People of Importance that
came from County Wexford…

General Abercromby
His fame was more assured than ever, and he was sent to Ireland in December 1797 to command the troops there. He had had a great experience of the state of Ireland when his regiment was stationed there, and, knowing what he did, refused to be hoodwinked by the officials at Dublin Castle, or to connive at their schemes. The situation was a

perilous one.

The English cabinet and Irish officials had fixed their attention on the intrigues of the leading patriots and club orators, rather than on the populace would take part in a rebellion. And this populace had been inflamed to revolution pitch more by the arbitrary and cruel proceedings of the troops in Ireland than by the declarations of demagogues or the bribes of the French directory.

The late commander-in-chief Luttrell, Lord Carhampton, had been ferocious enough, but it was ratherof the conduct of the troops than of their commanders that the Irish people complained. The garrison of Ireland consisted nearly entirely of English and Scotch militia and protestant Irish yeomanry. Without the discipline of soldiers, they committed most fearful excesses, and the officials wished to condone their
offences because the militia were only serving in Ireland as  volunteers, and could demand to be sent home. Abercromby was too thorough a soldier to meet their wishes, and on 26 February 1798 issued his famous general order, that the militia were far more dangerous to their friends than their enemies.

The castle soon wished to get rid of this obnoxious Scotchman who would abuse their yeomanry, on which they depended, and try to remove the militia, whose services they wanted, and who seemed to expect that the Irish peasants should not be wantonly ill-treated; the authorities soon made a pretty quarrel between him and Lord Camden, the lord lieutenant, on which Abercromby resigned his command. He soon found he was not in disgrace at home, for he was at once appointed commander of the forces in Scotland.
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Unsung Irish Hero of Three Wars

An Irish soldier who won the Victoria Cross, the highest British award for gallantry in battle, is unlikely to be remembered with total pride in British military annals.
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After returning as a hero from the Great War in France, where he also won the Military Medal, he threw in his lot with the national struggle for freedom in 1920 and spent the next few years fighting the Crown forces in Ireland. Then with the ending of the War of Independence, he signed up with the new free State Army and saw more action in the Civil War that followed the signing of the Treaty.
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When peace came again he


Sergeant Major Martin Doyle of New Ross, Co. Wexford,
is greeted by Queen Mary before being doubly decorated
with the Victoria Cross and the Military Medal by King George V
at Buckingham Palace.

continued to serve in the Irish army, ending his career in Dublin’s McKee Barracks in 1937.
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The man with this distinguished and chequered military career was Martin Doyle, born in Gusserane, in the New Ross district of Co. Wexford. His family were ordinary country folk, his father Larry Doyle working on the land to make a modest living. When Martin was still a boy the family moved into New Ross town.
They Made their mark in America
Peter FitzPatrick
from Fethard-on-Sea who is included in the ‘Irish-American Who’s Who’.		 Lieut-Commander John J. Ryan
who became a Judge in Brooklyn, is son of Pierce Ryan from Davidstown, Glynn
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The heights and fame achieved in America by men like Commodore John Barry and President John F. Kennedy from humble Wexford origins is a source of great pride for our county. It is also a reason why many American tourists come to Wexford, for they share this pride with us.
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Barry and Kennedy are the big names, but there are many other lesser known Wexfordmen who have distinguished themselves in the United States, of whom we can feel proud. How many know, for example, that the son of a Taghmon man was the first Irish Catholic to be elected to the United States Congress for the State of Oregon, having already distinguished himself in the State Senate.
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He was Nicholas Sinnott, whose father, Nicholas Byrne Sinnott, emigrated from Aughfad, Taghmon, in 1832, and became one of the best-known and most influential private citizens in the Pacific North West.

There were so many tributes to him in the newspapers when he died in 1897 that they were printed in book form.

