19 January 2019

Saint Iberius: the church
at the heart of Wexford
is a Georgian gem

Saint Iberius Church on North Main Street in the heart of Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

I could not leave Wexford this week without visiting Saint Iberius Church on North Main Street, praying for a time, and remembering the hospitality and friendship of previous rectors, including Canon Eddie Grant and Canon Norman Ruddock.

The exterior is in the 19th-century Venetian Renaissance style that was influenced by the architectural school inspired by John Ruskin’s Stones of Venice. Inside, the church has a sumptuous late Georgian interior, built in 1760-1766, by John Roberts (1712-1796), who also designed the two cathedrals in Waterford, Christ Church (Church of Ireland) and Holy Trinity (Roman Catholic), as well as the Bishop’s Palace and City Hall.

The Church of Saint Iberius stands on the ancient site of Saint Ibar’s Churrch. Iberius is the Latin form of the name of Saint Ibar, who first brought Christianity to this part of Ireland, and built an oratory on the site.

Saint Iberius Church is said to stand on the site of an earlier church linked with Saint Ibar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saint Iberius founded a monastery on the island of Beg Erin in the mouth of the Slaney in the fifth century (ca 420), long before the Vikings settled at Weissfiord. He died in 500 and his feastday was celebrated on 23 April.

By the beginning of the 17th century, there were 20 churches in Wexford Town, including Saint John’s, the only one with a steeple, and Saint Patrick’s, which had been described once in the previous century as a cathedral.

The present building at Saint Iberius Church probably dates from 1660 or shortly after the restoration of Charles II. Later, in 1690, the Rector of Saint Iberius, the Revd Alexander Allen, accused the Mayor of Wexford, Edward Wiseman, of inciting vandals to demolish the altar and pews in the church, and of stealing the vestments and church books.

The church was rebuilt and redesigned in Georgian fashion in the 1760s by John Roberts (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The church was rebuilt and redesigned in Georgian fashion in the 1760s by the Waterford-born architect John Roberts. Archdeacon Charles Huson, who was the Rector Wexford at the time, is buried in the graveyard at the back of the church in one of only three graves there.

Saint Iberius is perhaps the most important contribution to 18th century church architecture in Co Wexford by John Roberts.

The church stands on the site of an earlier church, which can be seen in the rectangular shape of the site that is wide but shallow. The shape of the church inside is a spreading rectangle, long at the sides, with a gallery above.

This is a five-bay, double-height church, built in 1760-1776, on a cruciform plan centred on a three-bay double-height pedimented breakfront, with a single-bay, three-stage tower on a square plan supporting an octagonal spire. The five-bay full-height elevation at the east side is centred on a three-bay, full-height bow on a segmental plan.

Today, that original cruciform shape is difficult to discern, but it probably can be observed from above. The hipped slate roof is shaped on a cruciform plan centred on the pitched and gabled slate roof.

The chancel in the bowed east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The chancel in the bowed east end has carpeted steps and balustraded serpentine communion rails, moved from Saint George’s Church, Hardwicke Place, Dublin, in 1990. The apse features a round-headed tripartite arcade on composite pillars framing the timber altar below. The three large windows above the altar allow light stream into the church.

The features in the delicate, decorative rococo and stucco plasterwork include classical designs, urns, leaves, lyres and cherubim.

The Gothic-style pulpit on the south side of the chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The Gothic-style pulpit on the south side of the chancel is a memorial to parishioners who died in World War I and World War II.

The Gothic-style prayer desk commemorates Dr Thomas Dowse (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

On the north side of the chancel, the Gothic-style prayer desk was erected by parishioners in 1930 in memory of Dr Thomas Dowse.

The white marble classical-style font in the central aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The cut-veined white marble classical-style font is placed in the central aisle.

The cast-iron bell dated 1816 is now at the north end of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The cast-iron bell dated 1816 was placed at the north end of the church in 2014 and is rung at the Christmas Eve Carol Service.

A Kawai grand piano stands to the side of the altar, close to the pulpit. It was won by a Russian pianist who was taking part in a competition in Ireland. He could not afford to bring it back to Russia, so he sold it to the church. Wexford Festival Opera and Music for Wexford held a concert in the Theatre Royal to raise the funds to buy it, and John O’Conor played at its inauguration in 1996.

The organ in the gallery was built by Bishop & Son of London and was installed in 1893(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The wooden stairs lead up to the gallery, where the organ, built by Bishop & Son of London, was installed in 1893. The wooden pews and the monuments in the gallery bear the names of prominent local families: Boxwell, Doran, Colclough, Hatton, Hughes, Jacob, Meadows, Perceval …

A painted window in the gallery recalls the original appearance of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A reclaimed painted window in the gallery recalls the original appearance of the street frontage as ‘a building of strong and comparatively plain appearance in the Doric style of architecture … consisting of a slightly projecting centre and two wings [each entered] by a door approached by a couple of steps from a platform that extends before the entire front of the building.’

The church was refronted ca 1882, producing the present composition. The symmetrical frontage centres on the pedimented breakfront. The windows facing North Main Street have uniform proportions on each floor and polychromatic brick work. The arcade recalls the Roberts-designed cathedrals in Waterford.

The tower and the polygonal spire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The tower and the polygonal spire show how the development of the church continued in the later in the 19th century.

The East Window (1867) in 13th-century French Gothic-style commemorates the Revd Richard Waddy Elgee, who died in 1865, a reminder of Oscar Wilde’s family connections with the church.

Oscar Wilde’s father, the surgeon Sir William Wilde, married Jane Elgee, was the poet Speranza, in the church in 1809.

