Joyce may have put Enniscorthy in the wrong county, but he must have known a good town when he saw it, writes MICHAEL PARSONS
IN ULYSSES James Joyce referred to Enniscorthy, in Co Wexford as “the finest place in the world”. What a marketing dream. But there’s a reason why the quote hasn’t appeared on Irish tourism posters from Tokyo to Tallahassee. The eejit placed the town in the wrong county. The actual quote, from the Ithaca chapter, reads: “Enniscorthy, County Wicklow, the finest place in the world.” But the big-hearted people of Co Wexford clearly don’t bear grudges, and the novel is prominently displayed in Byrne’s Bookshop, on Court Street.
Enniscorthy has, of course, impeccable contemporary literary credentials, with links to three of Ireland’s best-known writers: both the novelist Colm Tóibín and the poet Anthony Cronin are natives of the town, and the short-story maestro William Trevor spent part of a peripatetic childhood there.
“If it were in France or Italy, the world would hear of Enniscorthy’s beauty; painters and etchers would depict it in a hundred aspects,” wrote the renowned journalist Aodh de Blacam in 1949. Well, there’s still no sign of besmocked budding Turners, with brushes and easels. But the friendly, pleasant, easy-going market town, about 120km south on the N11 from Dublin, or by train from Connolly Station, is a popular year-round destination for weekenders. It also makes for a grand day out for families on summer holidays at the nearby beach resorts of the Wexford coast. Its proximity to the Rosslare ferry port also ensures a stream of British and continental tourists during the summer.
The town rises steeply from the banks of the “pleasant Slaney” river – immortalised in the old rebel ballad Boolavogue – and the skyline is dominated by two sights: the natural outcrop of Vinegar Hill and the man-made spire of the lovely, Augustus Pugin-designed St Aidan’s Cathedral.
The Lion’s Mound hillock at Waterloo, outside Brussels, where Napoleon met his come-uppance, is a major attraction. More than 300,000 people a year visit the site, which features regular re-enactments of the battle by military enthusiasts in replica uniforms, plus an array of cafes and souvenir shops. But at Vinegar Hill, on a February afternoon, only a solitary man is exercising a lean, mean-looking greyhound. Against scintillating views of the surrounding countryside, a granite monument records the poignant events of the 1798 rebellion’s bloody last stand.
In town you can learn more about this history at the National 1798 Centre, built to mark the event’s bicentenary, 11 years ago. The museum, which relies heavily on school tours, is clearly short of funds and has the air of a boom-era white elephant. A cavernous exhibition area is unheated on my visit, and some of the audio-visual displays don’t work. But at least you get to share in the shivering misery endured by our ragged forefathers who fought and died for Ireland’s freedom.
Market Square has a more enduring monument: one of the country’s most attractive sculptures. Created by Oliver Sheppard in 1907, the life-size bronze figures depict the revolutionary priest Fr John Murphy with a hand placed gently on the shoulder of a heroic croppy boy.
Nearby one of Enniscorthy’s loveliest buildings, the Athenaeum theatre, built in 1892, is now closed and semiderelict. “It’s a crying shame,” says Geraldine Wilson, who runs An Siopa Bróg opposite. The stage once echoed to the rhetoric of Pádraig Pearse and the songs of Count John McCormack, while a chance first encounter on its staircase led to the partnership of Micheál MacLíammóir and Hilton Edwards. A stone tablet also records that the site was the headquarters of Enniscorthy’s Republican forces in 1916. Happily, a committee of local volunteers is being galvanised, and its chairman, Tony McClean, is confident that the old theatre can be restored.
Also closed, though with luck only temporarily, is the imposing Enniscorthy Castle and its delightfully eclectic county museum. Restoration by the Office of Public Works is underway, and it is scheduled to reopen to visitors in the summer of 2010.
Enniscorthy can trace its foundation back to a monastic settlement by St Senan in 510; next year it will celebrating its 1,500th anniversary. The town is at the heart of “the sunny southeast”, where some of the unmistakeable first signs of summer are the wooden roadside booths that spring up across the region to sell Wexford potatoes and strawberries. Much of this produce is grown in the fertile land around Enniscorthy. Strawberry fields were, until quite recently, a distinctive feature of the landscape. Traditionally, the berries were grown in the open air, using high drills to keep them off the soil, but most are now grown under cover. A traditional annual Strawberry fair survives, taking place every June.
A signpost at the edge of town points to the Heavenly Stud – a clue to the popularity of greyhound breeding and training in the area. A visit to one of the twice-weekly race nights at Enniscorthy Greyhound Track is heartily recommended. General manager Mary Nolan says: “We are not geared towards the corporate sector and offer a great-value night out for families.” Children are admitted free and seem to have a whale of a time, as dogs with glamorous names such as Honcho Be Slick and Zulu Girl whizz around the track after an electric hare in thrilling races that last about 30 seconds.
