Stop 1 - Grattan Square

This spacious square of one acre dates from the early 19th century when the town was reconstructed by the 5th and 6th Dukes of Devonshire. In 1801 it was decided to develop the Devonshire property in Dungarvan. A large building programme was initiated which would create forty-shilling freeholders entitled to vote in parliamentary elections. Those who obtained new houses were expected to vote for the Duke’s candidate at election time, thereby increasing his influence in the town.

By 1806 properties on the site of the proposed square had been demolished and a new square and surrounding streets were being laid out. Welsh slate, Yorkshire flags and Portland stone were imported from Britain. The houses on the square were three storeys and had a limestone parapet. On the north side, flanking the entrance to Bridge Street, were two four-storey buildings. The architect of these improvements may have been William Atkinson who also carried out improvements at Lismore Castle. Jesse Hartley, an engineer/ architect, was brought over from Yorkshire to supervise the work on the square and bridge.

The square was the scene of a dramatic episode in Ireland’s Civil War in March 1921. General Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the National Army, was delivering a political speech from the back of a lorry, when the lorry was hijacked by 3 young Republicans in an attempt to kidnap him. The vehicle was driven out of the square along Bridge Street in the direction of Abbeyside and was only stopped when a gun was held to the head of the driver. The driver leapt out of the lorry while it was still moving and managed to escape under fire from Collin’s bodyguards.

Exit the square via Mary Street. You will see St. Mary’s Church at the top of the street.

Stop 2 - St. Mary’s Parish Church

This was one of the largest Catholic Churches built in Ireland in the early 19th century. The church so dwarfed the nearby Protestant church (also called St. Mary’s) that certain members of the local protestant community, including the Duke Of Devonshire’s agent, were very much opposed to the new church’s construction. The agent’s objections were overruled by the 6th Duke of Devonshire who donated the land and also contributed £1,500 to the cost of the building. It was a very ambitious undertaking for a relatively small town and as a result the original plans were never executed in full. A tower was planned for the West end, which would have made an attractive addition to the town’s skyline, but unfortunately lack of money prevented its construction.

The building was designed by George Richard Pain of Cork and was finally completed and opened in 1828. The exterior is simply designed with slender limestone buttresses. The pattern of the stone tracery is different in each window. The elaborate East window and the West porch were added in the late 19th century.

The building was altered and renovated under the direction of the Parish Priest Father Cleary in the 1870s. He removed the old balconies, stone floor etc., and installed new stained glass windows designed by Wailes & Strang of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In the 1890s further improvements were made, including an entrance porch by George Ashlin.

Moving inside into the church, the most attractive feature of the building is the beautiful Neo- Gothic ceiling, which has ribbed vaulting, pendants and huge bosses down the centre of the nave. Beneath the main altar is a splendid sculpture titled ‘The Pieta’. It is carved in the style of the noted local sculptor John Hogan of Tallow but was executed by Scannel & Company of Cork.

Walk out the entrance gates of St. Mary’s, turn right and walk for 200 metres. This will bring you to the next stop. A commemorative plaque on the wall indicates that you have arrived at St. Mary’s Church Of Ireland.

Stop 3 - St. Mary’s Church of Ireland

The Churchyard is hidden from view by a very old stone wall, which faces on to Emmett Street. In 1795 a new set of entrance gates and piers were erected at a cost of £12. These gates still survive today. The present church was rebuilt to a design by James Pain about 1828. It incorporates part of an earlier church of circa 1700. The church has a T-plan and is built of limestone ashlar. The windows have simple Gothic style timber frames. An extension was added to the East End in 1903, and also at this period, new stained-glass windows were installed by Watsons of Youghal. A curious feature to the west of the church is the old gable wall with its five circular opes. This wall is about 32 feet long and 30 feet high, the windows being of dressed sandstone. After much research it now seems certain this wall is all that remains of the old Pre-Reformation Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, records of which date back to the 1300s. In 1642 during the Civil War, the Irish rebels under a Captain Fennell destroyed the interior of the church and used it as a stable and prison for the Protestant inhabitants.

