Coastal history to be highlighted with trail
WEXFORD County Council will extend promotion of the history of Wexford’s coastal areas with the installation of further ‘coastal markers’ to create a trail across the county.
Recently, one of these markers was installed at Nethertown, Carne, to tell the story of a German plane which was shot down there during World War II. At the recent meeting of Rosslare Municipal District, members were informed that the council has a list of seven additional sites at which they are looking at installing similar monuments or ‘markers’ with the goal of creating a historical trail. These include Rosslare Strand, the Harbour, Carne, Kilmore Quay, Cushenstown, Ferrybank and Curracloe.
By way of an example, it was stated that the Rosslare Harbour marker may focus on the history of the Rosslare to Fishguard route, whereas the one in Carne may focus on Tuskar and the air disaster.
With the locations already selected, the members were informed that plans were in place to have the markers erected by mid November.
‘I’d like to welcome this,’ said Cllr Ger Carthy. ‘There is a lack of information out there on historical stuff on the coast. It was a very professional job done on the monument down at Nethertown and at Ferrybank in Wexford and I look forward to seeing the rest of them rolled out.’
Cllr Lisa McDonald said that she would like to see the project go even further.
‘There’s a wealth of history and information there on areas like Carrig,’ she said. ‘There’s a lot of higlighting that could be done. Also, I know it’s on the border of the two districts, but maybe the mountain area could be looked at too. There’s a lot of great work being done there at the moment on new trails there and this would be a great addition.’
Cllr Jim Moore pointed out that the project had its beginnings in the old Wexford district and stated that perhaps the history of the coastline hadn’t yet been promoted as a tourist attraction.
Cllr Moore also suggested that the markers gave the opportunity for the creation of a ‘coastal drive’ and that plans were afoot to engage with locals to create sub-trails.
Cllr Carthy then suggested that those behind the project look at creating a digital platform or an app that could bring tourists around the historical sites and offer additional information.