Welcome to Wexford!

Fishing for the serious shore angler with professional guide (and neighbour) Jim Hendrick see

http://www.probassfisher.com

Working or Learning English

The Slaney Language School offer flexible options for all types of groups and individuals who want to learn or improve their English, many ex-pupils have enjoyed lengthy conversations with me while walking the dogs on Curracloe beach or in the kitchen while baking bread!

I love to correct peoples grammar and share the subtle nuances of the languge. Showing off my Hiberno-English, speaking clearly and theatrically with puns and idioms galore, this is one of the synergies of having a B&B, you can delve into another role, apart from cleaner, receptionist, home-maker, cook, baker, painter, gardener, (sadly only once a week) yogi and chorister. Both my parents have taught, Mam; English and Dad; Economics and Statistics, although I never rose to the challenge academically myself I have always enjoyed language and I have a great 'ear' therefore I have a lovely 'blas' when I speak Irish. (Failte is fiche roimh muintir Chonnamra, ta rí-gantannas 'labairt trí gaeilge' i mo shaol ach eisitm le MTS ag a do a clog, beagnach chuile lá!) I am always lamenting the fact that I do not read enough and study enough (one day perhaps ah "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"..), but I am quick to correct another, you know the type!  now back to business.

Many Workers have stayed here and feel it is even better than home because you can get a free alarm-call, your delicious healthy breakfasts are cooked to order, never microwaved, and served with a smile (only if I have had my first cup!), and eaten in "golden silence" or radio/CD if you chose, and off you go to work. On your return you will return to a calm and warm room, where you can set up with your laptop or read or watch  TV or nap.  In the living room you can enjoy the heat of the kachelofen fire, watch SKY TV or a DVD or listen to music, play cards or scrabble or a board game or just chill.

Yoga with Suzzane Barry Wednesdays Wexford Opera House(drop-in can be arranged). See her facebook for more details it is simply; yoga in wexford

Nordic walking with pole'ish Peter Glicner, on the magnificent Curracloe beach or Mt. Leinster, he also does guided mountain biking. He has a soccer background and is also associated with a rugbyman who runs bootcamps based in Barntown www.fit4all.ie

Cookery lessons are available with Phelim Byrne www.phelimbyrne.ie,. and Eurotoque chefs Valerie and Pierce McAuliffe run the Dunbrody Abbey cookery Centre, nextdoor to the Abbey itself and an adjoining maze. www,cookingireland.com or ph 051 388933

Cuasnog based golf - cook; Try this little hybrid in conjunction with a wonderful lady golfer friend and I: "Learn how to cook while your wife learns to play golf".

Groups of 3 to 6 welcome in Cuasnóg but for any overflow of 6 guests or more the St. George Guesthouse has 14 rooms and is only 150m down the road.

The long and narrow main street runs parallel to the sea-front, it is dotted with shops to suit all budgets, mostly family owned, where the attentive service, occasional cash-discounts and even alterations are still a feature, making shopping a pleasure, some establishments will deliver your purchases to Cuasnóg, yet another feature of Wexford, which evolved as a result of our quaint pedestrianised streets.

The Nationally renowned artisan chef Warren Gillen, formerly of La Riva, is now at the helm in his Irish restaurant 'Cistín eile' South Main St..There you can experience Irish cuisine with his own inimitable cosmopolitan dash, a symphony of flavour in every mouthful in a buzzing setting, mouth watering food very very reasonably priced. (Closed Sundays except bank Holidays) lunch Monday to Saturday; soup €3.00/Chowder €4.50, Mains €8 to €10, desserts for €4.50, even at dinner time! Special great value dinner available nightly;(i.e. Wed Thur Fri Sat with Sunday only on Bank Holiday) starter/main course/dessert for €24! You can chose from the A La Carte menu where main courses range from €14 to €20. Warren endeavours to use local, seasonal and where possible organic produce, adopting the slow-food ethic, a man after my own heart. Warren's team of helpful local waiting staff are very experienced and effieient. ph; +353 53 9121616

Closer to Cuasnóg, within 500m walk you could dine for lunch / dinner in 'Taste' +353 53 9143988 'La Dolce Vita' +353 53 9170806 'Jaques Bistro' in Greenacres+353 53 9122975 or 'The Yard' +353 53 9144083. See Trip Advisor for reviews/customer opinions.

