Those that witnessed the incident claimed that Mrs Berry, who was from Stonebridge Lane, had gotten into an altercation with Anastatia Whitmore, a widow from Barrack Street. The argument had originally started on Bride Street, before spilling out onto the main street.

Wexford’s South Main Street in 2014.

At some point during the argument, things turned violent, with one onlooker stating that she saw Mrs Whitmore smashing a mug over Barbara Berry’s head. Another witness told the inquest at Wexford Workhouse that Whitmore had run into a butcher’s shop so that she could snatch a knife from one of the counters.

After Whitmore had emerged from the butcher’s shop, a woman called Margaret Connors attempted to warn Mrs Berry by shouting “Mind the knife!” However, before anyone could intervene, Mrs Whitmore had caught up with Barbara and stabbed her twice in the left breast.

When Barbara Berry fell to the ground, Anastatia Whitmore dropped the knife and fled from the scene. Later, she was arrested on the outskirts of a crowd by a policeman called Sergeant Collopy.

Mrs. Berry was rushed to the workhouse infirmary by Dr. O’ Connor, who transported her in his motor car. Two days later, on Monday, the 25th of March, Barbara passed away.

While in custody, Mrs Whitmore admitted that an argument had broken out over meat and that she had stabbed Mrs Berry with a knife. Ms Whitmore stated that Barbara Berry had ‘tormented her’ and that she did not know what had happened. At one point, she claimed that she believed she was fighting in World War One: ‘I thought I was among the soldiers, and that all the Germans were down on me.’

Although Mrs Whitmore was originally charged with murder – a guilty plea to manslaughter was later accepted. For her crime, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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For several years, an ex-soldier called Henry Carty had been employed by the Reck family – working on their farm as a general labourer.

On the morning of Friday, the 10th of July, Henry Carty arrived at the farm at roughly 8:15AM, fifteen minutes later than usual. That morning, Carty assisted Francis Reck in loading a grubber onto a cart, before heading into the Reck household so that he could eat his breakfast (a daily routine of his).

Later on, Francis called to Carty and asked him to ‘hurry up’, as he wanted to travel to Crossabeg and weigh his pigs. As Francis was heading in the direction of the public road, Carty caught up with him and remained silent. In order to try and break the silence, Francis asked Carty to guess the weight of the pigs – the idea being that they would both make a guess and see who was the closest.

Suddenly, Carty, who had maintained his silence, struck Francis in the face with a heavy object, knocking him to the ground. He then proceeded to kick Francis in the face and strike him on the head. When Francis managed to regain his composure and stumble to his feet, Carty began to throw stones at him.

Over the next 20 minutes or so, the two men continued to struggle with one another, as Francis attempted to retreat back to his house. During the course of the fight, Carty attempted to bite Francis a number of times. Carty continued with his vicious assault until Francis managed to strike him on the head with an ashplant walking stick.

After Carty had retreated, Francis made his way back to his house. Once there, he asked his sister Elizabeth to walk over to their neighbour William Shiggins’ house so that she tell him to call for the An Garda Síochána. At 9:30AM, Elizabeth set off for Shiggins’ house, which was roughly 1/4 of a mile away.

When Elizabeth informed William Shiggins about the assault on her brother, Shiggins grabbed his bicycle and headed off towards the garda barracks in Castlebrige. Elizabeth, in the meantime, left to return back home to her injured brother.

Later that day, when his sister Elizabeth had failed to return home, Francis Reck set out to search for her – heading in the direction of Shiggins’ house. Along the way, he came across the wife of William Shiggins, who informed him that his sister had been found dead on Crory Lane.

Elizabeth Reck’s lifeless body had been discovered about 200 metres from the entrance of her farm by postman Michael Neville and local man Martin Breen. When the two men happened across the lifeless body of a woman lying on the side of the road, they called out and asked her if she was OK. They received no reply.

Although both men personally knew Elizabeth Reck, they were unable to identify her because of the extent of her injuries. According to eye-witnesses, she had been beaten to a pulp. It wasn’t until later that Mrs Shiggins was able to identify her.

