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Gorey () is a market town in north
County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...
, Ireland. It is beside the main M11
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
to
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''. As a growing commuter town to Dublin for some residents, there has been an increase in population in the early 21st century. Between 1996 and 2002, the population of the surrounding district grew by 23%, and the town itself more than doubled in population (from 3,939 to 9,822 inhabitants) in the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 census.


History

Among the earliest recordings of the parish and town of Gorey, also sometimes historically known as Kilmichaelogue (), are Norman records from 1296 which record an existing town on the site. Several centuries later, in 1619, the town was granted a charter as a
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
, under the name Newborough. However, as noted by cartographer Samuel Lewis and publisher George Henry Bassett, this name "never
rew Rew is a surname and place name of English origin, and may refer to: People * Charles Rew, British rower * George Campbell Rew, American chemist, co-inventor of alum-based Calumet baking powder * Harvey Rew, English professional footballer * Henr ...
into general use" as the "inhabitants did not take kindly to the name chosen for the town". The borough charter had been obtained by the then
Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin The Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin was the Ordinary of Church of Ireland diocese of Ferns and Leighlin in the Province of Dublin. The diocese comprised all of counties Wexford and Carlow and part of counties Wicklow and Laois in Republic of Ire ...
,
Thomas Ram Thomas Ram (1564 – 1634) was an Anglican priest in the early seventeenth century. Born at Windsor, he was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He was appointed Chaplain to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex the Lord Lieutenant o ...
(1564–1634). Together with other developments in the area, and as the principal local landlords, the Ram family built a large estate to the north of the town. The manor house of this estate, Ramsfort, was burned following the
Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
, and again during the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...
. Ramsfort house was rebuilt in the 19th century to designs attributed to architect Daniel Robertson. In addition to Gorey's 18th century
market house A market house is a covered space historically used as a marketplace to exchange goods and services such as provisions or livestock, sometimes combined with spaces for public or civic functions on the upper floors and often with a jail or lockup ...
, many of the larger buildings within the town itself date to the mid-19th century. These include
Gorey railway station Gorey railway station ( ga, Stáisiún Ghuaire) is a railway station located in Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. Services/routes The service from the station is: ''Monday to Friday'' *5 trains per day to Dublin Connolly (one continuing to D ...
which dates to 1863, the Church of Ireland church (Kilmakilloge) dating to 1861, and the Roman Catholic church (dedicated to Saint Michael) completed in 1843. Gorey was the centre of several conflicts during the 1798 Rebellion, and a memorial to these events was erected in the town in the rebellion's centenary year (1898). The parents of
Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...
, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, emigrated from Gorey in the 1930s.


Amenities

Courtown Harbour or
Courtown Courtown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It was developed after Lord Courtown ordered the construction of a harbour during the Famine years, 1839–1846. The economic boost of the new harbour led to a small village developing with f ...
, a small holiday resort used by weekend visitors from Dublin, is situated east of Gorey. The town marked the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Christ Church (Kilmakilloge) in 2011. The church, which was completed in 1861, was designed by James Welland, one of the provincial architects of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
. Its stained glass windows were designed by
Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau an ...
and Catherine O'Brien.


Sport

Naomh Éanna was founded in 1970 by a group of Christian Brothers. Naomh Éanna's club ground is called Pairc uí Síochain located at the top of Clonattin Gorey Co.Wexford. Naomh Éanna won their first senior hurling county title in 2018. There are also two soccer clubs located in the town: Gorey Rangers and Gorey Celtic. Gorey Rangers are located at The Showgrounds and Ramstown, while Gorey Celtic are located in Mullaunfin Creagh on the outskirts of the town. Gorey Rugby Club is located at Clonattin. Former players include
Nick Popplewell Nick Popplewell (born 6 April 1964 in Dublin) is an Irish former rugby union player who won 48 caps for his country between 1989 and 1998. He played club rugby for Greystones RFC, Wasps RFC, Newcastle Falcons, and also captained Leinster Rugb ...
and Robin Copeland.


Education

Gorey's largest secondary school,
Gorey Community School Gorey Community School is located in Gorey County Wexford, Ireland. It is the largest school in Ireland, and (as of 2018) had over 1500 students enrolled. History Gorey Community School was established in 1993, following the amalgamation of t ...
has over 1,500 students. In 2012 another post-primary school, Creagh College opened to accommodate Gorey's increased population of secondary school students. Then, in 2021 an Educate Together Secondary School opened for only 34 new First Years in temporary portacabins. Five local primary schools, Gorey Educate Together National School, Gorey Loreto Primary, Saint Joseph's Primary, Gorey Central School and Gaelscoil Moshíológ Guaire feed the secondary schools in Gorey, as do a number of schools in the surrounding area. Gorey School of Art is
Post Leaving Certificate Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses ( Irish: Cúrsa Iar Ard-Teistiméarachta) are a set of courses and qualifications run in Ireland for students who have finished their secondary education. The term refers to post-secondary education courses ...
school for the arts. The library in Gorey opened its doors in 2011 - after a decade of plans to build it.