This church is described by historian Charles Smith writing in 1746: ‘Formerly the Parish Church was a large building, with a high steeple, but the whole was demolished by Cromwell. It is at present rebuilt where the chancel of the old church stood, the banks of the churchyard are washed by the ocean at high water the same being handsomely laid out into gravel walks planted with trees’.

The beautiful view from here, much admired by 18th and 19th century visitors to Dungarvan, can still be appreciated today. There is a very large graveyard with many interesting old gravestones. The pathway through the churchyard was an ancient right-of-way for the fishermen of Boreenatra to their boats on the quay. On the west side of the cemetery near the pathway is a memorial erected to mark the site of a mass grave of those who were drowned on the ship Moresby, wrecked in Dungarvan Harbour in 1895.

The little Neo-Tudor style house in the corner of the churchyard is the old Church of Ireland school built in 1846. Return to the entrance gate and walk right for 20 metres until you come to the entrance of Dungarvan Town Park.

Stop 4 - The Park

Overlooking Dungarvan Bay is the Town Park laid out in 1894. The entrance from Park Terrace is through an archway which has a stone to the memory of Captain William Gibbons who donated money for the setting out of the park. Originally this plaque contained the names of the Dungarvan Town Commissioners. The Commissioners were responsible for the administration of the town but at this period in history the Dungarvan Town Commissioners were infamous for being argumentative, corrupt and self interested. The inclusion of their names so incensed Captain Gibbon’s widow, Mrs Mary Gibbons, that she contacted the Commissioners asking them to remove the plaque or she would take legal action. ‘I have been asked to give your Town Commissioners another opportunity of complying with my request regarding that objectionable tablet.’

In November 1894 the plaque was finally taken down from over the archway. The current inscription was added to the blank side of the plaque and the side containing the names of the Town Commissioners was put facing into the wall. Before its removal the names of the Town Commissioners had been crossed out in paint by a disapproving local. This scene was photographed by prominent local photographer Edmond Keohan. He titled the picture ‘The Condemned Slab’.

The plaque is still known by this name. Standing on the bandstand, there is a magnificent view of the bay. The sand spit, known as the Cunnigar, projects into the bay. The two headlands at the entrance to the bay are Ballinacourty on your left and Helvick Head on your right. Across the harbour, in Abbeyside, you can see the remains of the old Augustinian Abbey which was built circa 1290.

The cast iron Bandstand was erected circa 1900 and made by McFarlane’s of Glasgow. Here on many summer evenings, tourists known locally as ‘Gaybricks’ and Dungarvan residents enjoyed the music of the brass band. Also in the park is a monument in the form of a Celtic Cross. The cross was erected in 1903 to the memory of Edmund Power who was hanged at the Market House in 1799 for being a member of the United Irishmen.

On the sea wall opposite the steps to the park is a limestone plaque commemorating the lifeboat men who saved seven crewmen from the ship Moresby wrecked in Dungarvan Harbour on Christmas Eve 1895. Retrace your steps out of the Park, walk left for 20 metres after exiting the park gate and return to the entrance to St. Mary’s Church Church Of Ireland. With your back to the church gates walk downhill onto Church Street.

Stop 5 - Church Street

The street contains some of the oldest houses in Dungarvan. In the past they were occupied by the professional classes. Slater’s Commercial Directory of 1846 lists five Priests, an Attorney, a Civil Engineer, a Port Surveyor and also refers to a Post Office and Custom House. While the buildings are of no great architectural merit, taken together they form a pleasant streetscape. The most notable features are Georgian style doorways. The left side of the street was mostly taken up with the Convent of Mercy buildings, which were demolished in the year 2000.

The lanes on the right of the street are Parsley Lane and Bath Street. On the corner of No. 21 Church Street you can find an interesting date stone located close to ground level. The stone is inscribed: ‘Patrick Gough - A.H.- 1615.’ Patrick was Attorney for Seisin in 1591 and was Portreeve (Mayor) in 1602.

Walk down Church Street for another 20 meters and you will come to No. 24 Church Street probably the oldest inhabited house in Dungarvan. A commemorative plaque on the house records it as the place where General Michael Jones died.

