Enniscorthy: A History

by Colm Tóibín (Editor & Introduction), Celestine Rafferty (Contributor), Eva Ó'Cathaoir (Contributor)

Enniscorthy: a history celebrates the foundation of Enniscorthy by St. Senan in 510 AD and the history and development of the town since then.

The town which spread out in the space between the original monastery and the castle, under the famous shadow of Vinegar Hill, became famous for the part it played in the 1798 Rebellion, but it also became a place which has a unique sort of beauty that was bound up with its economic development and its position in the Slaney valley. Its history, as the essays in this book show, is rich and varied, and open to argument and discussion and more research. It is also a complex history, filled with events which are part of the national narrative, but others which seem local, essential to the place, and are not open to simple interpretation.

This compilation of essays investigates some aspects of Enniscorthy's rich and varied heritage down through the fifteen centuries in the hope that the present and future generations will better appreciate the history of their town, and be encouraged to research the large areas of its past that remain unexplored.

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Colm Tóibín FRSL, is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet. Tóibín is currently Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester.