History of County Wexford - The Penal Laws & The 18th Century

The Penal Laws & The 18th Century

Though there had been many earlier laws enacted against Catholics in Ireland, the year 1695 marked the real beginning of what were called the Penal laws. These laws primarily discriminated against Catholics, and did not begin to be relaxed until the end of the 18th century.

In late 1709 a number of Protestant families from the Palatinate region of Germany were settled on the lands of Abel Ram of Gorey, a large landowner, at Old Ross and at Gorey. Some of the surnames of these new settlers included names such as Fissel, Hornick, Jekyll, Poole, and Rhinehardt. They had travelled via Rotterdam to London, and arrived at Dublin, 10 September 1709. Another large group were settled at County Limerick, and others were settled elsewhere in Ireland. They are referred to as 'Palatines'.

In 1752, Richard Pococke travelled through a large part of County Wexford and left a written record of his tour.

In the early 1770s, the Whiteboys were briefly active in north-west County Wexford – though they are said to have had little impact on the rest of the county. According to George Taylor they first appeared in County Wexford in 1774 but "they were soon quelled, and two of the ringleaders, named Owen Carroll and John Daggan, were found guilty of some heinous offence, and executed near Newtownbarry, on the 28th of September, 1775." Their chief grievance seems to have been the payment of Tithes – a tax towards the upkeep of the Established Church. The Established Church was Protestant and the Whiteboys were Catholic.

In 1777 there were only three Post Offices in the county – Gorey, Enniscorthy, and Wexford. The Royal Mail from Dublin entered the county only two days in the week, and returned on each succeeding day.

In 1778, the Colclough family formed the first Volunteer Company in Ireland, at Enniscorthy.

Arthur Young travelled throughout Ireland at this period. His book, A Tour in Ireland, 1776–1779, includes many details on County Wexford – which he visited during that time.

In 1793 a serious 'incident' took place near Wexford town. A large group of people, who had recently joined a secret organization called the Right Boys, from the north-west and west of County Wexford approached the town in an attempt to free two prisoners. On 11 July 1793, a large body of them approached the town – armed with guns, pikes, scythes, and similar weapons. They had a Lieutenant Buckby as their prisoner, who they had captured earlier. At about two o'clock on the same day, the military – the 56th Regiment, commanded by Major Vallotton – were sent out to meet them, "at the sight of which it was imagined they would disperse". They met near John street. A parley was agreed and Valloton stepped forward on his side and the Right Boys sent forward, as their leader, John Moore of Robinstown. For some reason Valloton lost his cool and struck Moore with his sword, wounding him severely. Moore wounded him in the groin with a scythe – Vallotton died a few days later. The soldiers opened fire and the group dispersed – 11 of the protestors were killed on the spot but many more later died from their wounds in the fields around the town (perhaps another 90 or so) – some of these were killed by local militia under the command of James Boyd. Lieutenant Buckby escaped. Moore died that day and was buried at Carnagh. He was only 22 years old. Many of the Right Boys were made prisoners, "five of whom, James Kenney, Patrick Flannery, Patrick Neil, Michael Carty, and John Crawford, were found guilty at the ensuing assizes and executed", 26 July 1793. Valloton had a monument erected to his memory at Wexford town. Within the county this whole affair is sometimes referred to as the 'First Rebellion' (1798 being the second).

The Irish language continued to be spoken in much of county wexford until about the end of the 18th century, when it began to decline in areas where it was spoken, while Yola, spoken in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, began to decline. By 1850, there were only 800 Irish speakers left in the county and Yola had died out completely, with English dominant.