Catholic parish of Wexford, Diocese of Ferns

[mrk]

I am researching the Kirwan/Kerwan/Kerwin/etc. families in the Catholic parish of Wexford. Although there are some records to be found in the parish registers during the latter half of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th century, there was a remarkable increase in the Kerwin presence in Wexford during the period of 1820-1859.

I am looking for information regarding (1) the location of the parish church circa 1820-1856 and (2) whether the parish boundaries ever changed prior to or during that period.

(1) If I understood correctly from the parish history found on the Parish of Wexford's website, St. Mary's was the only church still in use during the 19th century until the opening of the twin churches in 1858. From a post on another website, however, I read that it was the Franciscan chapel that was used as the main church at this time.

(2) The map of the parish boundary found on the National Library of Ireland website does not provide any date or information about any change in boundaries, if they occurred at all. If the parish boundaries did not expand, could I then assume that the increased Kerwin presence might be due to other factors such as changing social, economic, or political changes?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Wexflyer]

You have misinterpreted the statement regarding St. Mary's on the Wexford parish website. When they say that St. Mary's was "the last Parochial Church in use from the time of the Reformation until the building of the new Churches in 1858," that does NOT mean that St. Mary's was in use until 1858. What they are referring to is that there was technically no parish church from the destruction of St. Mary's in 1649, until 1858, a period of over 200 years. A parish church is a church owned by the parish, and controlled by the Parish Priest. There was no such church from 1649 until 1858. Instead, during almost this entire period the Franciscan Friary was used, by courtesy.

I am unaware of any change in parish boundaries until recent times. Listings of townlands and parish maps are available in documents on the Wexford CC website. I think these are also listed in the pinned resources section for Wexford on this forum.

As for an increase in numbers of Kirwans, you must remember that there was a dramatic increase in the population of Ireland in the 100 years preceding the Great Famine. An increase of a factor of somewhere between 3 to 6. It is therefore to be expected that the population of Wexford also increased, and by extension, the number of Kirwans.

[mrk]

Thanks for the clarification!