Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [150]
Sleeping & Eating
Killiane Castle ( 053-915 8885; www.killianecastle.com; Drinagh; s/d €75/100, 1-/2-bedroom apt per week from €300/450; ) Northeast of the N25 en route to Wexford, this farmhouse B&B is in a 17th-century house attached to a 13th-century Norman castle – guests can climb its tower for panoramas of the surrounding countryside and coastline. Self-catering apartments are set in the leafy grounds (weekend-only rental possible outside high summer), which also accommodate a golf range, tennis court, croquet lawn and nature trails.
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YE OLDE LANGUAGE
Keep your ears open for remnants of a dialect called Yola, which hangs on in County Wexford’s two southeasternmost baronies, Forth and Bargy. Yola stands for ‘ye olde language’ and is a mix of Irish with old French, English, Welsh, Danish and Flemish brought over by new settlers following the arrival of the Normans.
It’s likely that the Yola language would have disappeared altogether were it not for wealthy local landowner and philanthropist Jacob Poole (1774–1827), who compiled a glossary of some 1700 words. First published 40 years after his death, Poole’s ‘mini-dictionary’ can still be found in libraries today.
Yola is characterised by drawled vowels and endings, and initial Fs pronounced as Vs and initial Ss pronounced as Zs. Some of our favourite examples of the language include: raimais (talking rubbish), sleeveen (sly person), stouk (a truculent woman) and aar’s dhurth a heighe (there’s dirty weather above).
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Kelly’s Resort Hotel ( 053-913 2114; www.kellys.ie; s €77-95, d €154-190, full board per person €127-154; ) Established in 1895 and run by the fourth generation of the same family, this seaside family resort is an Irish institution. While the service remains delightfully old-fashioned and personal, the property has been thoroughly modernised, with bright, contemporary rooms and every conceivable facility: tennis, crazy golf, snooker, table tennis, badminton, yoga, croquet, restaurants, bars, and a pampering SeaSpa.
Rosslare is short on good restaurants, but La Marine ( 053-32114; lunch mains €11-16, dinner mains €18-25; noon-10pm), the wonderful Gallic bistro-bar at Kelly’s, welcomes nonguests.
Getting There & Away
Wexford Bus ( 053-914 2742; www.wexfordbus.com) runs four buses a day (two on Sunday) to Wexford (€4, 40 minutes).
On the main Dublin–Wexford–Rosslare Europort line, three trains per day in each direction call at Rosslare Strand (from Dublin €22.50, three hours; from Wexford €4.70, 19 minutes; from Rosslare Europort €4.70, 11 minutes). There is one train daily Monday to Saturday in each direction between Rosslare Strand and Waterford (€15, 1¼ hours).
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ROSSLARE HARBOUR
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Busy, functional Rosslare Harbour has connections to Wales and France from the monolithic Europort ferry terminal, where you will also find Rosslare Europort train station. A road leading uphill from the harbour becomes the N25 and takes you to B&Bs and hotels. Further along this road are Kilrane and Tagoat, where there are more sleeping and eating options. There’s a Bank of Ireland (St Martin’s Rd) just off the N25, and an ATM inside the shopping centre on the main road, where you’ll also find a supermarket and pharmacy.
Sights
Farm animals and flapping birds roam the reconstructed 18th-century thatched cottages, working windmill and tiny, four-pew church at Yola Farmstead folk park ( 053-913 2610; Tagoat; adult/child/family €6/4.50/15; 10am-7pm Jul & Aug, 10am-4.30pm May-Jun & Sep-Oct, 10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri Nov-Apr). The name of this small heritage centre comes from the local dialect, which still survives today – see opposite. Common surnames of the Yola people include Barry, Condon, Doyle, Fleming, Grace, Hay, Keating, Lambert, Larkin, Power, Stafford, Talbot and Walsh. If you’re tracing your ancestors, contact the onsite genealogy centre (wexgen@eircom.net; searches from €30; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri), which can search parish and census records.