We’re in a pretty nice hotel, Whitford House, in Wexford, although Brenda and I have a pretty small room. Actually the hotel is 3 to 4 km out of the city center which is not ideal for us. Last night’s dinner was by far the best of the group dinners arranged by Iron Donkey. The hotel has a large dining room and even larger bar which was packed last night. So I thought the Irish economy was hurting; there’s not much evidence of it here.
Wexford Town was founded by the Vikings in about 800 AD although there are records of people here in the 2nd century. Today it is a thriving community of almost 20,000 with winding streets, a pretty quayside, pubs, cafes and fine restaurants. The town swells in October with the Wexford Fringe Festival and the Wexford Festival Opera.
Commodore John Barry (1745 – 1803) is sometimes referred to “The Father of the American Navy”, was born in Wexford. He is buried in Philadelphia. Two American presidents, Eisenhower and Kennedy, placed wreathes at this monument.
Two years after the great famine, construction began on twin Catholic churches, one in the north end of town and one in the south. Both the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Church of the Assumption were designed by Richard Pierce. Both are 50.6 by 18.3 meters and are 67.7 meters high.
Kilkenny architect Daniel 
Robertson was responsible for some of the building work on the Johnstown Castle. He is generally believed to have laid out and planted much of the grounds and gardens in the 1830s. The gardens are now owned by the Irish agriculture department and used for research. There is also an extensive museum devoted to farming in a former house on the property.
WHO’S RIDING: Ernie and Regina Coose are new to tandeming. This is their first bicycle tour and Monday’s 67 mile ride from Cork to Dungarven was their longest ride ever. But they’re doing great. Ernie is a Technical Support Supervisor for a small software company and Regina is a part-time teacher. They have the most technically advanced tandem of any of us with internal gears, belt drive and disc brakes.
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