Castlebridge () is a small town in

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, around 5 km north of Wexford town. It is just north of Wexford Harbour, on the

R741 road The R741 road is a regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. From its junction with the R772 in Gorey it takes a southerly route to its junction with the R730 in the centre of Wexford Town, where it terminates. The road is of good qualit ...

. Castlebridge is a rapidly expanding suburb of Wexford Town: its population has almost tripled in 20 years, increasing from 783 in 1996 to a population of 1,840 in 2016.

History

The namesake castle, that originally stood in the town, was dismantled to build buildings such as the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church, which is one of the oldest buildings in Castlebridge. The river that flows through Castlebridge is, contrary to popular belief, actually a canal that replaced the original river. It was dug out by hand to allow sailing cots that loaded up in the various docks of Castlebridge to get to Wexford Town more quickly. Fr James Dixon, the first Catholic priest permitted to minister in Australia, was born in Castlebridge in 1758.

''Guinness Book of Records''

Castlebridge is the founding place of the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

''. On 10 November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

Breweries, went on a shooting party in the

North Slob The North Slob is an area of mud-flats at the estuary of the River Slaney at Wexford Harbour, Ireland. The North Slob is an area of that was reclaimed in the mid-19th century by the building of a sea wall.River Slaney The River Slaney (; ) is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), ...

in County Wexford, Ireland. He became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the golden plover or the

red grouse The red grouse (''Lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in Calluna, heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan (''Lagopus lagopus'') ...

(the former being correct). That evening at Castlebridge House, he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird. Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs throughout Ireland, but there was no book in the world with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular. In 2019,

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

and the Pattison Group, who own the rights to the Guinness Book of Records, were described as being "really taken" with Castlebridge House, which has been left derelict, with feasibility studies now in operation by Wexford County Council amid interest by Diageo and the Pattison Group to assess the damage and plan for its eventual restoration, which, in collaboration with Diageo and the Pattison Group, is hoped to become a tourist attraction for the home of the Guinness Book of Records. This was further emphasised by the commencement of the first annual ''Castlebridge Record Makers Family Fun Festival'' in 2019, with exhibits on the history of the book and its importance to Castlebridge.

Public transport

Wexford Bus operate an hourly service, route 877 "The Bridge Loop", to/from

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

since February 2019 Mondays to Saturdays inclusive.

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

route 379 (

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...

via Kilmuckridge and Courtown) serves Castlebridge on Mondays and Saturdays whereas route 380 (

- Crossabeg-

) serves Castlebridge on Fridays.

Sport

The centre of Castlebridge contains a 60x30 foot handball alley. The handball club has produced a number of county and Irish champions and members have competed at World Championships in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Nearby, opposite the Old School (now Castlebridge Community Centre), is the local soccer club, Bridge Rovers FC. Patrick Breen, who lived in Castlebridge but was originally from Bannow in the south of the county, was the first Wexford person to become President of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 1924 until 1926. He was one of only two Wexford people who headed the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

. He also founded the Irish Handball Council and the past pupils union of St. Peters College. He is buried in Castlebridge cemetery.

Community

Community groups situated in the area include the Castlebridge Gospel Choir, which was founded in 2003. Local businesses include the Porter House, which was named 'Pub of the Year' in 2017, which has since closed down, several fast food restaurants, a local Londis supermarket, a furniture shop, antiques store and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

References