Anger As Historical 1798 Burial Ground At Vinegar Hill Is Ploughed

There has been widespread anger across the Wexford community this morning…

That comes following the news that a burial ground for 1798 soldiers who died during the 1798 Rebellion in Enniscorthy has been deep ploughed.

The burial ground lies near the historic Vinegar Hill battle site.

The 1798 Rebellion Casualty Database, a regular blogger on the topic of the 1798 Rebellion and a promoter of history in County Wexford, described it as a “sickening and downright travesty”:

“Today, I’ve been informed of a travesty. The suspected burial pit on the eastern slope of Vinegar Hill has been deep ploughed with only a small section remaining. According to sources, this field, not traditionally noted for crops, has seen heavy track machines root up large stones with workers collecting and dumping the stones afterwards.

“Instead of a respectful area being maintained by what has been suspected by recent archaeological geophysical surveys as the burial pit for hundreds of 1798 battle casualties, the peripheries of the mound have been ebbed away, leaving only the mere centre. What was a noticeable mound when viewed from the hill’s car park is now barely a lump left in the field. There is no legislation protecting this burial mound nor much of the battlefield site.”

“Already in the last two years, another housing estate has been erected at the Green Hill site; which according to recent archaeological surveys, saw some of the intense fighting on 21 June 1798. This is yet again another blatant disregard of our heritage in Ireland and the authorities continue to remain blind. A sickening and downright travesty.”

The area in 2020

The above text, which included various pictures of the ploughed site, was posted on Facebook and it has created quite an angry reaction with some people stating that we must “stop the desecration of our country”, “we need to preserve our history and culture” and that ultimately, this is a “disgrace.”

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