John Kavanagh, a well-known trainer who’s known as “the dog whisperer”, appears as confident as Brian Lenihan ahead of the bank-recapitalisation announcement when confiding that he fancies his own Going Concern in the sixth race. But a flutter proves as doomed as buying AIB shares. The brindle-and-white hound limps in third.
If you leave with your tail between your legs, there’s no shortage of places to drown your sorrows. The town’s pubs range from the swishly contemporary Bailey in a converted waterside grain store to the authentically traditional Patrick Furlong’s, in Templeshannon, which ought to be declared a national monument. Its decor includes a Child of Prague atop the bar counter and a cheerfully caged canary.
But the most astonishing hostelry of the lot is McDonald’s Bar Grocery, on vertiginous Slaney Street. If this bar were transported lock, stock and rusting bacon slicer to the rarefied environs of Dublin 2 it would be heaving with braying leftie politico-media types and manbag-toting luvvie architects. The interior looks like a cross between a tractor-factory canteen in Minsk and the stage set for a budget production of the bleakest Beckett. Linoleum pockmarked by a thousand cigarette burns is starkly lit by Kafkaesque naked light bulbs, and the crocked bar stools could have been rescued from a skip in Harare.
The wily proprietor, Phyllis McDonald, who “gave up the grocery end four years ago”, has a twinkle in her eye that suggests she realises full well she’s sitting on a little goldmine. “Visitors love it,” she says. “Sure they haven’t the like of it in Dublin.” They sure don’t.
** Michael Parsons was a guest of Fáilte Ireland
Where to stay, eat, go and shop
Where to stay
Riverside Park Hotel. The Promenade, 053-9237800, www.riversideparkhotel.com. This four-star hotel, a stroll from the town centre, has 60 ensuite rooms, some with balconies overlooking the river. Until April 9th rooms cost €29 per night Sunday to Thursday and €49 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Treacy's Hotel. Templeshannon, 053-9237798, www.treacyshotel.com. It also has 60 rooms, the Chang Thai oriental restaurant, and more traditional dining in the Bagenal Harvey. The hotel is popular with hen and stag parties.
Where to eat
In 2005 Tom Doorley, our restaurant critic, said of Galo Chargrill (19 Main Street, 053-9238077): "At last: somewhere to eat in Enniscorthy." But the town has plenty of options, and this Portuguese venue is one of many ethnic restaurants, which include Chinese, Thai and Indian.
Via Veneto. Weafer Street, 053-9236929, www.viaveneto. ie. A much-lauded Italian restaurant whose fans include Paulo Tullio.
Enoteca D'Alba. Bridgepoint, Abbey Square, 053-9239651. This also serves Italian food and wine; part of Wexford builder and Italophile Mick Wallace's empire, it was reputedly opened so that "he'd have a good place to stop to eat between Dublin and Wexford town".
Toffee Thyme. 24 Rafter Street, 053-9237144. It has good home-baked scones and pastries for morning coffee and is a popular lunch venue.
The Bailey Café Bar. Barrack Street, 053-9230353, www.thebailey.ie. Specialises in steaks and fish.
Where to go
Vinegar Hill is a short drive or a very steep walk from the town.
National 1798 Centre. Millpark Road, 053-9237596, www.iol.ie/~98com/.
St Aidan's Cathedral. Main Street. It has been described as Pugin's Irish gem. The leading 19th-century architect, perhaps best known for helping with the Palace of Westminster, based the design on Tintern Abbey, in Wales. Built in 1843, the cathedral was triumphantly restored in 1994; the original colourful stencilling is again revealed, having been painted over after Vatican II.
Greyhound racing is held on Mondays and Thursdays at the Show Grounds Stadium (053-9233172, www.igb.ie/ Stadia/ Enniscorthy).
Kiltrea Pottery. www.kiltreapottery.com, 053-9235107. This ecofriendly pottery is five kilometres outside town, well signposted off the Kiltealy road (R702). You can watch craftsmen at work and buy the distinctive products at factory prices. Gardeners flock here for plant pots, and there's an annual sale at Easter.
Where to shop
Vinegar Hill Pottery. 64 Weafer Street, 053-9238421. It sells local ceramics, jewellery and Enniscorthy souvenirs.
An Siopa Bróg. 9 Castle Street, 053-9234546. This is in the premises of the former National Bank established by Daniel O'Connell. It sells
Italian and Spanish ladies' shoes, handbags and accessories.
Byrne's Bookstore. 2 Court Street, 053-9233822.
An Siopa Céird. Castle Hill Crafts and Tours, 4 Castle Hill, 053-9236800. This shop sells traditional knitwear. Owner Maura Flannery also arranges tours of the town in English and French.
O'Sullivan's. 3 Weafer Street. Sweets and toys from the town's oldest shop.