Transport

Gorey railway station Gorey railway station ( ga, Stáisiún Ghuaire) is a railway station located in Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. Services/routes The service from the station is: ''Monday to Friday'' *5 trains per day to Dublin Connolly (one continuing to D ...
opened on 16 November 1863. It is located on the Dublin to Rosslare Europort line. The town lies on the N11 road route (Dublin-to- Rosslare) and, until a by-pass was opened in June 2007, local traffic congestion was an issue. The by-pass is a 23-kilometre-long high standard dual carriageway and was upgraded to motorway status in August 2009. Several bus services serve Gorey.
Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...
route 002 links the town with
Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...
and
Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour (), also known as Ballygeary, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Rai ...
, while route 006 links Gorey with Dublin and
Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...
. Ardcavan also operate a daily service linking Gorey with Dublin. Wexford Bus operates a service linking Gorey with Dublin Airport. In addition, Gorey Bus Links operate two local routes, one linking Gorey with
Ballycanew Ballycanew (historically ''Ballyconway'', from ) is a small rural village in Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford, on the R741 regional road south of Gorey. This road is locally known as the "Coast Road". History The village was once ...
,
Ballygarrett Ballygarrett () is a rural village in the southeastern corner of Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford south of Gorey on the R742 regional road. The birthplace of Texas empresario James Power, Ballygarrett is twinned with Refugio, Texa ...
and Courtown, with another linking the town with Ballymoney, Castletown and
Inch Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...
.


Media and entertainment

The
Gorey Guardian The ''Gorey Guardian'' is a local newspaper published once per week (every Tuesday) in County Wexford, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separate ...
is the local newspaper. Gorey has had a local theatre group since the 1950s, which hosts a number of performances annually from its 300-seat auditorium. Gorey Musical Society has one production a year, and its 2007 staging of ''
Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...
'' received the 'Best Overall Show' award at the Association of Irish Musical Societies awards in Killarney.The 2008 production of South Pacific was complemented by the performance of Garreth Kinsella, a Transition Year student in G.C.S. Gorey Choral Group, a mixed-voice choir founded in the 1970s, has participated in a number of contests and won the first plan in the jazz and popular music section of the 2016 Cork International Choral Festival. For 15 years during the 1970s and early 1980s, the Gorey Arts Festival, organised by local artist Paul Funge, was held in the town during the summer. Performers at the festival included U2,
Horslips Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs frequently inspired by traditional Irish airs, jigs and Reel (dance), reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of tradit ...
, Chris de Burgh,
Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...
,
Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars ...
,
Makem and Clancy Makem and Clancy was an Irish folk duo popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The group consisted of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, who had originally achieved fame as a part of the trailblazing folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s ...
,
Niall Tóibín Niall Tóibín (; 21 November 1929 – 13 November 2019) was an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He appeared in ''Ryan's Daughter'', ''Brides ...
and Eamon Morrissey. Every year, varying from late July to early August, Gorey's main street closes over several days for the Market House Festival. There are a number of pubs, bars, and nightclub in the town. A seven-screen cinema is located on the Courtown road.


People

*
Paul Boyle Paul Joseph Boyle, (born 16 November 1964) is a British geographer, academic, and academic administrator. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester between 2014 and 2019. He had been Professor of Human Geography at the Universit ...
,
Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
rugby union player * Billy Byrne, former hurler and All-Ireland winner * Robin Copeland,
Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
,
Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
rugby union player * Ger Cushe, former hurler and All-Ireland winner * Michael W. D'Arcy, politician * James Godkin, author and journalist * Herbert F. Hore, historian, author and archaeologist *
Conor McDonald Conor McDonald (born 22 September 1995) is an Irish hurling, hurler who plays for Wexford Senior Hurling Championship, Wexford Senior Championship club Naomh Éanna GAA (Gorey), Naomh Éanna and at inter-county level with the Wexford senior hurl ...
, hurler *
Darragh McDonald Darragh McDonald (born 13 June 1994) is a retired Irish swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a ...
, former paralympic gold medalist in swimming *
Colm O'Gorman Colm O'Gorman (born 15 July 1966) is the executive director of Amnesty International Ireland. He is founder and former director of One in Four. He is a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, and first came to public attention by speaking out agai ...
, director of
Amnesty International Ireland Amnesty International Ireland (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is the Irish branch of the international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, Amnesty International. One of its founding members was German Abwehr agent Helmut C ...
*
Alanna O'Kelly Alanna O'Kelly (, also spelled Alannah; born 1955) is an Irish artist, active in performance art and installation art, as well as sculpture, song, land art and film. She is a member of Aosdána, an elite association of Irish artists. Biography ...
, artist, born in Gorey * Aisling O'Neill, actress, lives in Gorey


Town twinning

Gorey is twinned with
Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...
in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland * Market Houses in Ireland


References


External links


Gorey Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Wexford