Must-see attractions in County Wexford

  • Top Choice
    Hook Lighthouse

    On its southern tip, Hook Head is capped by the world's oldest working lighthouse, with a modern light flashing atop a 13th-century tower. Access is by…

  • Top Choice
    Johnstown Castle Gardens

    Parading peacocks guard the splendid 19th-century Johnstown Castle, the former home of the once-mighty Fitzgerald and Esmonde families (the estate was…

  • Top Choice
    Dunbrody Famine Ship

    Called 'coffin ships' due to their fatality rate, the leaky, smelly boats that hauled a generation of Irish emigrants to America are reimagined on board…

  • Curracloe Beach

    Soft white sand, gentle surf and lack of development are the big draws of the 11km-long, Blue Flag–rated Curracloe Beach. Families flock here on sunny…

  • Courtown Seal Rescue

    Tucked behind Courtown harbour, 35km northeast of Enniscorthy off the M11, this volunteer-run centre rescues orphaned, lost and injured seals and…

  • Tintern Abbey

    Tintern Abbey is named after its Welsh counterpart, from where its first monks hailed. The atmospheric remains of the abbey enjoy a lovely setting amid 40…

  • Saltee Islands

    Once the haunt of privateers, smugglers and ‘dyvers pyrates’, the Saltee Islands now have a peaceful existence as one of Europe’s most important bird…

  • National 1798 Rebellion Centre

    This exhibition does a fine job of explaining the background to one of Ireland's pivotal historical events. It covers the French and American revolutions,…

  • Enniscorthy Castle

    This stout, four-towered keep was originally built by the Normans; like much else in these parts, it was surrendered to Cromwell in 1649. During the 1798…

  • Irish National Heritage Park

    Over 9000 years of Irish history are squeezed together at this open-air museum 5.5km west of the town centre. After a short audiovisual presentation, take…

  • Loftus Hall

    Situated 3.5km northeast of Hook Head, this crumbling manor house gazes across Waterford Harbour to Dunmore East. Dating from the 1600s and rebuilt in the…

  • Ballyteigue Burrow Nature Reserve

    The beach and sand dunes of Ballyteigue Burrow Nature Reserve stretch for 9km northwest from Kilmore Quay, covering 227 hectares in all. It's the summer…

  • Selskar Abbey

    After Henry II murdered his former ally Thomas Becket, he did penance at Selskar Abbey, founded in 1190. Basilia, the sister of Richard Fitz Gilbert de…

  • Creative Hub

    An abandoned 20th-century shopping mall was transformed in 2018 into this innovative arts centre. Its former shops are now home to more than 25 artists,…

  • Our Lady's Island

    Lady's Island Lake encloses Our Lady's Island, the site of an early Augustinian priory, which still has an annual pilgrimage in August/September. Pilgrims…

  • John F Kennedy Arboretum

    This beautiful woodland park, dedicated to the memory of JFK, the late US president, has 4500 species of trees and shrubs spread across 252 hectares of…

  • Athenaeum

    Built as a theatre and town hall in 1892, the Athenaeum became the headquarters for Enniscorthy's volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising. A small museum…

  • Wexford Wildfowl Reserve

    The North Slob (from the Irish slab, meaning 'mud' or 'mire') is a large area of reclaimed land to the north of Wexford harbour, drained by ditches and…

  • Kennedy Homestead

    The birthplace of Patrick Kennedy (great-grandfather of John F Kennedy) is a farm that still looks much as it must have done when he departed for America…

  • Vinegar Hill

    Scene of one of the most important battles of Ireland's 1798 rebellion against British rule, this hill just outside Enniscorthy is topped with a memorial…