WEXFORD

WEXFORD, a county in the province of Leinster in Ireland, having the county of Wicklow on the north, the sea on the east and south, and Waterford, Kilkenny, and Carlow, on the south-west and west; extends about 56 miles from north to south, and 32 from east to west, and contains 934 English square miles, or 597,760 English acres. It is divided into eight baronies, exclusive of the liberties of the town of Wexford, and 142 parishes, 140 of which belong to the diocese of Ferns, and two to that of Dublin. There are some considerable islets on the south coast belonging to the county; the two Salters are the largest, neither of them having an area of a square mile. Surface. On the north and north-west, on the confines of Wicklow and Carlow, this district is mountainous, and the same character applies generally to its western side. On the east, in the baronies of Forth and Bargie, it becomes less elevated, and here the soil, though light, is well cultivated and productive. In the other parts a cold stiff clay prevails, which, from the want of limestone, there being none in this county, has made little advance towards improvement. The Slaney, which flows through the middle of the district, from Newton Barry to Wexford, affords a perpetual variety of picturesque and romantic views among its wooded and winding banks; the stream here struggling through rocks, by which its channel is greatly contracted, and there expanding into broad and still lakes. The scenery around the bay of Wexford has been also much celebrated. Besides the Slaney, which is navigable to Enniscorthy, near the middle of the county, it has the Barrow, which separates it from Kilkenny on the west, by which large vessels reach the town of New Ross, situated near the junction of that river with the Nore. A great variety of fine timber trees, and some large myrtles, are found here, and the woodlands altogether are of considerable extent and value. Estates and Farms. Wexford is divided into estates worth from L. 2000 to L. 10,000 a-year, and into farms of various sizes; but there is little of that minute division which is common in other parts of Ireland; nor are there any rich grazing farms. The rent, in 1808, was estimated at from 20s. to 25s. an Irish acre over all the county. Dairies, at which the principal article is butter, are numerous, but generally under bad management. The cows themselves are of a very inferior description; and the same character belongs to their sheep, which form a very inconsiderable part of the live stock. In their modes of cultivation, however, the farmers here are more advanced than in many other parts of the island. The baronies of Forth and Bargie have been long noted for their great crops of barley; beans too are cultivated with success, as well as clover and turnips; the drill system is common for potatoes, and preferred to every other method; and lime, though brought from a distance at a great expence, and also marl, are very extensively employed as manure. The tenantry, even including the cottars, are accordingly in a much better condition, industrious, provident, and many of them comparatively wealthy. Here, as in Cork and Waterford, whole fields are kept under furze, which, in this mild climate, is pretty much used as fuel. The bakers employ it for heating their ovens, of which a considerable number are employed, as a good deal of wheaten bread is consumed in these counties. The towns are Wexford, the county town; Enniscorthy on the Slaney; New Ross on the Barrow; Gorey; and Newton Barry, the latter one of the pleasantest villages in Ireland. Wexford is a considerable town, situated on the large and beautiful harbour of the same name, but which is too shallow to admit vessels of great burden, and the passage into it is continually changing, owing to the sand brought down by the Slaney, which flows into it. Here there is a wooden bridge over an arm of the sea 2100 feet broad. The trade of this town, however, is not inconsiderable. It exports corn, chiefly to Liverpool; provisions which are brought down the Slaney from Enniscorthy; and also live stock. Enniscorthy and New Ross are also places of some trade, supplying the consumption of the surrounding country with their imports, and affording outlets for its raw produce. The linen manufacture, so general in Ireland, is almost unknown in Wexford; but that of cotton is carried on at Enniscorthy, where a good deal of coarse woollens are also made. Before the Union no fewer than eighteen members were returned to Parliament for this district; the county and the boroughs of Wexford, Enniscorthy, Gorey, New Ross, Fetherd, Bannow, Clonmines, and Taghmore, sending two each. Wexford and New Ross have now each one representative, and the county two. "This county," says Mr Wakefield, "is the only one in Ireland where the tenants have displayed the courage to act in opposition to their landlords" in voting for candidates; "but it is merely from a religious principle, as they have no other political system to support, than that which promotes the interest and success of the Catholic faith." The Catholic population, according to the same writer, is to the Protestant as ten to one, and most of the personal property, and part of the landed, is in the hands of the former. In 1791 the whole was computed to amount to 115,000, and by the census of 1821 it was 169,304. The baronies of Bargie and Forth are peopled by a distinct race, who are said to be descended from the adventurers who accompanied Strongbow to Ireland, and their manners and habits, which are different from those of the Irish around them, bear a strong resemblance to those of their Saxon forefathers. There are friaries of the order of St Augustine at Friaries. New Ross, Clonmines, and Wexford, the members Wexford of which are supported by contributions levied uponWhitaker. the tenantry. This county took an active part inthe Rebellion of 1798, and was the scene of someacts of savage cruelty perpetrated by both parties. See the general works quoted under the Irish coun-ties, and Frazer's Statistical Survey of Wexford.