is rather 

 more than two miles from the shore. From Littlu Saltee Island, 

 which lies nearest to the mainland, a ridge of rocks called St Patrick's 

 Bridge, having only from 7 to 10 feet of water at low tide, extends to 

 the adjoining shore, presenting an exceedingly dangerous obstacle to 

 the navigation. Several small rocky islets occur about this part of 

 the coast, and a floating light is stationed a few miles south of Great 

 Saltee Island. Along the remainder of the coast-line occur a suc- 

 cession of bays, headlands, islands, and small harbours aud inlets. 

 At Hook Head U a lofty lighthouse with a stationary light, and, as 

 the shore U nigged and dangerous, lights have been placed at various 

 points of the coast From Tcmpletown Bay, about four miles from 

 Hook Head (within Waterford Harbour), the shore trends towards the 

 west for about five miles, to the actuary of the Suir. The Wexford 

 coast of Waterford Harbour is indented by numerous small bays. 



Surfact, Hydrography and Communication!. The county of Wcx- 

 ford is in a great measure cut off from the rest of Ireland by natural 

 boundaries. From the extremity of its sea-coast in Waterford 

 Harbour, the testuary of the Suir and the river Barrow, which flows 

 into it, form the boundary of the county for a distance in a straight 



line of about 16 miles, to the point of junction of the counties of 

 Carlow, Wexford, and Kilkenny. For 12 or 13 miles farther, in a 

 north-easterly direction, the boundary is pretty distinctly mar,. 

 the ridge called BUckstairs Mountain (2409 feet), which rises in several 

 points along the boundary-line of the counties of Wexford and Carlow, 

 to elevations of from 1520 to 2409 feet above the level of the s. 

 the Mount Leinster ridge, which attains the elevation of 2010 feet 

 Three remarkable summits upon this ridge of mountains, between 

 Wexford and Cnrlow, are distinguished as 'The Leaps of Ossian's 

 Greyhounds." The small river Clody, which rises on the slope of 

 Mount Leinster, forms the boundary of the county to the town of 

 Newtownbarry, where, after a rapidly descending course, it falls into 

 the Slaney. From Newtownbarry the boundary-line runs for a short 

 distance up the course of the Slaney, towards the north-west, after 

 which it turns north-east along the tributary river Derry to a point 

 n little beyond the junction of the counties of Carlow, Wexford, aud 

 Wicklow. After leaving the course of the Derry the boundary-line 

 turns abruptly south for a short distance, and then, again turning 

 north-east, runs over an elevated ridge which forms the southern 

 termination of the mountains of Wicklow. The last portion of the 

 boundary-lino is formed by a small stream which falls into the sea 

 near Kilmichael Point 



Wexford contains many single hills of considerable elevation, among 

 which are the Forth Mountains, a range which extends in a south- 

 westerly direction for five or six miles from the neighbourhood of the 

 county town. Of the detached hills may be noticed Camaro- 

 feet high, and Carrickbyrne, 767 feet, in tho middle of the couuty ; 

 Tara Hill, near the northern extremity, and not far from the coast, of 

 which it forms a striking landmark, 826 feet high ; and the Lacken 

 Hill, near New Ross, 629 feet high. 



The principal river of the county is the Slaney, which enters from 

 the county of Carlow a short distance north of Newtowubarry, and 

 flows in a tolerably direct course past that town and Enniscorthy to 

 Wexford Harbour. It ia navigable for large boats as far as Euuia- 

 corthy, to which place the tide flows. On the left bank it receives, a 

 few miles north of Euniscorthy, the river Bann, which rises in the 

 north-eastern part of the county, and two or three minor streams ; 

 aud on the right bank its principal tributaries are the Urn and the 

 Boro, both of which descend from the Blackstairs Mountains. Among 

 the other streams in the county are the Owenavorrogh aud its tributary 

 the Baiioge, the waters of which enter the sea north of Courtown 

 Harbour; the Owenduff, the Corock or Corug, and some other small 

 streams, which flow into Banuow Bay ; and several rivulets which 

 empty themselves into the lakes on the southern coast. 



The principal communication between Wexford and the interior of 

 Ireland is by the river Barrow, which communicates with the Grand 

 Canal. The principal roads in the county are the mail-coach road 

 from Dublin, which enters the county from Arklow, near its northern 

 extremity, and passes by Gorey aud Enniscorthy, and thence along 

 the western side of the Slaney to Wexford ; a post-road on the eastern 

 side of the Slaney from Wexford by way of Oulart, which joins the 

 preceding at Euniscorthy ; a mail road which branches from this road 

 a little north of Enniscorthy, and leaves this county for Carlow a few 

 miles north of Newtowubarry ; aud the mail road across the county 

 from Wexford to Waterford by New Ross ; a road from Enniscorthy 

 to New Ross; and a mail road from New Rosa to Fethard by Arthurs- 

 town. The county is however well supplied with roods in every 

 direction ; and the harbours of Waterford and Wexford afford ample 

 facilities for communication by sea. 



Geology, <frc. The county of Wexford forms part of the clay-slate 

 tract which extends along the eastern portion of Ireland from the 

 northern part of Wicklow to the Atlantic Ocean. Though consider- 

 ably inflected in some of the southern parts of the couuty, the strata 

 generally maintain, in the northern parts, a tolerably uniform direc- 

 tion from north-east to south-west, with a dip to the south-east. The 

 clay-slate is found in immediate contact with granite, which forms the 

 chief component of the ranges that separate this couuty from Carlow. 

 The Forth Mountain consists principally of quartz rock, with occa- 

 sional lamina! of clay-slate, and the strata ara in some places broken 

 by fissures and veins of quartz, which occasionally show indications 

 of the presence of lead, copper, and iron. Quartz-rock and clay-slate 

 form also the lower grounds in the vicinity of the Forth ; aud the 

 former, which is sometimes iron-shot and of a deep-reddish hue, 

 extends under and to the north of the town of Wexford, and also 

 considerably to the south of the Forth Mountains. Granite appears 

 about Carnsoi-e Point, in the south-east, and at the Carrickbyrne and 

 Camoross Hills ; and blocks of that substance are found strewed 

 between those mountains and Banuow, on the south-west. Beds of 

 greenstone also occur in a few placea among the clay-slate, which, near 

 Knniscorthy and in several other places, ia much intermixed with 

 quartz-rock. The principal ranges of elevated land however consist 

 of clay-slate, and good slates are quarried near Newtownbarry, and 

 in other parts adjacent to tho granitic chain. A black and slightly- 

 carbonated clay is found near Enuiscorthy, and has been tniitaken 

 for coal. That part of tho county which borders on Waterford Har- 

 bour consists principally of clay-slate in nearly vertical strata, sur- 

 mounted in two or three places with a cap of sandstoue. From 

 Teuipletowu Hill, near the Hook promontory, such a cap declines 



