The Normans Return to the

To be fortunate enough to have an intact, working, Norman Castle at the very heart of our town and then not to use it as a Norman heritage site has always been rather remiss in my opinion.

So, I am delighted with Manager Mico Hassett and her hard-working team who brought the Normans back to the Castle on Thursday evening 16th February with the official opening of two Norman rooms on the ground floor.

Doing the honours of cutting the ribbon, Enniscorthy gentleman and icon Sean Doyle gave the gathering an informative and concise history of the Castle from its construction in the 1200s to present day.

Manager Mico and her team have put together an interactive space that not only tells the tale of our Norman ancestors and their legacy in Enniscorthy, in particular the names that have remained here in the town for 850 years – Browne, Codd, Roche, Sinnott, Devereux, Colfer, Rossiter, Butler, Warren, I could go on and on, but also includes a display that can be used by tourists to enhance their visit to the Castle.

A large Norman wooden chair set against a beautiful backdrop, including the Enniscorthy crest, is the ideal location for that compulsory tourist photograph, almost guaranteed to go viral, which will spread our Norman story far and wide.

On a personal level, I was delighted to find my own Norman heritage, the Warren Coat of Arms among a collection of ten displayed on the wall, my paternal grandmother being a Warren.

With lots of informative storyboards and displays of Norman chainmail and implements of battle placed around the colourful rooms, this is only the beginning of the Norman Return.

With a huge French interest in all things Norman, and with Wexford being its closest European neighbour post Brexit, and ferries leaving and returning every day from Rosslare to French ports Roscoff, Cherbourg, and Dunkirk, our shared Norman heritage will have major tourism potential.

So like Waterford laid claim to the Vikings, Wexford should now stake its very valid claim to the Normans, after all they landed here in 1169 and 850 years later are still to be found here in our castles, in our placenames and in our surnames.

– Maria Nolan