Stop 6 - No. 24

No. 24 Church Street is a large three-storey building with a narrow round-headed doorway and thick walls. Some years ago, two date stones were uncovered above the door inscribed: -’K.G.M. 1714 and H.B.S. 1761’. The house is probably older. Local tradition states that it was in this house that Cromwell’s second-in-command, General Michael Jones, died on the 8th December 1649. Jones was commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary Army in Ireland prior to the arrival of Cromwell.

A renowned cavalry commander, Jones won a major battle at Dangan Hill and broke the Royalist siege of Dublin by winning the Battle of Rathmines. According to Smith’s History of Waterford the house was owned by a Mrs. Chaplain, daughter of the local rector and she claimed that Jones had been poisoned by order of Cromwell. However there is no written evidence to back up her claim.

Walk down a further 20 metres to the bottom of Church Street. The large building on the corner to the right is known as Barry’s Stores.

Stop 7 - Barry’s Stores

At the end of the street is a large limestone warehouse known as Barry’s Stores. Parts of the building date back to the 16th century. Two pointed windows and other fragments survive. During the Famine in 1847 the governors of the Dungarvan Workhouse, known as the Board of Guardians, leased the adjoining warehouse building to accommodate 300 people. The Board of Guardians of a locality were responsible for implementing Government plans to provide help to the starving and destitute. This was one of many buildings around Dungarvan that were used as temporary workhouse accommodation at this time. At the height of the tragedy in 1849, 4000 men, women and children were living in accommodation around Dungarvan provided by the Board of Guardians. The population of Dungarvan at the time was approximately 10,000 people. Correspondents of The Cork Examiner newspaper documented many of the worst events of the Famine in the locality.

‘Coffins are becoming a luxury - bodies are being kept five or six days without interment and ultimately they are obliged to be buried wrapped up in a bundle of straw or hay, to keep them from public gaze as they are hurried to the grave...... Every day is seen issuing from the Workhouse gate the dead cart with three, four or five of its dead inmates. The deaths in the Workhouse are nothing, comparatively speaking, to the immense number outside its doors. If something is not done, and that quickly, two thirds of the population must unquestionably perish.’

Our next stop is across the lane from Barry’s Stores. The gable-fronted building painted in black and white facing down Lower Parnell Street is the Old Market House Arts Centre.

Stop 8 - The Old Market House Arts Centre

One of the town’s most historic buildings, the Old Market House terminates the view down Church Street and Parnell Street. The Market House has been reconstructed to house an Arts Centre. The distinctive black and white main front has two arches.

A charter of 1610 instructed the Corporation to erect a stone Guild Hall as soon as possible. A Town Hall was in existence in 1642 when its capture is recorded. It seems likely that the present Market House incorporates parts of this Town Hall. Rebuilt in the early 18th century as a butter market and Town Hall, it had an open arcade on three sides and a small cupola on the roof. According to local tradition, Edmond Power was hanged from a window of the building in 1799 he was also drawn and quartered, his head being left in Dungarvan gaol and his body buried in Kilgobnet churchyard.

Power was one of the local Yeomanry but was also secretly a member of the United Irishmen. The Society of United Irishmen were a revolutionary republican organisation, inspired by the American Revolution and allied with Revolutionary France. The United Irishmen launched the Irish Rebellion of 1798 with the objective of ending British rule over Ireland and founding an independent Irish republic.

To the left of the Market House Arts Centre is a three storey building (formerly the Park House bar). A commemorative plaque on the house records it as the place where Francis Xavier O’Brien was born.

Stop 9 - Francis Xavier O’Brien Birthplace

This building was originally a guest house and was very popular with the ‘Gaybricks’, visitors who came to Dungarvan for sea-bathing or to visit the nearby Stoke’s Baths. The house was also a meeting place for the old Dungarvan Literary Society. The prominent Fenian, Francis Xavier O’Brien was born in this house in 1828. His father was a wealthy Dungarvan merchant. After studying medicine in Dublin, O’Brien went to America where he took part in the American Civil War working as an assistant surgeon. On his return to Ireland he joined the Fenian Movement. The Fenians, also known as The Irish Republican Brotherhood, were a secret oath-bound organisation dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century.

Fenianism’s two main principles were that firstly, Ireland has a natural right to independence, and secondly, that that right could be won only by an armed revolution.