While all of this was unfolding, William Shiggins was in Castlebridge, reporting the initial assault on Francis Reck to the garda barracks. Garda Sergeant Keating, who was in the barracks at the time, agreed to return with him to the Reck farm.

As Shiggins and Sergeant Keating were cycling back towards Crory, they they came across a local man called John Murphy. Murphy told the two men that Elizabeth Reck had been found dying on the side of the road and that he was going to fetch a priest for her.

Shiggins and Sergeant Keating continued towards the scene of the crime. Five minutes down the road, they spotted Henry Carty, who was walking in the direction of Castlebridge. His face, hands and clothes were covered in blood.

When Sergeant Keating asked him where he was going, Carty responded: ‘I am going to Castlebridge to give myself up at the barrack. I have done the job.’

Sergeant Keating then proceeded to ask him if he had killed Elizabeth Reck. Carty admitted that he had, saying: ‘She’s as dead as stone in Crory Lane.’

Later, it would be reported that Francis Reck had discovered that his sister’s room had been ransacked and that it appeared as though somebody was searching for money. According to Francis, he and Carty had previously spoken about his wages. Francis also noted that Carty had taken longer-than-usual to finish eating his breakfast that morning.

While Henry Carty was in custody, he told his interrogators that he did not kill Elizabeth Reck ‘willfully’. Moments later, he added: ‘You are going to hang me.’

In November of 1931, a judge found that Carty was “unfit to plead”. Because there is very little information on Carty’s fate following the hearing, we can only presume that he was detained in a psychiatric hospital. Being found “unfit to plead” in those days meant that you were detained at the ‘pleasure’ of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. i.e. You were detained until it was felt that you were no longer a threat to society.

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Cinema Lane in Wexford Town.

The murder investigation was headed by Wexford Chief Superintendent T. Collins and Superintendent George Lawlor, who was head of the Technical Bureau in Dublin. During the first few days of the investigation, it was determined that Mr Hannan had served his last customer at 10.40PM – 10 minutes before members of the An Garda Síochána found him with serious head injuries. His last customer was named as Mr. C. Jones, a Welsh-born shoemaker that had called into Hannan’s confectionary shop to purchase some chewing gum.

Roughly 30 members of the An Garda Síochána took part in a search of the area. During the search, footprints, fingerprints and a 15-inch steel bar were discovered on top of the roof of Mr Hannan’s premises. The steel bar, which was found to have been made in Wexford four years earlier, was polished brightly and tapered at one end. The lack of rust on the bar suggested that it had not been lying on the roof for a lengthy period of time. An inch-by-inch survey of the rooftops around Mr Hannan’s shop was carried out by members of the Technical Bureau, who photographed the fingerprints that they found before sending them back to Dublin.

Gardai believed that his attacker (or attackers) had entered the shop shortly after 10:40PM on Saturday night and that he had been struck 14 times on the head with a blunt heavy object. The commotion of the attack was heard by four men, who were playing cards in a house next door. Upon hearing the sounds, one of the men – a man called William Scanlon, ran outside and knocked on Mr Hannan’s door. After receiving no answer, Mr Scanlon decided to call the gardai.

Investigators were of the opinion that the attackers had been interrupted by the knock at the door and that they had fled the premises by climbing out onto a roof via an upstairs window. They then proceeded to run across rooftops and walls until they found an exit on Henrietta Street.

Roughly ten minutes after being called, the An Garda Síochána arrived on the scene and discovered William Hannan in an unconscious state.

During the investigation, a number of people were questioned, including a number of young men that had left the Wexford area shortly after Mr Hannan’s death. House-to-house inquiries were made and the descriptions of two men that were seen in the area that night were circulated to the public. Local men were also interviewed and their fingerprints were taken.

