Ferns, County Wexford
| Ferns Fearna
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|---|---|
| — Town — | |
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 Ferns
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| Coordinates: 52°35′24″N 6°29′49″W / 52.590°N 6.497°WCoordinates: 52°35′24″N 6°29′49″W / 52.590°N 6.497°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Wexford |
| Elevation | 60 m (200 ft) |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| • Urban | 954 |
| Irish Grid Reference | T017498 |
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1831 | 571 | — |
| 1841 | 632 | +10.7% |
| 1851 | 637 | +0.8% |
| 1861 | 586 | −8.0% |
| 1871 | 568 | −3.1% |
| 1881 | 495 | −12.9% |
| 1891 | 517 | +4.4% |
| 1901 | 495 | −4.3% |
| 1911 | 505 | +2.0% |
| 1926 | 507 | +0.4% |
| 1936 | 342 | −32.5% |
| 1946 | 445 | +30.1% |
| 1951 | 441 | −0.9% |
| 1956 | 588 | +33.3% |
| 1961 | 557 | −5.3% |
| 1966 | 580 | +4.1% |
| 1971 | 712 | +22.8% |
| 1981 | 823 | +15.6% |
| 1986 | 811 | −1.5% |
| 1991 | 859 | +5.9% |
| 1996 | 915 | +6.5% |
| 2002 | 985 | +7.7% |
| 2006 | 954 | −3.1% |
| [2][3][4][5][6] | ||
Ferns (Irish: Fearna, meaning "alder trees" short for Fearna Mór Maedhóg) is a historic town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is 16 km from Enniscorthy, where the Gorey to Enniscorthy N11 road joins the R745 regional road. The ruins of Ferns Castle are in the centre of the town.
History
Ferns is believed to have been established in the 6th century, when a monastery was founded in 598 dedicated to St Mogue of Clonmore (St.Aidan) who was a Bishop of Ferns.[7] The town became the capital of the Kingdom of Leinster, and also the Capital of Ireland when the kings of that southern part of the province established their seat of power there. It was a very large city then but shrunk in the fire that destroyed most of it. The city stretched all the way down and further than the River Bann (tributary of the River Slaney),if it was not burnt it would've been one of Irelan'ds biggest cities today. King Dermot MacMurrough founded St. Mary's Abbey as a house of Augustinian canons c. 1158 and was buried there in 1171.[8]
Ferns Castle, an Anglo-Norman fortress, was built in the 13th century by William, Earl Marshall. Today about half of the castle still stands. The town also contains the 13th-century St Edan's Cathedral (Church of Ireland) this Cathedral is not the original one but the ruins of the original one can be found a few feet away from the existing one and the existing Cathedral today is not the fully restored Cathedral it was supposed to be (it was order by Queen Elizabeth I to be rebuilt to its former self by the O'Byrnes of Wicklow but they only restored part), which is the Cathedral today. The Tower and the Chapter House were added on in the 19th century, AD. It also boasts several high crosses and parts of crosses. The old Catholic church stood at the north of the town until the 70's, when there was a roof problem. The Parish Priest at the time ordered it, with the go ahead of the parish to demolish it. A convent, St. Aidan’s Monastery of Adoration now stands in its place. The new Catholic Church was completed in 1975. It stands in the central part of Ferns in everyone's view. In the 2000s the new church went under a major re-furbishment since it too had roof problems. They replaced the slates with new composite metal-material, the inside was also re-furbished and few minor changes were made to the look of the building. The pipe organ in St.Aidan's Catholic Church is more than 100 years old and used to be a "pump" organ until the parish modified it to electricity. The organ was transferred from the old church to the new modern church and sounds excellent!
The 19th century population peaked in 1851, but never reached the levels of medieval times. Lewis's Topography of 1834 claimed the town "consists chiefly of one irregular street, and contains 106 houses indifferently built, retaining no trace of its ancient importance".[9]
Annalistic references
See Annals of Inisfallen (AI)
- AI741.1 Kl. Repose of Cúán.u, abbot of Ferna, and Flann.Feórna son of Colmán, king of Ciarraige Luachra, [died].
Religion and heritage
The town gave the name to the Diocese of Ferns (both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland). The town's religious traditions live on today through the recent establishment in Ferns of a hermitage.
The whole history of modern Ireland stems from Ferns – Diarmuid MacMurrough, King of Leinster invited the Normans in 1169 to help him fight his battles (they never left) – he sealed the deal with his daughter Aoife’s marriage to Strongbow.
Ferns has evidence of four distinct periods in Irish history. Archaeological digs have revealed habitations from the Bronze, Iron, early Christian and Norman eras.
Ferns boasts many ecclesiastical sites dating from early Christian era through Norman and the Middle Ages. Heritage sites include
- Ferns Castle (Visitor Centre May to end of September – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open daily, housing the Ferns Tapestries)
- Cathedral graveyard including grave of Diarmuid MacMurrough
- St. Mary’s Augustinian Abbey
- St. Edan’s Cathedral
- Ruins of Medieval Cathedral
- Ferns High Crosses
- St. Mogue’s Cottage
- St. Peter’s Church
- St. Mogue's Well
- Monument to Father John Murphy (who was born near Ferns)
- St.Aidan's Church (New Catholic Church)
- St. Aidan’s Monastery of Adoration (Convent on the old Catholic church site)
For further information on Ferns Heritage http://www.fernsvillage.ie/ferns-heritage-page.html
Transport
Ferns is located on the N11 route linking Dublin to Rosslare.
Regular (almost hourly) bus services link Ferns to Dublin and Roslare are provided by a number of companies.
Ferns railway station opened on 16 November 1863, closed to passenger traffic on 30 March 1964 and to goods traffic on 3 November 1975, before finally closing altogether on 7 March 1977.[10]
People
- Anne Doyle - former RTÉ newsreader
- Dermot MacMurrough (d. 1171) - former King of Uí Cheinnselaig and Leinster
- Gordon D'Arcy professional Ireland and Leinster rugby player
References
- ^ "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ "Census for post 1821 figures". Central Statistics Office Ireland. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "Histpop - The Online Historical Population Reports Website". Histpop.Org. 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ NISRA. "Census Home Page". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
- ^ Blue Guide, Ireland. Brian Lalor. (p248) ISBN 0-7136-6130-5
- ^ Gwynn, Aubrey; R. Neville Hadcock (1970). Medieval Religious Houses Ireland. London: Longman. pp. 175–176. ISBN 0-582-11229-X.
- ^ Lewis, Samuel (1837). A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Samuel Lewis. p. 624.
- ^ "Ferns station". Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
External links
- Ferns Village Website - Heritage, Community and Business
- Roman Catholic diocese of Ferns
- Heritage Ireland's page on Ferns Castle
- Photos of Monastic sites in Ferns
- Fáilte Ireland's description of Ferns
- northwexford.com's description of Ferns
