Baginbun’s place in Irish history celebrated at inaugural festival

Having been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers, Hook Tourism, were delighted to be able to go ahead with an exciting programme of events.

Opening the festival, one of the key organisers David Neville thanked Wexford County Council and New Ross Municipal District council for their support.

He acknowledged the work carried out by the local committee in 1970, which led to the monument being erected.

Municipal District Cathaoirleach Cllr Pat Barden said the momentous battle of 1170 was brought to life again through the festival.

“Baginbun is a very important part of the Norman Way. As the old Wexford saying goes: ‘At the creek of Baginbun, Ireland was lost and won’.”

He congratulated the organisers, saying he hopes the festival continues in the coming years.

Cllr Michael Whelan said: “There have been many events based on the Normans in Baginbun over the years. It’s only right that we mark this event in Irish history. Although an invasion by invitation, they came, they fought, they stayed and they shaped Wexford and then Ireland by integration over the years. They brought many new skills and ways of life and there are many landmarks we owe to them; landmarks dotted in our landscape in South Wexford.”

He said many of the local names are Norman, including Roche, Colfer and Sutton.

“To mark this event here where they came ashore is fitting. To have the deputy French Ambassador here is special.”

Deputy head of mission at the French Embassy in Ireland Marianne Barkan-
Cowdy unveiled the plaque at the monument which commemorates the Norman landing. Afterwards a tune called ‘Alice’s Antics’ was performed, the title referencing the beheading of 70 Irish fighters by Norman forces.

Ms Barkan-Cowdy said never before have French and Irish relations had so much potential, pointing out that Ireland’s closest European ally is now France, in the post-Brexit world.

She said Baginbun, meaning ring and good, should be renamed Bagg and L’excellent.

“We want to have stronger political ties between our two countries. We have a new bilateral roadmap which will be implemented between 2021 and 2025 to deepen this very long-standing friendship.”

Archaeologist Niall Colfer spoke of his late father Dr Billy’s passion for the area.

“He always brought academics down to Baginbun and explained how important the history and the landscape of Baginbun is in terms of our national history.”

He spoke of how the Normans used the lime and sandstone of the area, adding that Hook Lighthouse must have looked like an alien spaceship to locals when it was built in the 1200s.

“It symbolises the power of the Norman people coming in.”

Historian and author Prof Kevin Whelan gave a detailed insight into Co Wexford’s history and the different genetic make-up of people living in the north, middle and south of Wexford.

“The Normans were interested in the land in Wexford. If you really want to look for continuity in Ireland, look for it in south Wexford or in south Kilkenny because the families have been there. In Connaught, 25 per cent died during The Famine.”

He recalled the story of Alice. 

“They threw 70 bodies off the cliff here. A woman called Alice who was with the Normans and whose man had been killed by the Irish, she cut the heads off all of them before she threw them of the cliff.”

Pointing to the Norman fortifications, he recalled the skill with which the Normans took the area.

“It’s a campaign fortification. They built it because they knew the Vikings from Wexford and the Irish from Waterford were coming and they dug in. The entire Norman invasion party was 500 or 600 knights and archers.”

A Norman Re-enactment Group and the Dunbrody Archery did displays, and medieval games were enjoyed.