We live in a world shaped by extraordinary technology, which enables us to communicate across cities, nations, or continents in an instant. The world feels smaller as human travel speeds increase, and we ponder the possibilities that AI presents.
What do we imagine our ancestors would have thought of such changes? Picture the Vikings, confident that their longboats could take them anywhere, or famine victims boarding coffin ships, holding on to hope as they left home in the 1850s.
Reflecting on these journeys is especially meaningful in Wexford, a place rich with mediaeval history and Viking legends.
However, there is much more to our history than the Viking history of Wexford.
In a new documentary called Vinegar Hill and the Riots in Dungarvan, written and directed by Dublin author George Fitzgerald, we discover a Wexford not everyone would know.
Fitzgerald uses different methods in telling the story, including visual shots, colour and black and white, and narrators, both male and female. The opening shots of the sea invite the viewer to embark on an unknown journey, and for many, this is exactly what Fitzgerald does. In doing this, he also points out that the famine did not only affect the west of Ireland, and contrary to many, the Dublin rebellion and all that took place in 1916 was not the only one. Remember the 1798 rebellion in Wexford.
Fitzgerald covers the Vikings, the Norman invasion, and the Battle of Vinegar Hill, and all the brutality that surrounds it. Then we come face to face with Father Thomas Hore, a priest from County Wexford.
In 1850, he led a group of over 450 Irish Catholics to America, seeking refuge from the Great Famine. They initially aimed to establish a colony in Arkansas but faced land scarcity and ultimately settled in Iowa, founding Wexford, Iowa, as the first Catholic community in the area. And as one Wexford man leaves for America, so does another, Patrick Kennedy, born near New Ross, Co. Waterford, near New Ross in 1823. His great-grandson would come back to visit Wexford as the 35th president of the United States of America. His name is John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
The documentary and the audiobooks can be viewed on YouTube.
About Fitzgerald:
Fitzgerald visited Wexford himself many times in his younger days, being part of the famed dance outfit in the 90s, The D11 Runners. The D11 Runners were a Dublin-based soul-funk pop band from Finglas, formed around 1990. They are known for being an inspiration for Roddy Doyle’s novel “The Commitments”. The Fitzgerald brothers, Joseph and George, fronted the band, along with Pat, their brother, and Sandra, George’s wife. They played a modern dance-pop and funk style.
George was a twin. His late twin brother, Joseph, and he were boxers in the 70s. Joseph would have known Wexford man Billy Walsh, as both were close friends of Katie Taylor. Fitzgerald, the 60-year-old, is the author of the Ashley Brown series and the eight-book series audiobook, with more to follow, We Lived in the Sky, detailing life growing up in the infamous Dublin flats of Ballymun in the 60s and Finglas South in the 70s.
Jason Redmond
From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly. He is also a post-primary English and History teacher.
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