Because of his involvement in the Fenian Rising against British rule in 1867 O’Brien was arrested and sentenced to death. However his sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. In later life he became a Member of Parliament for South Mayo and Cork.

Facing towards the Park House, walk 40 metres to your right into Barrack Lane/ Castle Street. At the end of the lane on the right hand side is an old stone building known locally as St. Garvan’s Church. A commemorative plaque on the building records it as a 16th Century merchants house.

Stop 10 - 16th Century Merchant’s House

Opposite the entrance to the castle are the remains of a 16th century building known as St. Garvan’s Church. It was given this title by local historians at the turn of the 20th century, as it was thought by them to be the remains of a church built by St. Garvan - the alleged founder of Dungarvan. The building was originally of two storeys and was most probably a merchant’s house rather than a church. The east gable and the north and south walls survive. In the north wall facing the castle is a pointed doorway flanked by tiny square-headed windows. A similar window survives on the east gable. In 1920 the headquarters of the Dungarvan Electric Light Company was established here and electric lighting introduced for the first time to the town.

Opposite St. Garvan’s Church is the entrance gateway to the restored Dungarvan Castle.

Stop 11 - Dungarvan Castle

Prince John arrived in Waterford in 1185 and initiated the building of a number of castles in the South East region including the one at Dungarvan. By 1209 a stone castle had been erected at the mouth of the harbour. The castle has a polygonal keep and a twin-towered gatehouse. At the western corner there is a large two-storey tower. At its base the castle wall is over seven feet thick. The massive southern wall with its walkway still survives and gives some indication of the original strength of the castle. In the centre of the yard are the remains of the old military barracks, built in the 18th century. An Inquisition of 1299 states that: ‘there are at Dungarvan a castle in bad repair, unroofed, and nearly levelled to the ground, a new tower unroofed, a stone house beyond the gate in ill condition’.

The castle was taken over by the Earl of Ossory and the Lord Deputy in 1535 and thereafter became a royal castle once again. The castle was badly damaged in the Desmond Rebellion, which began in 1579. In 1580 it was described as being ‘in extreme ruin’ and its repair was ordered in 1582.

In 1594 Henry Dockwray was appointed Constable with a wage of 4 shillings a day for himself. The castle garrison consisted of six archers on a wage of 6 pence a day and fifteen foot soldiers paid 8 pence a day.

The castle featured in the mid 17th century Civil Wars. In 1641 Dungarvan rebelled along with most other towns in Munster. In March 1642 Sir William St. Leger took the town which was burned and many of the townspeople were killed. A Lieutenant Rossington was left in charge of the castle.

However the Irish rebels soon recaptured the castle led by Richard Butler of Kilcash, John Fitzgerald of Farnane and John Hore FitzMathew and his son. The castle was taken in the following manner: John Hore had borrowed a ladder from the castle some weeks before on the pretense of repairing the roof of his house at Shandon. “Hore sent word to the said Castle to fetch in the said lather. For, saith he, ‘the enemy is neere at hand, and it is to be feared they will scale the walls except it were brought in by times, and withal sent six men with the ladder to the castle gate; and presently noe sooner were the gates open to receive in the ladder but the parties that carried the same stood in the middest of the said gate with the one half of the ladder within doors and thother half without’. Whereby the rebels instantly rushed in a great number and took the said castle”.

Lord Inchiquin arrived in Dungarvan on 3 May 1647 and tried for four days to make a breach in the town walls. On 10 May the garrison surrendered to Inchiquin. The castle was eventually taken by negotiation rather than by force. A contemporary account notes that : “The Soldiers are enraged that they had so good terms as was given them. They marched out from all these Garrisons with their Arms, Colours flying, Drums beating, Bullet in Mouth, their Goods and Provisions. The Rebels made two sallies out of Dungarvan, a Seaport and a walled Town, in half an hour, and killed two of our Captains and some others; after we had possession of the Castle which stands close to the Town, and deprived the Rebels from Water, they surrendered it on the same terms. But some twenty English men of the Red-Coats, that had run to the Rebels, that were taken in the several Garrisons, were hanged.”.

