Church of St. Iberius, I.C. - 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.
The directories are naturally an invaluable resource for those tracing family history. However, there are a few points to bear in mind.
- 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.
- The text has been proofed with due care, but with large bodies of text typographical errors are inevitably bound to occur.
- 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.
AT the highest point of North Main Street, in the heart of the business portion of the town, stands the place of worship called by the name of Wexford’s Patron Saint, whose monastery, in the fourth century, flourished on the island of Beg-Erin, and who, prior to the arrival of St. Patrick, held ecclesiastical rule over Leinster. The building has a fine front, but owing to the narrowness of the thoroughfare, the full effect of it is lost. The pointed roof is flanked by two broad wings. From the centre gable rises an open octagon tower, with a clock, which strikes the hours.
The church is built of brick, and stuccoed. Red and blue bricks, alternated, cap each window, and form a circle around the face of the clock, thus giving a distinct character to the structure. The centre door is shaded by a deep porch, which is accessible from three gates. Inside the Church one is impressed by the fact that the architect determined upon providing good and sufficient light. Breadth rather than length, and an ample gallery on three sides, are comfortable peculiarities of the building.
A leisurely inspection of the mural tablets in the galleries brings to observation many names closely connected with the history and interests of modern Wexford. In the right gallery is one to Captain the Hon. John William Hely-Hutchinson, who died of fever at Scutari. Mrs. Martha Kidd, daughter of the celebrated Caesar Colclough, is next commemorated. There is a memorial to Major Valloton, who, during the antitithe payers’ insurrection in was killed on Windmill Hill, where a monument stands, which was erected by the Corporation of Wexford. A lozenge-shaped tablet, surrounded by coloured marbles, commemorates Colonel Stopford, 1834. A monument to the Venerable John Elgee, Archdeacon of Leighlin, and Rector of Wexford and Rathaspeck, is adorned with typical emblems, including rods entwined by serpents. An urn ornaments the tablet to Mrs. Barbara Meadows, 1805. Ambrose Boxwell, M.D., for many years surgeon of the County Wexford Infirmary, has a monument of grey and white marbles. The next two monuments commemorate William Augustus Jacob, assistant surgeon, Madras Army, and George Ogle Jacob, major, 1st Bengal European Fusiliers, who fell commanding his regiment at the storming of Delhi, September 14th, 1857. A handsome white marble scroll, mounted on polished Kilkenny marble, bears the names of Zachariah Burch Cornock, 1874, and his son, Zachariah Charles Cornock, 1882. The principal ornament of the opposite gallery is a monument to Edward Percival, Master’s Mate, R.N., aged 21 years. An arch is let into the wall overhead, and a large bas-relief pictures the manner of the young hero’s death, which took place in one of the boats of H.M.S. Havannah, on the coast of Istria. The relief is surmounted by a portrait bust, and upheld by a marble cannon on either side of the descriptive slab. On the right is a tablet to Rev. Charles Huson, Archdeacon of Ferns, 1777, whose remains are in the burial ground of the Church. A monument, erected by Robert Hughes, is in memory of Robert Doran, Lieutenant and Adjutant, who fell at Rangoon, at the storming of the Great Pagoda, 1852. The next two tablets are in memory of Henry Hatton, of Great Clonard, 1793, and Elizabeth Ogle, wife of Hon. George Ogle, 1807, the latter decorated by a relief representing a drooping female figure and urn.
A quaint illuminated device bears the motto: “His Calcabo Gentes.”
A monumental sarcophagus to McCarthy Colclough, Inspector of Constabulary, 1860, completes the gallery. A beautiful portrait bust of Lady Emily Hughes, wife of Sir Frederick Hughes, is on the left of the chancel, at the back of which is a stained window to the memory of the late Rector, Richard Waddy Elgee, presented by his friends and parishioners. The chancel opening is crossed by three arches, which are supported by four massive pillars. The organ, a good one, by Telford and Telford, stands in a circular loft, which brings the choir into the centre of the Church.
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