Catholic Parish Church, New Ross - Wexford Guide and Directory, 1885

About “Wexford County Guide and Directory,” 1885

George Henry Bassett produced 7 Irish county directories in the 1880s: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Kilkenny, Louth, Tipperary and Wexford. Each provides useful history of the respective counties as well as lists of office holders, farmers, traders, and other residents of the individual cities, towns and villages.

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The directories are naturally an invaluable resource for those tracing family history. However, there are a few points to bear in mind.

  1. This online version of Bassett’s Wexford County Guide and Directory is designed primarily as a genealogical research tool and therefore the numerous advertisements in the original book, many full page, and quite a few illustrated, have been excluded.
  2. The text has been proofed with due care, but with large bodies of text typographical errors are inevitably bound to occur.
  3. Be aware that there were often inconsistencies in spelling surnames in the 19th century and also that many forenames are abbreviated in Bassett’s directories.

With respect to the last point, surnames which today begin with the “Mc” prefix, for example, were often formerly spelt as “M‘,”. For a list of some of the more common forename abbreviations used in the directory, see Forename Abbreviations.

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A BROAD and handsome front, and ample yard, enclosed by an iron railing, are the features of the Catholic Parish Church, which impress the stranger. The interior is light. There is a high ceiling, and the decoration is unpretending. A deep and capacious gallery, in which there is an excellent organ, is reached from both sides of the building. A large tablet is set in the wall of the southern aisle to the memory of Rev. William Brennan, Parish Priest, 1854, and a second similar one to Rev. James Hennessy, 1818. A picture of the Crucifixion forms the back-ground of the altar, in the front of which are two figures, full size, of kneeling angels, the light upon them being transmitted through two colored windows.

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