The dolmen at Ballybrittas dates from Neolithic period (4000-2500 BC) and is probably Wexford’s oldest standing structure. It is located on the lower slopes of Bree Hill and this affords it clear views of the surrounding farmland, […]
Author: colmwexford
Ballymorris: children’s burial ground
The children’s burial ground (cillín) at Ballymorris (WX031-057), Co. Wexford is located in a very large arable field near the summit of a low hill. It survives as a small mound of overgrown stones and […]
The Knockduff stone axe
This beautiful example of a stone axe was found by Nim Dunne and his son Pat on their land in Knockduff, Bree (see map below). The axe represents the oldest artefact ever found in the […]
An outlaw attack on Clonmore, Bree
Late one night in 1739 a group of outlaws known as the Kellymount Gang attacked the residence of Captain Donovan of Clonmore, Bree (Griffiths 1877, 300). The Kellymount gang were a notorious band of thieves and robbers, who […]
How a 16th century attack on Bree led to the defeat of an English army
On the 8th of April 1580 the parish of Bree was attacked by a large force of men who robbed and pillaged as they went. This event and more importantly the subsequent English response was […]
Murder in Tomfarney, Wexford
The early 1830’s saw a period of great unrest in Ireland with high rents and the imposition of tithe payments causing much anger amongst the rural poor. Egged on by an increasingly confident Catholic Church the peasantry […]
The Fitzhenry family of Macmine Castle
During the medieval period the now derelict Macmine castle was home to one of Wexford’s most prominent families, the Fitzhenrys. Originally from the Pembroke region in Wales the Fitzhenrys arrived in Ireland with the first wave of […]
Bree Heritage 