Inchiquin stated that he saw Dungarvan “so strong that ... an army no better provided than we were might have been kept out of it until their own wants should enforce their surrender”.

In the first half of the 18th century the castle was rebuilt as an infantry barracks. The last soldiers to occupy the barrack were the King’s Own Borderers who left in 1882. It was then taken over by the Royal Irish Constabulary. They evacuated the barrack in March 1922 and it was taken over by Republican forces (the IRA.) The Free State troops took Dungarvan in August 1922, but before leaving, the Republicans set fire to the castle so making a dramatic exit from the town. The castle served as a Garda Barracks until the 1980’s, it opened to the public in 2002.

On exiting the castle turn left leading on to Davitt’s Quay. Walk down along the quayside with the harbour on your right hand side.

Stop 12 - Davitt’s Quay

The quay was constructed in the 19th century as part of the large scale re-planning of the town by the Duke of Devonshire. It was probably built by Jesse Hartley, an engineer and architect from Yorkshire who was brought to Dungarvan to supervise the town improvements. In the 18th century there were only two small quays - George’s Quay and Roderick’s Quay.

The large old warehouses that lined the quayside have been replaced by new buildings in recent years. Most of these warehouses were connected with a corresponding shop on Parnell Street, the Main Street of Dungarvan. The goods came directly off the boat to the customer. These shopkeepers also owed their own ships. Families such as the Currans, Sheehans and Moloneys were the leading ship-owners in the late 19th century.

In 1867 The National Encyclopedia had this to say about Dungarvan: Vessels of not more than 250 tons can discharge at the quay. The chief exports are grain, butter, cattle, and fish. Dungarvan is governed by a board of fifteen town and harbour commissioners, who have recently improved the port. The parliamentary borough returns one member. The Population is 8614, many of whom are engaged in the hake, cod, and herring fisheries.

Some old laneways lead off the quay on to Parnell Street. The first lane you come to on your left hand side is Thompson’s Lane.

Stop 13 - Thompson’s Lane

This was previously called Kennedy’s Lane and also Short Hair Lane. The present name recalls Thomas Thompson who owned properties in the vicinity. Walk 20 metres up the quayside and next lane you come to on your left hand side is Galwey’s Lane.

Stop 14 - Galwey’s Lane

This lane was known as Fox’s Lane in 1760. The Galweys were a prominent Catholic merchant family in Dungarvan. They were engaged in the corn, butter and bacon business and also owned their own sailing ships. On the corner of this lane-way set high up on the wall is a stone inscribed - ‘Galwey’s Lane 1740’.

Walk 30 metres up the quayside and next narrow pedestrian lane you come to on your left hand side is Cox’s Lane.

Stop 15 - Cox’s Lane Or ‘Dirty Lane’

One of Dungarvan’s narrowest lanes, it gives a flavour of what the old medieval lanes were like. In the early 19th century it was known as Cox’s Lane after Augustine Cox a rope maker who lived on the corner. In 1760 it was called Power’s Lane. The colloquial name of ‘Dirty Lane’ was given to the lane due to the poor condition of the laneway for much of it’s recent history.

Walk up this lane which will bring you onto Parnell Street. Parnell Street was the main thoroughfare of the old town and was once known as Market Street. If you look to your left you can see that the street widens out near the Market House. This was the old town centre and market place before the Square was built.

Slightly to your left across from Cox’s Lane is a large red brick building called Priory House.

Stop 16 - Priory House

This fine red-brick building was erected in 1871 to a design by George Ashlin as an Augustinian Priory. The front is of three storeys and three bays. There are limestone coign stones and the ground-floor windows and doorway have carved columns. The building was restored at the start of this century.

The western section of the town wall was situated in this area. At the end of the street where St. Augustine Street meets Parnell Street was the West Gate, demolished in the mid 19th century. It was through this gate that Cromwell entered the town in 1649. Local tradition states that the town was saved from total destruction due to the actions of one woman: - ‘A woman, whose name was Nagle advanced boldly…took his horse by the bridle, and with a flagon of beer in her hand, drank the health of the Conqueror. This spirited conduct immediately struck Cromwell…he took the cup and drank and was so pleased with the conduct of the female that he revoked his former order, and not only saved the lives of the inhabitants but also saved the town from being plundered by his troops - the castle and church excepted!’

