The Medieval Capital of Leinster: Investigating the history of Ferns with historian Barry Lacey

From monasteries and saints to castles and Normans, historian Barry Lacey traces the history of Ferns in his latest book…

Just over 10km north of Enniscorthy lies the historic village of Ferns. With a population of around 1000 people, it is hard to imagine that this quiet village was once a medieval powerhouse, the political centre of Leinster and the base of a king.

For the residents of Ferns, this fact is no surprise. Overlooking the town is Ferns Castle, a Norman tower house built in the 13^th century. This medieval structure serves as a prominent reminder that Ferns was once the royal centre of Leinster. Now a province of Ireland, Leinster was once an independent kingdom ruled by a king.

Archeologist and Wexford local Barry Lacey has chronicled Ferns’ fascinating history in a new book titled Beneath the Ground of Kings and Saints: The Archaeology and History of Ferns, County Wexford. Having grown up in Ballycarney a short drive outside of Ferns, Lacey found himself surrounded by history at an early age.

“I’d have family ties to Ferns. My grandfather, Peter Lacey, he owned a bike shop on Main Street right at the back of the castle. I remember, when I was young, visiting this place. He used to sell sticks and coal. There’s two things I remember; one was the high mound of sticks he used to have. When you’re five or six, it’s a huge thing to you. And the other was the castle towering down on me,” Barry told Wexford Weekly.

Lacey studied woodworking at GMIT Letterfrack, now part of Atlantic Technological University, but his interest in history never left him. In 2015, he decided to make a career change and enrolled in an archaeology programme. He graduated from University College Cork in 2016 with a master’s degree in Archaeological Excavation. It was at UCC that the seeds for this book were planted.

“We had to pick a topic to do our dissertation on. I wanted to do something local, and I spoke to my professor at the time, Billy O’Brien was his name. He’s since retired. He suggested I do it on Ferns. I did that as my topic, and I was back in his office less than a year afterwards talking about how I can make it into a book. He had suggested that I could make a nice publication out of this.”

Lacey knew the history of Ferns but was surprised at the level of archaeological work that had been done there. This idea for a book quickly grew arms and legs.

“The thing about archaeology is that it’s fairly fluid. It’s not like history where once it’s written, that’s it. There’s always new digs taking place and information is always being updated. So, I found myself adding to it all the time. Eventually I just had to make my mind up and finish it.”

The book is based upon years of research conducted by Lacey, who now works as a site director with IAC Archaeology. However, he is also quick to acknowledge the help he has received along the way.

“Billy’s wife, Madeleine O’Brien, as well-the two of them gave me very good support throughout it. She had a lot of experience with editing and publications, so she gave me a lot of good advice. That was a tremendous help.”

Local photographers too. James Hendrick did a lot of the work. That’s his picture on the front. Tommy Roche, he’s a drone operator. My fiancée Taylor, she thought of the title, ‘Beneath the Ground of Kings and Saints’.”

Lacey’s goal was to write a history of Ferns that is accessible to all, not only academics.

“I wanted to tell the story of the town from the earliest evidence up to the modern day. You’re not just relying on the historical record, you’re looking at the archeology of the town as well. I wanted it to be a book that wasn’t heavy or academic for people to read. I wanted it to be that anyone, whether they have a passing interest or a passion, could pick it up.”

Peeling back the history of Ferns, Lacey uncovered information that many might not be aware of.

“A lot of people might not realise that there’s prehistoric evidence in Ferns. Evidence of people buried there from the Bronze and Iron Age, so you’re talking about 1000 or 2000 years before the arrival of Christianity. Everyone knows about St Aidan, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that there was something there that enticed him to set up his monastery there in the first place.”

After the establishment of a monastery by St Aidan at the end of the sixth century, Ferns rose in religious and political importance. At the height of its power, it was the capital of Leinster and the seat of the King. The famous of which is undoubtedly Dermot MacMurrough, the King of Leinster who invited the Normans to Ireland.

Dermot was deposed by the High King of Ireland in 1166 and sought military help to regain Leinster. He made contact with an Anglo-Norman lord named Richard de Clare, better known as ‘Strongbow’, and invited him to Ireland. Strongbow invaded and restored Dermot to power, but this was to be short lived. Dermot passed away in 1171 and Henry II, then King of England, laid claim to Irish lands soon after. What followed was what’s often referred to as 800 years of English occupation in Ireland. The blame for which has often been placed squarely on Dermot’s shoulders.

“I think we have a better understanding of Dermot now. If you pass by the Main Street, you can see his face together with St Aidan outside the Medieval Ferns Experience. There was the Ferns Conference a few years ago where they put him on trial. People dressed up as witnesses, and they had a barrister and a judge.

He’s always known as the man who started the 800 years. Everyone pointed the blame directly on him but now we understand history a lot more and we realise there was more to it than just Dermot. There was a lot more going on in the background and it was probably only a matter of time before the Normans came over to Ireland. In history, sometimes the easy thing to do is to point the finger at one person.”

In the centuries that followed the Norman invasion, Ferns’ power dwindled. Its inland location led to it being overshadowed by growing port towns like New Ross and Wexford.

“You start to see, from the 1300s onwards, Ferns lose its importance. One (reason) is because you have towns like New Ross and Wexford. They’re right on the coast and very good for trade. Ferns doesn’t have that. It’s really an inland settlement. A lot of the pottery they have found in Ferns was made locally compared to Wexford and New Ross where you’d find a lot of imported stuff.”

Reflecting on the history of Ferns, Lacey notes that you can never rule out the importance of local history.

“You have to remember that everything that has a national or an international dimension starts off at a local level. Dermot made decisions that influenced the whole island but that all started on a local scale, around Ferns. Every little piece of history, no matter how small, is important.”

Beneath the Ground of Kings and Saints: The Archaeology and History of Ferns, County Wexford is available from Wordwell Books.