Her great-grandfather, Charles Elgee – the first member of the family to move to Ireland – was a bricklayer from Durham, in the north of England, where he was born in 1714. In his teens, he sailed to Ireland with his three brothers to take advantage of a building boom in the 1730s. The brothers settled in Dundalk, where they quickly prospered, and Charles Elgee’s son, John Elgee, later moved to Wexford, where he first served as curate of St Iberius in 1790-1794 and later as rector (1795-1823).

John Elgee, who was also archdeacon of the neighbouring diocese of Leighlin, lived out most of his life at Wexford Rectory, which then stood on the Bull Ring, close to the site of Sheppard’s later monument of the Pikeman, commemorating the 1798 Rising.

Many of Archdeacon Elgee’s parishioners were prominent leaders of the United Irishmen in 1798, including Matthew Keugh, who was appointed Governor of Wexford during the Rising, and Cornelius Grogan of Johnstown Castle. Other families associated with the parish also counted leaders of the United Irishmen among their members, including the Boxwell, Hatton and Hughes families.

Many parishioners were prominent leaders of the United Irishmen in 1798 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Jane Wilde later recalled how her grandfather escaped during the Rising: ‘The rector was taking a service in his church when the rebels burst in, but one of them turned away their pikes and related a great kindness which the clergyman had rendered to his family. It was at once resolved that he and all his belongings should be untouched and a guard was placed on his home for his protection.’

When Keugh, Grogan, Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, and other Protestant leaders of the Rising were taken to their execution, Archdeacon Elgee accompanied them to Wexford Bridge and prayed with them.

Archdeacon Elgee’s only daughter, Jane, was mother of the Arctic explorer, Robert McClure, who had a part in the discovery of the North-West Passage.

The archdeacon’s eldest son, Charles Elgee, a solicitor, married Sarah Kingsbury in Saint Iberius Church on 23 December 1809. The wedding was conducted by another family member, the Revd Richard Waddy Elgee, curate to his own father.

Jane Elgee’s date of birth is not recorded, but local lore says she was born in the Rectory. Her poetic interests may have been inspired at an early age by her uncle, the Revd Richard Waddy Elgee, founder of Wexford YMCA and also a poet. Like his father, he too was curate of Wexford (1811-1823) and later rector of the parish (1843-1865). His great-granddaughter, Edith Elgee, the last surviving member of the family in Wexford, died in 1993.

The exterior is in 19th-century Venetian Renaissance style, influenced by the architectural school that was inspired by John Ruskin’s ‘Stones of Venice’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Other writers associated with the parish include two past rectors: the Revd William Hickey, co-editor of the Irish Farmer’s and Gentleman’s Magazine, who wrote under the name of Martin Doyle and was rector of Wexford 1832-1834; and his successor, Canon John Keefe Robinson (1834-1842), who wrote two books on the life and experiences of a clergyman.

The candlesticks on the Wexford oak altar were donated by the Franciscans and the people of the Friary after the friars celebrated Mass here in 1989-1990 while the Friary was being restored.

The Perceval monument in the gallery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A major restoration began in 1990, thanks to grants from the Heritage Council and other bodies, and the support of local businesses. It transformed Saint Iberius, restoring the fine 18th century stucco work and renewing the roof, ceiling, spire and exterior rendering.

The project cost £352,000 and, according to the then Rector of Wexford, the late Canon Norman Ruddock, ‘it was an undertaking of great vision and courage by the parishioners.’

The church is renowned for its superb acoustics, and is an occasional venue for concerts. The church has traditionally hosted regular recitals and the festival service during the Wexford Festival Opera each year.

The church is open daily from 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Sunday services are at 11.15 a.m.

The church has an intimate relationship with North Main Street and the heart of Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A gentle day in Wexford
by the River Slaney and
the estuary in Ferrycarrig

Sunrise at the mouth of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig in Wexford this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019; click on image for full-screen view)

Patrick Comerford

I woke this morning to the sound of birdsong and the gentle lapping of the River Slaney against the banks of the river estuary below my room at the Ferrycarrig Hotel.

The sun is still late in rising these mornings, and so I stood and watched in awe at the majestic sight as it rose above the low hills on the other side of the river, casting streams of light on the Slaney as the tide came in and began to cover the mud flats.

The Ferrycarrig Hotel is just 3 km from Wexford Town, and before dinner last night two of walked around the streets of the old town. in the dark, criss-crossing through the narrow streets and the laneways between Main Street, Peter Street, High Street, Rowe Street, Cornmarket and the Bull Ring, soaking in the pleasures of being back in a town that I feel so at home in.

There was time to call in to the Library to meet Celestine Murphy, who has edited the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society, and even time for a quick haircut in the Bull Ring.

Outside my former front door in High Street, Wexford, last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Later, we were joined at dinner in Ferrycarrig by two former colleagues from my days at the Wexford People. Hilary Murphy was then the Assistant Editor and Nicky Furlong, who then wrote the pseudonymous ‘Pat O’Leary’ column.

We have all contributed, in our own ways, to telling the history of Wexford, and we recalled how Hilary and Nicky were among a group of Wexford historians who travelled to Dublin for my ordination in Christ Church Cathedral.

Earlier in the evening, I had spotted a T-shirt that claimed that Wexford was established in AD 900. We all agreed the Viking town was perhaps a half century older if not more, and the discussion of Wexford history and Wexford journalism continued until late in the evening.

This morning, the colours on the Slaney and in the skies slowly changed from greys and dull blues to contrasts of bright orange and silver sparkle and then to bright blues and reflections of the landscape in the water.

Time moves on – in history, in life and on river – and each passing phase brings new opportunities and new blessings.

With Wexford historians and journalists Hilary Murphy (left) and Nicky Furlong (right) in Ferrycarrig last night