Walk to your right and then walk left up St. Augustine Street. This street was known as Clubbert’s Lane in the 18th and 19th centuries. On your left hand side you will see St. Augustine’s Church.

Stop 17 - St. Augustine’s Church

The Augustinian church was built in 1823. This was the first substantial permanent chapel the Augustinians had in the town since their eviction from their Abbey in Abbeyside in the mid 16th century as a result of the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

In 1853, the original thatched roof collapsed and the church was extensively rebuilt. The west tower of sandstone was added in 1858. The interior still remains largely intact with fine balconies and ceiling plasterwork. Beside the entrance door is an old water font inscribed ‘B .L. Wall - 1820’.

Over it is a section of tracery from a medieval window, possibly brought over from the old Abbey in Abbeyside as a memento.

A marble tablet on the base of the tower commemorates Father Patrick Toomy (1799-1867) who is particularly remembered for the work he did during the Famine period. When the dead were being removed through the back gate of the local Workhouse, he stood for hours each day checking that each person was actually dead and blessed each one with water from the nearby holy well before they were finally conveyed to the mass graveyard at Reilig An tSleibhe.

Opposite the church is The Old Town Hall.

Stop 18 - The Old Town Hall / Waterford County Museum

The Town Hall was converted from an 18th century warehouse in the 1870s. The ground floor had three open arches where the Butter Market was held, and upstairs was a Council Chamber and Theatre. The present unusual plaster front dates from the early 1900s. It now houses Waterford County Museum on the ground floor. Admission to the museum is free of charge.

Facing the museum, turn right and retrace your steps down St. Augustine Street.

Facing you is ‘Carberys Lane’. The Carbery’s were tobacco manufacturers in Dungarvan for over 100 years. In the 18th century the lane was called ‘Rivers Lane’ after a local merchant family, some of whom were involved in the banking business.

At the corner of St. Augustine Street turn left into Parnell Street. Part of Parnell Street still has a number of attractive old shop fronts and over one shop on the left hand side of the street is Dungarvan’s town crest in plaster relief. At the Square turn right and exit the square using T. F. Meagher Street which is opposite Mary Street and St. Mary’s Church.

Stop 19 - The Courthouse

Located next to the Post Office this fine limestone building was erected in the late 1820’s. It was designed by James Pain. It has a three bay centre block with a pediment flanked by single storey wings. Directly opposite the courthouse you can see Dungarvan’s oldest hotel.

Stop 20 - Lawlor’s Hotel

Lawlor’s Hotel was originally built in the early 1800s as The Devonshire Arms Hotel. It still retains its cast iron balcony with the Devonshire coat of arms. Many well-known visitors stayed here including the author William Thackeray. Many notable politicians including Michael Collins, Henry Matthews M.P., Frank Hugh O’Donnell M.P. and Eamonn De Valera gave election speeches from the balcony on various occasions.

Facing the hotel walk to your right, next to the hotel is the former Provincial Bank building.

Stop 21 - The Old Provincial Bank

This building was previously known as the Provincial Bank. It was built about 1860 as a Town Hall and sold in the 1870s to the Bank. It is built in Italianate style, of sandstone ashlar with limestone dressings and has a pedimented breakfront. Opposite the bank building is the bridge.

Stop 22 - The Bridge

The bridge was to be a prominent feature in the town improvements, but the construction of it was postponed for some years until the square and streets were completed. In 1808 the Duke’s agent employed William Atkinson as architect.

In 1809 construction of the bridge commenced and Jesse Hartley was employed to supervise the work. The bridge is single arched, of rusticated sandstone, imported ready cut from Runcorn in Cheshire. The piers have rectangular panels and there are curving sweeps on each side. It was finally completed in 1816.

Cross the bridge and walk along the Causeway that leads to Abbeyside.

Stop 23 - The Causeway

The Causeway is one of the most distinctive parts of the landscape of Dungarvan and Abbeyside.