The Thai 'Vine restaurant' (+353 53 9122388) and 'Spice' (+353 53 9122011) Indian restaurant have indigenous chefs from Thailand and Kerala respectively. The Vine is situated on North Main St. in an old building used by the YMCA for many years, it has a wonderful stucco ceiling. Run by Siobhan and David Kavanagh (past presenter of 'Ear to the ground'!) The chef Ray will give you authentic Thai cuisine and a warm smile from his open kitchen.

On the quay the award winning 'Fordes' run by Liam Forde, where some tables over-look our lovely harbour and the statue of Commodore Barry (founder of the U.S. Navy). An early-bird dinner menu in winter with the full moon rising over the water is a veritable heaven.

Wexford Arts Centre home to the delightful D'Lush Cafe serves light and wholesome savouries by day, a menu for coffee & freshly brewed teas from around the world and wickedly delicious homemade chocolates, desserts, puddings, cookies, muffins, tarts/tartlets, baked cheesecake, to mention a few Another slow-food spot served by 'quick as lightening' Eamonn, both Eamonn and Linda Larkin's fare will without doubt lift your spirits. Linda will take orders for take-away and handmade choclates and wedding cakes etc +353 53 9123795

Facilities at Cuasnóg include lots of good storage and outdoor washing areas and drying areas for equipment and we have freezer facility and ample rod storage area.

Sea angling from the shore is free, however a local professional, Jim Hendrick, can be contacted - Bass Fishing Ireland. www.probassfisher.com

A mere 20km from Wexford lies Kilmore Quay; fishing harbour and marina, which is a Mecca for deep-sea angling in the south-east. A small rural fishing village with lovely thatched houses and a little sandy beach, fantastic restaurants, a fish shop, a great butcher, a wonderful craft shop and well stocked cornershop cum deli. A couple of pubs and a ship's chandlers. The church choir in Kilmore is under the wonderful composer Liam Bates. The Kilmore Carols (sung the 12 days of Christmas at morning mass) have been handed down in an aural tradion spanning many generations. From Kilmore Quay you can take a half hour boat trip to the famous Saltee Islands, one of the most important bird sanctuaries in Europe. No need to bring binoculars to look at the many sea birds, there is a colony of Gannets and puffins. It is covered in seapinks and bluebells in May, and in June the corridor Cordaline palm trees give a magnificent scent. Charter boats are a possiblity for the sea angler: Species caught locally include bass, cod, shark, tope, ling, mackerel, bream, pollock, skate and whiting. Or just take it easy and sample catch-of-the-day in the renowned 'Silver Fox' or one of the many seafood restaurants. The chipper is even first rate serving goujons of deep-fried monkfish to die for!

Kilmore Quay is popular with Divers. Hook to Carnsore point reputed to be graveyard to a thousand ships, also a favourite diving region, Hook has wrecks and beautiful caverns, blow-holes and fissures to explore.

Members of the (IWDG) Irish Whale and Dolphin Group have stayed here when conducting cross-channel surveys and have noted prolific sightings, approximately 3000 in perfect conditions. We have at least 24 Cetacean species! The latest news can be found at www.iwdg.ie

Pitch And Putt, and Par three golf course close to town in Garrylough.

Many golf courses nearby including Wexford Golf Club and the famous Rosslare Links course just 14 kilometres away. Saint Helens Bay Golf Resort and Ballymoney …. All within easy driving distance. Transport can arranged. In the past I have organised T-times as it is easier to make arrangements using my landline than from abroad.

