I r e l a n d
Those of you from outside of Europe may be wondering where exactly Ireland
is. Well, as best I can describe it, we're that hugely important island which
US presidents keep visiting. Also, our smaller, less important neighbour is
that little flyspeck of an island known as Great Britian. :)
To find out more about Ireland, visit Bord Fáilte - The
Irish Tourist Board .
I also provide some information on politics in Ireland.
C
o.
W
e
x
f
o
r
d
Wexford, as the name suggests, is an old Viking town, which is now the principal town in County Wexford. The county is probably most famous for its terrific Hurling teams.
- Historically, our claim to fame is as the cockpit for the 1798 Rebellion. Of course we're having a commeration this year, and by way of getting into the spirit of things I've been using 1798 related Quotations in my mail files.
- In Wexford, like in other Irish counties, there are several tiers of local government -
- This includes various Local Authorities.
- And Wexford County Council, is also on the Web.
New Ross
This is the town where I grew up, and as such I'm quite fond of it. New Ross is a beautiful little town which is based around the lowest bridging point over the river Barrow, which is Irelands second longest river. There are several New Ross based sites on the Web -
- CBS Primary School, this is where I went to school until aged 12.
It's an old but nice Christian Brothers School, which is now run by lay teachers. It's takes some pride in its impressive
computing facilities, all of which have been paid for from their own funds, and their website is well worth a look.
- History of Ross It's almost impossible to go to school where I
did and not have this stuff hammered into you, but, unlike many of my old friends, I love learning about history, and this
site provides a brief overview of the town's past.
- Tourist Attractions One of my jobs in the summer of '98 was as a
tourist information officer in the local office. Whatever your faith in humanity, any thoughts you may have that people are
basically 'good', will qucikly be dispelled by working in a Tourist Office. New Ross is the first town people hit after they
get off the ferry in Rosslare, and IMHO these people shouldn't really be let into the country, Sure, we need their money, but
we don't need their stupidity, arrogance, and ignorance.
- One of my other jobs that Summer was with the J.F.K. Trust, who
organise different tourism and history based projects in the town. Currently their two major projects are -
- The Dunbrody This project involves reconstructing a famine ship. It's going to be the largest wooden ship of it's kind built in Ireland, and I worked on site as a tour guide during the summer. Cynic though I am, I couldn't help but be impressed by the scale of this project, and if you're ever passing through Ross, I highly recommend a visit to the construction site.
- Emigration Database One of my other jobs was working to input data from withered and unreadable ships manifests from during the Famine years. It's a boring job, I wouldn't ever recommend it to anyone, but OTOH, the project is interesting, so you might wish to take a look.