Ireland day 0650. Monday 10 July 2023- County Wexford *

Ireland day 0650. Monday 10 July 2023- County Wexford

Today’s summary	Drove to Co Wexford to visit Johnstown Castle, Rosslare Europort, and Wexford Town
Today’s weather	Heavy rain all morning, a bit drier in the afternoon with an occasional glimpse of sun. Strong southerly wind. Appx 18C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It was pouring down and cold in Malahide this morning so it was an easy decision to head off to the part of Ireland which is supposed to be the sunniest and driest to spend the rest of the day.

So we headed off down the M11 to Co Wexford as soon as we had finished breakfast, and made it to Johnstown Castle, just outside Wexford town, in time for lunch. We joined a fascinating tour of the castle and it’s absolutely excellent – especially as the rain duly stopped and the sun came out. Even the numerous peacocks stalking the grounds seemed iridescent in the sun.

We then drove on to take a look at Rosslare Harbour – which I hadn’t seen for 45 years, when I last visited on a cycling holiday with my friends Roger and Dave. After a cup of coffee on the beach, we finished off our travels with a look at Wexford town (and remarkably it hosts the Irish National opera house) and then a MacDonalds in a convenient service station before heading for home.

A full-on day, but 100% worthwhile.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Johnstown castle. In its heyday, it was the biggest house belonging to any non-titled landowner in Ireland. Today it’s in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust (rather than the OPW) which has leased it from Teagasc (pronounced “Choggus“) – Ireland’s agriculture and food development agency. Several of the windows are boarded up as they are in the process of being restored	An 85 metre tunnel leads into the semi-subterranean kitchen – allowing the domestic staff to enter and leave without polluting the views being enjoyed by landed gentry on the upper floors of the house

Entering the walled garden. A little oasis in there, and a huge magnificently restored lean-to greenhouse	Atrium landing from the first floor looking down into the entrance hall

Rosslare Europort – it seems to be booming but the access to it needs a bit of an upgrade. The fast motorway stops about 20km from the port, and the single track railway leading to it from Dublin trundles right down the middle of one of the streets in Wexford at a neck-breaking speed of about 5km/h	On the beach at Rosslare-Europort. It’s peaceful and almost deserted – you would never know there was a massive international ferry terminal just round the corner, about 200 metres away

Wexford town, from the long bridge which spans the River Slaney estuary