WEXFORD, 67 m. S. of Dublin, a very ancient town. Vestiges of walls. See elegant modern Ch.; Court-house; wooden Bridge 2100 feet long, where 97 protestants were butchered in the rebellion. Trade and manufacture considerable. Small obelisk, to the memory of Major Vallotton. See some ruins of the Ch. and Abbey of Selksar, or the Priory of St. Peter and St. Paul, supposed to have been founded by the Danes. The antiquary will not fail to visit the majestic ruins of the Ch. of St. Mary, of which Grose has given a good plate, representing it as small but of excellent workmanship; being remarkable for its elegant arches supported by round columns, the cases and capitals of which are of peculiar construction. The shafts of the pillars are of hewn stone; but the remainder of the ruin consists of plain walls and unornamented windows. Amongst the sepulchral monuments which remain, there is a tomb with some sculptures, and a female figure recumbent, but for whom it is unknown. The choir is entered by a circular arch, the others are Gothic. To enjoy a very fine prospect go to Ferry Carrick, where the stream becomes contracted between considerable rocks. Here the tourist ought to land, and ascend the rising ground on the west side of this narrow pass. An inland bay, which appears unexpectedly, and animates the scene in no common degree, then opens to the view. This noble expanse of water is bounded by steep banks, all cultivated, and in some places covered with timber. To the E. the distant mountains, which are softened into the purple of distance, add much to the effect of the surrounding scenery, which, indeed, abounds with uncommon beauties. Immediately beneath is seen a handsome wooden bridge, painted white, which makes a very pretty object in this natural picture, still further diversified by the ruins of an old Castle on an opposite rock; a situation that seems to bespeak a sense of taste, as well as a sense of danger in the steel-clad chieftain who once frowned within its sombre walls.
Schistus and argillite in the western districts. Siliceous pudding-stone in several places. Granite and limestone.
Is one of the best known in the island for its beauties, on account of its vicinity to the capital, combining within itself all the rudeness of uncultivated nature, the romantic effect of wood and glen, the sublimity of mountain outline, and the charms of extended ocean. It must be confessed that the interior offers little beyond the variations of mountain and bog; but the sea-coast is rich in the splendour of marine villas and the busy neatness of crowded watering-places, presenting a variety of the most beautiful scenery, which would afford delightful occupation to the painter, the poet, or the tourist, fond of delineating nature as it appears, unassisted by the artificial aid of man. It is true that there are no navigable rivers, but it possesses abundance of smaller streams, which running down from the mountains with great rapidity, discharge their waters into the Irish Channel. Noblemen's and gentlemen's seats are numerous; as those fond of rural retreats are attracted hither by the vicinity of the capital, and by the romantic beauties which abound almost every where, as well as by the uncommon mildness of the climate, which is peculiarly remarkable for the luxuriance of its foliage in evergreens, myrtles, laurels, arbutuses, &c. The larch is a favourite in all modern plantations; and the oak flourishes in the rocky glens. Bounded N. by Dublin; E. by Irish Channel; S. by Wexford; W. by Carlow and Kildare.