Wexford has around 200km of coastline and two major estuaries. Only 12 km from town, Curracloe Beach epitomises miles of unspoilt white sandy beach. In 1997, this was the location for re-enactment of the D-Day Normandy Landings in the Tom Hanks film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Duncannon Fort and Beach was the movie location of the recent version of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. www.duncannonfort.com

Nordic walking is "fitness Walking with lightweight poles that take stress off the lower body" giving you time efficient, low impact, total-body workout, with a qualified, enchanting, and genteel instructor. Walking on the magnificent Curracloe beach or on high ground such as the Blackstairs Mountains. For more information see Peter Glicner's website.

Horse Riding; www.kingsfordequestrian.com (00 353 53 9134065) or Shelmalier Stables (00 353 53 9139251). Lifts from Cuasnóg can be arranged with owners of family run Kingsford, see Cuasnog Trip Advisor for one such amusing review.

Whether amateur or ‘twitcher’ our harbour and Slobs are internationally famous. Dúchas the National Heritage Service run the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, less than 5 km from Cuasnog. Dominic Berridge is the manager there. Ornothologists have based themselves here to spot among others the Roseate Tern with up to 120 pairs at Lady's Island Lake in Co. Wexford where the provision of nestboxes has proven a dramatic conservation success. For more information see www.birdsireland.com/oclery.html

Apart from Sundays From March 1st until November 5th 2011 there is a 90minute 'Walking Tour' available, it's both entertaining and informative, and happens in almost all weathers, begining at the tourist office at 11am it costs for €4 per person. With qualified guides Monica Crofton 00353 86 1079497 Joanne Crofton 00353 86 3175059 and Siobhan McDonald 00353 87 9175171 who can also be engaged for private group bookings.See www.wexfordwalkingtours.com for more details or contact the local tourist office 00353 53 9123111.

Public Swimming Pool, Snooker Hall, Gym & Leisure Complex, Boat & Tennis Club all nearby. Not to mention concerts, shows and theathre and cabaret in our nearby Opera House and Wexford Arts Centre. Live music in various pubs start nightly around half nine with the exception of the Sunday brunch-time session in the Centenary Stores! P.S. for church sung Sunday services you will be spoiled.

With so much to see and do in Wexford one could spend plenty of time here. It has beauty both pastoral and coastal, it is steeped in history and that is still witnessed by the accent and culture of the people. As your host I am happy to discuss the numerous possibilities for maximising your time in Wexford and planning your onward itinerary.

Pre-historical Ireland is brought to life in the nearby Irish National Heritage Park; open 7 days all year round from 9.30am with last admission at 4pm in Winter and 5 pm in Summer. www.inhp.com they too have a good restaurant and craft shop in a waterside tranquil setting. +353 53 9120733

Our more recent history can be experienced in the wonderful 1798 centre in Enniscorthy www.1798centre.com just 15 minute drive from Cuasnóg. "Be-gorra-man, not too far from there is the Father Murphy centre in Boolavogue", see their websites for more information. www.boolavogue.info/home.html

On the west coast of Wexford, flanking the fjiord of Waterford harbour we have the famous Hook peninsula, opposite Crook head, where Cromwell is reputed to have said when asked how he would take the region; ”By Hook or by Crook, I’ll take it!”
Hook Lighthouse (the oldest working lighthouse in Europe) is about a thirty minute drive from Cuasnóg in Wexford town. This makes an ideal day-trip, as there are several coves and beautiful beaches on the Hook peninsula. Including the famous Bag and Bun beach where the Normans first landed, apparently 600 came ashore off their long boats and so it goes this is “where Ireland’s cause was lost and won.” Close also to Featherd-on-Sea a quaint fishing village, with a good shop/deli/fuel, hotel, pubs, cafe, tennis court and campsite not far from a harbour and two beautiful beaches(Bag-in-Bun and Carnivan which faces the same direction as Tramore so can have 'surf up' too).

