Co. Wexford Area Guide

County Wexford is a coastal county located in the south east of Ireland in the province of Leinster. It is bounded by the sea on two sides - on the south by the Atlantic and on the east by St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea. The River Barrow forms its western boundary and the Blackstairs Mountains and edges of the Wicklow Mountains form part of its boundary to the north.

County Wexford is often dubbed the jewel of the sunny southeast as it has a reputation for the lowest rainfall in the country. The county’s pleasant weather and fine sandy beaches with resorts such as Rosslare Strand, Cahore, Morriscastle, Ballymoney, Curracloe, Carne and the beautiful Courtown Harbour make popular holiday destinations which are less than two hours drive from Dublin.

Wexford town, on the river Slaney, is a lively and picturesque town with narrow cobbled streets, quaint pubs, interesting boutiques, good restaurants and the annual Wexford Opera Festival. The history of Wexford goes back to pre-Christian times, as a trip to the Irish National Heritage Park in nearby Ferrycarrig will illustrate. Other major towns in county Wexford include the thriving and bustling towns of Gorey and Enniscorthy in the north and New Ross and Rosslare in the south. Among them they share a variety of historic sites such as; Ferns Castle, Vingear Hill, Tintern Abbey, the John F Kennedy Aboretum, Hook Head and Hook Lighthouse – the oldest Lighthouse in Ireland, Oulartt Hill and the 1798 Village, Duncannon Lighthouse and the Saltee Islands off the coast.

County Wexford has two main national primary roads: the N11 which connects Dublin to Rosslare, and the N25 from Rosslare to Waterford. County Wexford has a number of railway stations situated on the Rosslare to Dublin and Rosslare to Limerick rail lines. Rosslare Europort operates a busy Ferry service - there are regular sailings to Wales (Pembroke and Fishguard) and France (Cherbourg, Roscoff and Le Havre) for passengers and vehicles. There is also ferry service in operation between Ballyhack and Passage East (Co. Waterford), crossing the Barrow estuary.