His son Nicholas (born 1870) qualified as a lawyer after attending Notre Dame University in Indiana. He became an outstanding figure in the Oregon State Legislature, where he pioneered several historic pieces of legislation and reforms.
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Two Wexford men became leading churchmen in America. John Mitty, whose father emigrated from Churchtown, Carne, was Archbishop of San Francisco for twenty-six years (1935-1961), having previously been Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake, Utah, professor of theology and chaplain in the U.S. army (1917-1919).
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It is surprising that more tourism mileage is not derived from the fact that ‘Buffalo Bill’s’ father, William Cody was born in the premises, now Kelly’s Lounge on the King St. –Barrack Str. Corner in Wexford. Buffalo Bill himself was born in Scott County, Iowa, in 1846. A rugged frontiersman, he rode the Pony Express and was a scout for Union troops during the American Civil War. He got his famous name from being a buffalo hunter and supplying meat for the workers building the continental railroad.
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From Wexford, too, came the famous caricaturist, Harry Furniss (1854-1925) who, in 1912, worked in New York as a film writer, actor and producer, having first visited the U.S. on a lecture tour in 1892. His first sketch for the famous ‘Punch’ magazine appeared in 1880.
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Wexford is proud to lay claim to the leading American film star, Dan O’Herlihy who was born here – his mother was Nellie Hanton, a member of a once prominent business family in the town, and his father was Manager of the Labour Exchange.
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A Wexford man who reached the top in the legal world in New York was Judge John Ryan of Brooklyn. Born in 1911, his father was Pierce Ryan from Davidstown, Glynn, and a kinsman of the notable Ryan dynasty of Tomcoole, which included Dr. James Ryan, 1916 veteran and government minister.
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Judge Ryan, who visited Wexford twice, was also a member of the New York State Legislature and served with the U.S. Navy during World War II, retiring with the rank of Lieut. Commander. He has been a prominent member of the St. Patrick’s Society in Brooklyn.
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A number of Wexfordmen are listed in the ‘Irish-American Who’s Who’ published in 1884. James Murphy Jr., whose father emigrated from New Ross to Detriot in 1907, became a State government official in Arizona. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a technical sergeant (1942-1945) and saw action in Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima in World War II, receiving the Presidential Unit Citation.

He was appointed by the Governor of Arizona as Director of Veterans’ Affairs in 1951. He joined the Irish-American Club of Arizona and was founder and first president of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Arizona in 1953.
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George Alexander Murphy, born in Wexford town in 1930, served as steam foreman with the Board of Education in New York, having served in the British merchant navy before going to New York in 1952.
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Peter Laurence Cullen, who received a number of decorations for service with the U.S. army in the Vietnam War, also had Wexford Parents.
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Thomas Cullen served with the Old I.R.A. the Irish army from 1921 to 1926 and after going to America was actively involved with the GAA in New York.
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Another Wexfordman listed in the ‘Irish American Who’s Who’ is Peter Joseph FitzPatrick from Fethard-on-Sea, son of Peter and Mary (Roche) FitzPatrick. Before emigrating after a few years working in Bermingham, Peter served in the Irish army in Clonmel and Fermoy. He founded the United Irish Institute in New Jersey and organised the Easter Sunday 1916 commemoration parade on Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey, believed to be the only parade commemorating the 1916 Rising held in North America.
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Mother Johanna Butler, the first American to be named Superior General of the French-founded Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary, was educated by the Sisters of Mercy in New Ross.

John Holland,
‘father of the Modern Submarine’
There is an interesting link between John Holland (1841-1914), the inventor of the submarine and Enniscorthy. Holland was son of a Co. Clare coast guard and was interested in a career at sea but poor eyesight prevented him from doing so. He became a Christian Brother and taught for some time at Enniscorthy C.B.S.
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Holland became involved with the Fenians, dispensed with his vows, and headed for America. He experimented with building a submarine and after some years he built one that worked. In 1895 he formed a company and set about developing his invention. His second effort, the ‘Holland’ passed U.S. tests. The British navy became interested and purchased a number of Holland submarines for use in naval warfare, John Holland is generally recognised as the ‘father of the modern
The diminutive creator of
the Submarine in 1903,
John Holland
submarine’ but his links with Enniscorthy are not generally known.
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We are only too happy to help out
if you are trying to trace your ancestors
when you are staying with us at
Cedar Lodge.