Churches & Graveyards

[mtabbut]

One more thing that I've been wondering about...

I was reading about the Friary being the only parish church in Wexford Town until 1858.  Would my family from Newbay have attended this church?
Also, I can't wait to see the twin churches.  They look beautiful.  How did people decide which one to belong to?  If I had family living in The Faythe (fishermen) would they have gone to a particular church?  How about family living on Main Street South and Corn market?

Also, where would Catholic burials from the mid 1800s to early 1900s have been?  I don't have any illusions of finding graves for family members (my grandmother was buried in a pauper's grave in Liverpool in 1919) but I do wonder what grave yards they might have been associated with.
Thanks,
Maureen

[culbaire]

You might find some details here if you have dates of death: http://wexfordcountyarchive.com/our-collections/digital-collections/municipal-burial-records-1881-1926/

[mtabbut]

Culbaire, thanks.  What a great resource.  I haven't found my relatives there, but I am going to keep looking.  I appreciate your help.
Maureen

[athacliath62]

The Church at the Friary was there well before 1858, it's on the old OSI maps which date from the 1830s or 1840s

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,704672,621743,11,7

[conahy calling]

Some info on Franciscan Friary Church, Wexford taken from "Churches of the Dioceses of Ferns" p139

The original church dated 1230 was handed over to the Friars Minor in 1265.  The Friars were expelled in 1540, they then celebrated Mass in a little thatched chapel in High St, returning to former site in 1622.  Six members of the community perished in the Cromwellian massacre in 1649.  Restoration work was carried out between 1685 and 1690.  This church served as the parish church of Wexford from 1690 to 1848*   (*I wonder if this date should be 1858)
There is a small plaque in the porch of the side chapel which gives the church's history.

The Church of the Assumption, Bride St.  Page 137
The foundation stone was laid in 1851, the first Mass was celebrated 18th April 1858.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rowe St.  page 138
Foundation Stone was laid in 1851.
The first Mass was celebrated here on 25th April 1858.


page 136  In the present parish of Wexford there were eleven medieval parishes, some extremely small.  Remains of old churches include Selskar Abbey with later Church of Ireland church attached; St Patrick's and St. Mary's.
There are no remains of the Church of St Michael de Feagh in the cemetery at The Faythe.

Bishop Wadding had built a small thatched chapel in High St in 1673. This was dismantled in 1692, and from then on Catholics used the Franciscan chapel.
The upper floor of a premises in Mary's Lane, off Bride St., was used as an oratory at the same period, it is thought, as the Mass-house in High St.

[mtabbut]

Thanks so much for all of this great information.  Very kind of all of you.  Thank you.

[Summerhill]

If the family had lived in the Faythe then they would have been in the Bride street Church parish. Its proper name is the Church of the Assumption, Bride street Wexford. But the locals refer to it as Bride Street Church.

[mtabbut]

Thanks, Summerhill.  I will be there in just a few days exploring the town 

[Wexflyer]

1. I was reading about the Friary being the only parish church in Wexford Town until 1858.  Would my family from Newbay have attended this church?

2. Also, I can't wait to see the twin churches.  How did people decide which one to belong to? 

3. If I had family living in The Faythe (fishermen) would they have gone to a particular church?  How about family living on Main Street South and Corn market?

4. Also, where would Catholic burials from the mid 1800s to early 1900s have been?  I don't have any illusions of finding graves for family members (my grandmother was buried in a pauper's grave in Liverpool in 1919) but I do wonder what grave yards they might have been associated with.
Thanks,
Maureen

1. Newbay was part of the parish of Wexford, so they should have attended church in Wexford.

2. You did not/do not "belong to" either of the parish churches, that is Rowe St and Bride St. They are both parochial churches of the same parish.  Bride St. serves predominantly the south side, Rowe St. the north. But you can go to either. In fact, all three Catholic churches are close together.

3.In the Faythe, they would probably have gone to either Bride St. and/or the Friary. Although the Friary was not the parish church, it was and remains very popular. When I was growing up, we normally went to the Friary, even though Rowe St. was closer.
From Cornmarket - Rowe St. and Friary most probable.
From Main St. Depends on whether north or south.

4. Burials could have been almost anywhere. Before the opening of the municipal cemetery in Crosstown in the 1890s, there were about 7 graveyards within the town, plus people were buried in many surrounding graveyards. For example, I have relatives who lived in the town who were buried in Drinagh, Whitechurch, and Ardcolm, as well as within the town itself. Depended to a large degree on where previous generations were buried.