IF there are emotional landmarks that embody the Wexford Rising of 1798, then they must include Vinegar Hill, Scullabogue, the Pikeman in Wexford's Bull Ring, and, of course, Wexford Bridge.
The present bridge spanning the Slaney from Commercial Quay to Ardcavan was built in 1959 and to the people of the town it is still the "New Bridge".
The "New Bridge" is the town's third bridge and stands on the site of the first bridge built by Lemuel Cox in 1795 for local private owners, who had bought out the ancient ferry rights.
Cox's bridge was made of American oak and was 1,554ft long with 23 oak supports. Elegantly adorned with Chinese railings from end to end, the bridge also had shelters and resting places for strollers, recesses where bands could play and a drawbridge to allow ships with masts to pass.
The leading citizens of the 18th century who subscribed to building the new bridge included two prominent local men who later lost their lives on the bridge Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey and John Henry Colclough, who were executed after the 1798 Rising.
But not all the leaders of 1798 were as broad minded as Harvey and Colclough. Thomas Dixon, a sea captain and publican, is undoubtedly one of darkest characters on the Rebel side in 1798. At the beginning of the rising, his cousin, an excommunicated priest also, called Thomas Dixon, had died on a ship in Duncannon awaiting transportation. Soon after Dixon forced three prisoners to execute Francis Murphy, the man who had informed, on his cousin and then had his body thrown into the Slaney.
Dixon went unpunished for his violent vindictiveness in the Bull, Ring, but although he was a violent bully, he refused to join the fighting at a crucial stage in June 1798, and remained in Wexford to take control of the streets and engage in an orgy of murder against real or imagined Orangemen.
Executed with Pikes
Prisoners were dragged from the jail, the courthouse, the market house, and a prison ship, convicted in kangaroo courts in a billiard room on Custom House Quay, and summarily executed with pikes in the streets, on the quays and on the bridge with their bodies tossed into the Slaney. The historian Dr Daniel Gahan estimates 100 prisoners were executed that day on Dixon's command.
As the executions continued on the bridge, defeated rebel commanders rode into the town and damned Dixon and his companions for their cold blooded murders and for not joining the battle that day.
When the parish priest of Wexford, Canon John Corrin, arrived on the bridge, the bodies of six prisoners were still hanging secured the release of some of the remaining prisoners and, others were saved through the intervention of Esmond Kyan and Edward Roche. But 37 Protestants were executed on Wexford Bridge alone that Friday, and only 19 escaped from the bridge with their lives on June 21st, 1798.
The rebels had lost their main bargaining chip with the army the security of the prisoners. By now the tide had turned and within days the bridge was the scene of more gory executions.
Matthew Keugh, the governor of Wexford during the rebellion, was executed on the morning of June 25th, along with Father Philip Roche and seven others. A metal arch spanning the bridge where it joined the quays was used as a gallows.
Roche went to his death with no apologies for his part in the rising the rope snapped, he fell to the ground and regained consciousness before being put through the ordeal a second time. His body and the bodies of seven others executed that day were cut to the round, mutilated, and tossed into the Slaney by the soldiers.
Keugh was a member of the Church of Ireland and before dying he prayed for a while with an Anglican priest. After dying, his head was cut off, stuck on a pike and paraded around the streets before being placed on a spike outside the courthouse, opposite the bridge, where it remained for months.
Harvey and Colclough were taken from, the Saltee Islands, court martialed and hanged on Wexford Bridge along with Cornelius Grogan on June 28th. The heads of Grogan and Harvey were cut off, paraded through the town, and placed on Spikes along side Keugh's, where they remained for months. According to Dr Gahan Protestant rebels were clearly to be made a special example of.
Head on a Spike
Other rebel leaders executed on the bridge included John Kelly, the boy from Killane. Esmond Kyan, who had tried to stem Dixon's savagery, and John Hay. Instead of placing Kelly's head on a spike outside the courthouse, the soldiers used it as a football, kicking it about the street where he lived.
A portion of the 1795 bridge collapsed in October 1827. But as this was a toll bridge, the loss of earnings were soon felt by the proprietors and it was quickly repaired, and to fireworks and great celebrations, the bridge was declared toll free in 1851, Five years later, it was replaced by a second bridge built at Carcur by Pieces in 1856. This too fell into disrepair though the original railings can still be seen near the Boat Club and the "New Bridge" was built on the site of the 1798 executions.
Preparations are well in hand for marking the 200th anniversary of the 1798 Rising and the Rector of Wexford, Canon? Norman Ruddock, has even suggested that the General Synod of the Church of Ireland should meet in Wexford in 1988. But whatever is planned, will the commemorations have to go ahead without any events taking place on Wexford Bridge?
Steel Girders
It now looks as though the Bridge will be closed next year. The beams forming the superstructure need to be replaced by steel girders with a concrete running deck, and the work is expected to cost around £4.5 million.
The planned closure will cut off businesses on the Ferrybank side of the Slaney, with hotels, campsites, caravan parks and guest houses in Ardcavan having most to fear. Harking back to, the days before 1795, pedestrians would bed provided with, ferries, but lrattic would be diverted. Even funerals from Wexford town would have to take a detour of a few extra miles over Ferrycarrig Bridge and through Crossabeg before reaching Crosstown Cemetery.
Wexford Corporation and Wexford County Council appear to have ruled out the option of one lane traffic and it now looks as though the bridge could be closed from next March for at least 10 weeks. The alternative of closing one lane could mean the work would take 40 weeks to complete, and any delays would put a question mark over any commemorations on Wexford Bridge in May and June 1998.