The
headland, originally known as Rosláir (the middle peninsula), was
actually formed by the
drifting currents that moved along a
tortuous sweep of Wexford Bay and grew from a ‘mere
sandpit of
accumulated gravel deposits' over many years.
It had extended almost three miles seawards when its strategic
importance was recognised
by the Confederates of Kilkenny who, during 1642, planned to utilise it for a defence fort as a
safeguard and protection of the walled town of Wexford against
possible invasion.
Seven
sturdy cannons were promptly installed
there, each pointing seaward and a garrison, under
the command of
Paul Turner was appointed ‘in charge’..
Turner’s family then owned Ballygeary Castle in nearby Kilrane.
A ‘Reserve Force’ was also
maintained at Butlerstown Castle,
seat of the Ormonde family. It is said to have been
connected by
an underground passage or tunnel to Bargy Castle, the home of
Insurgent leader
Bagenal Harvey during the short-lived Rebellion
of 1798. The fort extended over 750 acres.
Speed’s map of Ireland dated
1610 indicates the existence of a lighthouse near the fort.
The earliest recorded mention of the peninsula is found on Boazio’s
Map of Ireland, dated 1599.
Houses were built gradually to accommodate the growing population there.
Close on 50
dwellings were built altogether. A cluster of 12 houses in the form of a
square was first
erected. It had a cobble-stoned courtyard with a central flagstaff, 70
feet high, and a large
cannon in readiness at its base. This served as the focal point of the
fortification. |
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All the houses had earthen floors covered with ‘refined silver
sand.’
A frigate with 12 mounted guns stood firmly
moored close
by as a further safety measure..
An Observation Post erected on the highest
sand-dune on the
peninsula provided panoramic
views of the harbour, so that
approaching vessels
could be clearly detected and
scrutinised.
This was known to the Fort dwellers as ‘The Hill of
Sixty’.
It
was manned continuously as a secure safety valve. The second
highest sand-dune was identified as ‘The Hill of Bull’.
Two
wooden wharves extended into the harbour and were distinguished as
the ‘Pilot’ and the ‘Lifeboat’ jetties. Not far away the
rocket house, village pump and boathouse were located. |
As soon as Cromwell arrived in Wexford during the autumn of 1649,
he ordered a well
equipped ‘fleet of twenty sail’ under his
son-in-law Henry Ireton to attack and seize
the ‘Fort of
Rosslare’. Fierce storms prevented their approach for more than
a week
however. So, in the meantime, he dispatched a large force
of horse and foot soldiers
under Lieutenant General Michael Jones
to besiege it by land. |
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It was stoically defended under Captain Sinnott on October 5th.
The small garrison fought heroically until their supply of
ammunition was exhausted. Retreating to the frigate moored nearby,
they made their last stand. Jones’s Dragoons took
possession of
the Fort, while Cromwell’s fleet headed unimpeded for the
strongly walled town of Wexford.
Jones’s army then promptly rounded-up the wives and children
left behind and forced them
to trudge along to the cavern (long
since disappeared) facing the spot where Lambert’s
shop and post
office now stand. Despite their pleas and the heart-rending
shrieks they were
all massacred without mercy. For centuries
afterwards the dreaded cavern was known
locally as ‘Cromwell’s
Murder Hole’.
By all accounts the ravaged Fort lay idle for many years. Philip
Hore in his 1906 ‘History of
Wexford Town’ recorded
that in 1654, it was decreed that the Fort of Rosslare
be restored
and preserved for the defence of the
Kingdom. It was then utilised for many years as a
‘Marine Revenue Station’ and Custom House. |
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.In 1800 a commander named Warren was appointed in charge. He was
the first Catholic to hold such office and he
promptly established
the first ‘Village Chapel’ there - utilising the upper floor
of a hipped-roofed house at the southern
corner of the Square. By
1870 more than half of the Forts dwellings had fallen into disuse
and disrepair. By then the last
school teacher, Miss Shanahan, had
moved to Wexford town where she opened a private school in South
Main Street.
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The old Fort continued to attract the interest
and curiosity of
Wexford people from all
parts of
the county nevertheless. Many
travelled from
afar to explore it at weekends -
during the
summer
and autumn months especially.
Some even acquired the vacant houses
as summer homes. A familiar sight at
weekends was to see dozens of
‘Wexford cots’ moored along the wooden jetties while
their
owners explored the peninsula or spent their time fishing. |
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The Fort dwellers were ranked under three categories - Revenue /
Custom Officers; Pilots and Lifeboat men. The Head
Revenue Officer
was ranked as the Commander of the Fort. He alone had the
authority to decide when the ‘Big Guns’ should
be fired. The
womenfolk were renowned because of the unusual shapely ‘Prawskeens'
(aprons) they wore in their homes.
They were rectangular in shape
and made of strong jute fibre.
By a strange quirk of fate the Wexford sea, that had played a
leading role in the formation of the Fort Peninsula during the
earlier centuries was mainly responsible for its ultimate demise.
The laying down of Wexford’s system changed the flow of
the
currents that eroded, ultimately, the storied peninsula.
The final blow came during the winter of
1924-25, when gale
force winds drove a tidal wave across the peninsula,
severely breaching it in two vulnerable places.
By January 12th 1925, it had been reduced to a wind-swept
ridge. The Lifeboat men could no longer withstand the
onslaught and were forced to seek the safety of the Wexford
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mainland for their wives and children.
Pilot men Peter and Larry Furlong were the last
to leave, settling down near Raven Point.
Only at low tide can the last vestige of the ‘Vanished
Fort’ be seen.
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