10 Interesting Facts About Wexford

County Wexford is located in the very south east corner of Ireland. It’s a county steeped in history, blessed with good weather, lots of attractions, an east coast with long stretches of sandy beaches and a south coast lined with pretty fishing villages. If County Wexford is on your travel itinerary while in Ireland, then read on and find out some more interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about it!

• Wexford evolved from the name Waesfjord which was an old Scandanavian name for an “inlet of flat mud lands”.It was founded by the Vikings about 800 AD, besieged by the Normans about 1169 and was predominantly an English settlement during the Middle Ages.

• A language known as ‘Yola’ was spoken in Wexford until it became extinct in the mid 19th century. To learn more about this you can visit the Yola Farmstead Folk Park.

• Patrick Kennedy – the great grandfather of John F Kennedy was born in New Ross in Wexford. Visit the Kennedy Homestead in New Ross a museum and farm still run by his descendents!

• One of the oldest operating lighthouses in the world can be found in Wexford – Hook Head Lighthouse. It was listed as one of the top 14 attractions in Ireland by Lonely Planet.

• Parts of Steven Spielberg’s 1998 Oscar winning film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ were filmed on Curracloe Beach not far from Wexford town

• The newly opened Wexford Opera House plays host to one of the Europe’s most successful opera festivals – the Wexford Opera Festival

• Records show that Wexford is the sunniest county in Ireland! On average Wexford receives more hours of sunshine than any other county in Ireland.

• Wexford boasts over 200km of coastline and is home to Rosslare Europort – one of Ireland’s major passenger ports. It also claims to have one of the longest continuous beaches in Ireland running along its east coast for 27 km!

• Wexford is famous for its strawberries and the town of Enniscorthy actually holds a ‘Strawberry Festival‘ every year to celebrate this!

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