Gorey

This article is about the town in Ireland. For other uses, see Gorey (disambiguation).
Gorey, Co. Wexford
Guaire
Town

Main Street, Gorey

Coat of arms
Gorey, Co. Wexford

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 52°40′37″N 6°17′31″W / 52.677°N 6.292°W / 52.677; -6.292Coordinates: 52°40′37″N 6°17′31″W / 52.677°N 6.292°W / 52.677; -6.292
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County County Wexford
Elevation 48 m (157 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Town 9,114
 • Urban 3,463
 • Environs 5,651
Irish Grid Reference T151598

Gorey (/ˈɡoʊr.iː/; Irish: Guaire) is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the Gorey Guardian and Gorey Echo.

Gorey is an hour's drive from the southern outskirts of Dublin. Gorey's position on the N11/M11 – a direct link to the capital – has made it an attractive choice for commuters, many of whom spend less time travelling to work than their counterparts living in particular areas of Dublin. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in the building of new houses in Gorey. Between 1996 and 2002, the population has risen by 44% in the town, and by 23% in the surrounding district.[7]

Amenities

Many new shops have been added in the last few years, including the Gorey Shopping Centre; Esmonde Street has been developed from a residential street to a mainly-commercial street and, by all appearances, a similar transformation is occurring on 'The Avenue'. Five supermarkets compete for customers in the town.

For visitors, there are two modern hotels, both with leisure centre, swimming pools, and conference facilities. The town has several restaurants, catering for Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Irish cuisine

Courtown Harbour or Courtown, a small holiday resort popular with weekend visitors from Dublin, is situated 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Gorey.

The town celebrated the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Christ Church in May 2011. The church, which was completed in 1861, was designed by James Welland, one of the provincial architects of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the Church of Ireland. It is noted for its stained glass windows designed by Harry Clarke and Catherine O'Brien.[8]

Entertainment

Gorey has an extremely active theatre group which produces several plays through the year and organises performances by visiting groups. They also host an annual, week-long Drama Festival. In the summer months, the group produces a twice-weekly play which is popular with both locals and visitors. Every second year, a Pantomime is produced, which is always well received.

Gorey Musical Society has one production a year; in 2006, they staged the all-Irish musical, "The Ha'penny Bridge", and were the first amateur group to have been given the honour to do so. In 2007, the Society successfully staged 'Oklahoma!', for which the society received several nominations from the Association of Irish Musical Societies' annual "Oscar. At the awards ceremony in Killarney, Gorey MS received the award for the Best Overall Show in Ireland, as well as the awards for Best Male Singer and Best Supporting Actress.[9]

Several music groups are active in the Gorey area, which play both traditional Irish music as well as rock, popular local bands include Sinsaol and Arís.

Gorey Choral Group, a mixed Voice Choir of around 38 members, has participated in contests all over Ireland and Wales, and brought many trophies back home.

In the 1970s and early 80s, an eclectic arts festival, organised and directed by Paul Funge – a well known Gorey artist – was held in the town during the summer. Many big and soon-to-be big name performers appeared including U2, Horslips, the Virgin Prunes, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Glasnevin Musical Society, the Wexford Festival Choir, Niall Tóibín and Eamon Morrissey.

There is also a substantial number of pubs, bars, and nightclubs, including Oscars 64 (which is also home to the "O2" night-club), Paddy Blues, McGovern's, French's, Malibu Beach Club, The Mezz Bar, The Coach House, Katie Daly's, and The Bridge Bar.

A new 7 screen cinema Movies at Gorey opened in June 2010, and is located on the Courtown road.

Development

Until recently, traffic congestion in the town, which lies on the N11 (Dublin to Rosslare) route, was a major problem. A by-pass was opened at the end of June 2007. It is a 23-kilometre-long high-standard dual-carriageway and was upgraded to motorway status in August 2009

Education

Rapid growth has led to an overcrowding problem in the local schools, with the secondary school, Gorey Community School having the largest student population of any school in Ireland with over 1,600 students. Five local primary schools, Gorey Loreto Primary, Saint Joseph's Primary, Gorey Central School, Gorey Gaelscoil and Gorey Educate Together National School feed the Community School, as do a number of schools in various local areas. A new secondary school, Creagh College, was opened in 2011 as a result of the overflow of the community school.

Transport

Gorey railway station opened on 16 November 1863.[10] It is located on the Dublin to Rosslare Europort line.

There are various bus services serving Gorey. Bus Éireann route 002 links the town with Dublin Airport and Rosslare Harbour, operating day and night, while route 006 links Gorey with Dublin and Waterford.[11] Ardcavan also operate a daily service linking Gorey with Dublin.[12]

Wexfordbus operates a service linking Gorey with Dublin Airport.[13]

In addition, Gorey Bus Links operate two local routes, one linking Gorey with Ballycanew, Ballygarrett and Courtown, with another linking the town with Ballymoney, Castletown and Inch.[14]

Tourism and accommodation

Tourism in the town thrives during summer months (June–August). There are two main hotels in the town; The Amber Springs and The Ashdown Park Hotels. The town also neighbours the holiday village of Courtown, which attracts thousands of tourists with multiple caravan parks and B&Bs.

Town twinning

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Census for post 1821 figures.
  3. ↑ http://www.histpop.org
  4. ↑ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  5. ↑ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  6. ↑ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
  7. ↑ McDonald, Frank. "An overdeveloped vision". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 September 2007. Wexford County Council's plan for Gorey is riddled with contradictions
  8. ↑ The Irish Times, "Church of Ireland Notes", 14 May 2011
  9. ↑ The 2008 production of South Pacific was complimented by the performance of Garreth Kinsella, a Transition Year studen in G.C.S. "Association of Irish Musical Societies". Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  10. ↑ "Gorey station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  11. ↑ "Airport-Dublin-Arklow-Gorey-Enniscorthy-Wexford-Rosslare Harbour and return" (PDF). Bus Éireann. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  12. ↑ "Timetable_Dublin" (PDF). Ardcavan Coach Tours. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  13. ↑ "Wexford-Dublin Airport Express". Wexford Bus. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  14. ↑ "Timetable_Dublin" (PDF). Gorey Bus Links. Retrieved 15 January 2009.

External links

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