The author William Makepeace Thackeray writing in 1843 stated, ‘We drove on to Dungarvan; the two parts of which town, separated by the River Colligan, have been joined by a Causeway three hundred yards long, and a bridge erected at enormous outlay by the Duke Of Devonshire. In former times, before his Grace spent his 80,000 pounds upon the Causeway, this wide estuary was called the ‘Dungarvan Prospect’, because the ladies of the country, walking over the River at low water, took off their shoes and stockings (such as had them) and tucking up their clothes, exhibited, - what I have never seen, and therefore cannot be expected to describe.’

On the left of the Causeway is ‘Walton Park’ named after Professor Ernest Walton who was born in Abbeyside. The Causeway was also the site of a railway level crossing. This was reputedly Ireland’s longest level crossing gate to gate. The old Railway Bridge is now used as a walkway and can be accessed via Walton Park.

Stop 24 - The Moresby Buoy

In the green area at the end of the Causeway is an unusual looking object. This is known as the ‘Moresby Buoy’. It was restored and placed here as a memorial to commemorate the ship ‘Moresby’ wrecked in the harbour in 1895. This buoy was used to mark the site of the wreck, which was a danger to ships entering the harbour. This part of the town is known as Abbeyside (Dún Na Mainistreach - Fort of the Monastery). The fort refers to McGrath’s Castle now demolished. Before the bridge was built, the river was fordable at low tide and there was also a ferry at ‘Cúl a tSáilin’ opposite the castle.

Turn right just beyond the buoy and walk for 150 metres this will bring you Sarah Purser’s residence. A commemorative plaque on the house records it as her residence.

Stop 25 - Sarah Purser Residence

On this building which houses the Abbeyside Archive is a plaque commemorating the artist Sarah Purser. A noted portrait painter, Purser was very active in the art world in Dublin and was involved in the setting up of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery. She was also associated with the stained glass movement, founding a stained glass workshop, An Túr Gloine, in 1903. In 1923 she became the first
female member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. The Purser family lived in this
house when they first settled in Dungarvan. A few years later they moved to a
house nearby called ‘The Hermitage’, which is now demolished.

Continue walking for 150 metres, keeping the harbour on your right hand
side until you reach the birthplace of Ernest Walton. The plaque marking his
birthplace is mounted beside the door of the house.

Stop 26 - Birthplace of Ernest Walton

On the site of these houses was a long thatched gentleman’s house called
‘Epworth Cottage’ where the Nobel Prize winner Ernest Walton was born in 1903.
Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his
work with John Cockcroft on “atom-smashing” experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930’s. The apparatus they used to split the nuclei of
lithium atoms, a type of particle accelerator now called the Cockcroft-Walton
generator, helped to usher in an era of particle-accelerator-based experimental
nuclear physics. Walton is the only Irishman to have won a Nobel Prize in
science. A Commemorative plaque marking the birthplace was unveiled on the
3rd of April 2004 by his son Professor Philip Walton.
Continue walking for 200 metres, keeping the harbour on your right hand side
until you reach the Augustinian Abbey.

Stop 27 - The Augustinian Abbey

The remains of the abbey can be accessed by walking to the rear of Abbeyside
Church.
The Augustinians came from Clare Priory in Suffolk around 1290 having been
invited over by their patron Thomas, Lord Offaly, Justiciary of Ireland. At the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1541 it was stated that the Friary was in use
as the parish church. It was leased to James Walshe, constable of Dungarvan
Castle, in 1551.
The Civil Survey of 1654 noted it as ‘ruined and destroyed’. This probably
occurred during the Cromwellian occupation of Dungarvan. The ruins consist
of a 13th century chancel 45ft. by 20ft.
There is a large east window which has lost all its stone tracery, and three
windows in limestone. In the front wall, underneath an arched opening, is a
limestone grave slab dated 1470 commemorating Donal McGrath. The McGraths
were benefactors of the Abbey and had a tower house nearby. The church tower
is of 15th century date and had four floors. The ground floor has ribbed vaulting.
Some fragments of the old Abbey are incorporated in the walls of the present
church (built around 1820). These include the Abbey’s coat of arms consisting of
a Griffin and three scallop shells, a carving of a bishop’s head and some carved
capitals, probably from the cloister.

Difficulty:
easy