In a Lloyds register dated 1843, Wexford appeared as one of the busiest ports of the United Kingdom. A writer in 'The People' of August 1945 visited a local sailor armed with the list and was rewarded with the following information.
The Lloyds representative or surveyor at Wexford in 1843 was Mark Devereux.
ALICIA a schooner was a vessel of 73 tons captained by Mr. Quirke. A story was told that she was involved in the rescue of the passengers and crew of a Glasgow ship which was lost off the Barrells Rock. Some time later apparently, the ALICIA was recognised on a trip to Glasgow and the incident recalled. Local ship merchants raised funds by public subscription and presented a schooner called PANDORA to the Wexford skipper.
The DENIS CARTY was last skippered by Captain Tom Walsh and she later served as a coal hulk in Newport.
The smack, HENRY, owned by Devereuxes, captained by Ambrose Butler sank off the Barrels Rock . . The schooner, MARIA, sank off Hook Head.
MARIA, MARQUIS OF ELY, MARY (a smack) and the MICHAEL WICKHAM were all laid up off Ferrybank at the end of their useful lives and were broken up by storms and tides.
The schooner, STAR, ended her days in the Cresent. RAMBLER ran ashore in Rosslare Bay and was wrecked. Another schooner, ROVER sank in Llanelly Bay, while Sea Flower was sold on to Dun Laoghaire. SWIFT, another schooner sank in Dundrum Bay while bound from Wexford to Glasgow with a cargo of beans. The TIGER broke her back on the Blackwater Bank and COMMERCE was lost on the Wexford bar.
In 1830 the schooner AUSPICIOUS was built at Bannow. She was owned by J. Morris of Wexford and traded between Waterford and Dublin. NATIVE, of 119 tons was built at Wexford in 1834, she was owned by C. Archer and skippered by Captain Codd.
One Wexford shipyard stood at the present Church Lane car park and another at Kaat's Strand at the bottom of the lane almost opposite Westgate.
Wexford port had 3 vessels named PROVIDENCE, 2 HOPES, 2 MARY and 2 UNION.
The ship WEXFORD was of 254 tons and with a local crew under Captain Patrick Kelly of North Main St., she traded between Wexford, London and Bermuda.