Duncannon Fort overhangs a strand and village, ideal for a good walk and thirst-quenching pint in Roches's old-fashioned pub with nautical paraphanalia (in winter an open fire) and a weekly traditional music session. Peggy Glennon runs the local seaside shop all year and her son Hal the Strand Tavern across the road. While visiting the Hook Peninsula you could visit  Tintern Abbey and the picturesque village of Saltmills and Dunrody Abbey 12th C. Monastery, with Maze and pitch–n-putt, crafts, tearooms and home to the 'Abbey Cookery school'.

There are about half a dozen private Wexford-gardens which welcome visitors I believe, but I just keep returning to Kilmokea near Campile, I love the scented peace, the perfection of the formal garden teeming with colour, then the variety and jungle-like density of the growth around trout lake and the maze of a vegetable garden with its box-hedge and lastly retiring to the sunny conservatory tea-rooms. Kilmokea House. is a real treat. Here you can escape with family friends in this superior atmosphere with welcoming hosts, Emma and Mark, their staff are efficient, helpfull and local. There is delicious homecooking if you chose to dine. Well trained children and dogs on leads welcome. It is a wonderful get-away, on our door-step, even with an indoor pool, it is suitable for weddings and family parties. This is luxury accommodation, with organic food and family run. Oh and a piano!

Ask me about other gardens like 'Woodville' in New Ross. Mount Usher in Ashford or Powerscourt also in Co. Wicklow.

Today at 14.45, January 8th 2012 I went to visit the Dunbrody 19th century Famine Ship located in New Ross, together with 2 guests from Stuttgart and a friend and her Jack Russel. New Ross is a 25 minute drive from Wexford Town. The ship is an authentic replica of the 3-masted barque built in Quebec in 1845. We enjoyed a bilingual welcome from our receptionist cum tour-guide Jason who was reading 'Foinse' an Irish language paper, his warmth and experience put us right at ease with another dozen visitors, 2 from Alaska, 2 Dublin, the rest from Wexford and about the County. We were swiftly and audio-visually informed of a very sad period in our history which shaped modern day America/Canada and Ireland. Tracing the survival story of bothán dwellers; persecuted, starved, impovorished. A family whose fare was repatriated by another family member already abroad, before the short moving film ended we even witnessed a bit of sean nós dancing at their 'American wake' then they set forth with their few belongings pushed along on a cart. Thankfully over a million famine victims emigrated (a million died at home or en route to refuge) and overcame the most horrific hardship and some went on to amazing success like The Kennedy's, Henry Ford, the Commodore Barry and others. This well presented information was really brought home when we boarded the ship and there a re-enactment rolled back time when Irish emigrants first left our shores. T'was both informative and moving and was brought to life by the animated 'Mrs O Brien of 1st class' and the more docile 'Anne White' clutching a surviving baby as she was about to face a journey of about 50 days in 'steerage' and God knows what bouts she would contract in that cesspool of accommodation for those poor overcrowded weakened commrades. It reminded me of Joseph O Connor's dramatic 'Star Of the Sea' which I read years ago and might take up again. The tour was over in an hour, but we were welcome to stay in the audio-visual area and read and ruminate further or on the ship either but t'was a tad cold on the quayside in January after all. In fact the weather is so unseasonably mild I was not sufficently dressed for Winter.

While in this neck of the woods we drove about 20mins South East of New Ross to Kennedy Park Arboretum (no pun intended) where we enjoyed a panoramic view of the Wexford coast, part of the Waterford coast, the 3-river estuary, and mountains to the West (the Commeraghs) and to the North, (the Blackstairs and the Wicklow hills in the distance), all around a patch-work of cultivated promising fields, then to the south; the Saltee Islands, Hook Head Light House and the Great Island area close to Kilmokea Country House and Gardens. We didn't have enough time to visit the nearby  JFK ancestral home in Dunganstown, perhaps the next time I am in New Ross.

Many clients come to Cuasnóg to visit family members living in Wexford, Cuasnóg provides a home from home service. Because of the proximity to 5 churches, and 3 Hotels, Cuasnóg is perfect when attending weddings, anniversaries, etc. Weekly rates are around €30 per person sharing, €10 single supplement. High season rates can be applied during the opera festival, and at my discretion, always open to a good haggle though!