Over the following days, the descriptions of the two men were also circulated to a number of British towns and cities, as gardai explored the possibility that the perpetrators may have fled from Ireland. Superintendent George Lawlor flew to Birmingham in England to make ‘inquiries’ and in Wexford, the gardai focused on Maudlintown, where they interviewed people and ‘searched the grounds’. Archived articles from The Irish Times newspaper show that the gardai believed that the attackers may have remained in Wexford town.

Interestingly, one of the men at the card game told the An Garda Síochána that he had heard a female’s voice shouting “Don’t do it!” However, the gardai did not believe that a woman could have been involved in the crime because it was felt that a woman could not have climbed across roofs and escaped the area so quickly.

Unfortunately, the investigation into the crime failed to turn up any leads and the steel bar that was found on Hannan’s roof was ruled out as being the murder weapon. In September of 1958, a garda spokesperson told the press that the investigation was still ongoing and that they had no intention of shelving the case: ‘We never give up hope and can always wait patiently for the day when something new will crop up which will lead us to the killer or killers.’

The murder of William Hannan remains unsolved to this very day.

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Above: The front of the building. On the right, you can see that some of the tiles have fallen from the roof and that vegetation is starting to escape through the cracks. In the 23 years that have followed its abandonment, nature has taken a strong foothold – slowly taking it back.

Above: The only ground floor window that wasn’t boarded up. Large pieces of timber are stacked up inside.

Above: The roof of this old balcony has collapsed. Various weeds have started cover the balcony.

Above: A more “modern” section of the Old Hospital. The first floor windows have been vandalised. The ground floor windows have been shut to prevent vandals from getting in.

Above: The front entrance. Vegetation covers the steps and ivy has started to spread over the door.

Above: A wider view of the front of the building, which is surrounded by a fence. A “Danger: Keep Out” sign can be seen on the bottom left. The extension on the left would have been added while the workhouse building was being used as a hospital.

Above: The wheels of an old hospital bed can be seen through one of the first floor windows.

Outside of the newer extension, you will find broken glass, pieces of wood and some old rusty bed springs.

Above: The top floor window of the hospital extension.

Above: A closer look at some of smashed windows.

Another look at the front of the old workhouse building.

Above: The old infirmary block, which is situated behind the workhouse.

The front of the building, as seen from the bottom of Old Hospital Road.

For more information, read our article on the history of Wexford Workhouse.

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Pictured above: The Undertaker Bar, which was once called The Cape of Good Hope (locally, it is often referred to as Macken’s Pub). As you can see, the abridged name “The Cape” is still being used on some of the signage.

Bloom, a Jewish man of Polish origin, was a self-described artist that was known throughout Wexford for selling picture frames and photo enlargements. Mary Anne Wildes, who lived on Roche’s Terrace with her widowed mother, had worked for Bloom in the past; watching over his premises while he was away in Dublin.

According to witnesses, Simon Bloom had fallen for Ms Wildes. However, in the days leading up to her murder, she had gotten engaged to another man called Archie Wade. She had also refused Bloom’s request that she return and work for him. Ms Wildes’ friend, Brigid Mary Power, would later tell the court that the victim felt “pestered” by Bloom.

On Saturday, the 7th of May, 1910, John Doyle and Thomas Lewis of Mary Street heard somebody groaning inside the hallway that led to Bloom’s residence. After they opened the letterbox and asked who was there, a voice replied with “Mary Anne”. Shortly afterwards, Bloom arrived back at his residence. While talking to the two men, Bloom attempted to direct the blame away from himself by claiming that he had left a man and a woman inside the apartment.

Upon opening the door, however, Bloom pushed past the injured Mary Anne Wildes and dashed towards the stairs, with the aim of sealing himself inside his apartment.

At this stage, the extent of Mary Anne’s injuries became abundantly clear to the two men, as blood gushed from a wound in her neck, staining her dress and the white rose that she had been wearing. One of the men, Thomas Lewis, picked Mary Anne up in his arms and started to call out for a doctor.

Ms Wildes was placed into a handcart and pushed to the infirmary on Hill Street. As she was being pushed along, bystanders watched on in shock as others attempted to stop the blood by placing handkerchiefs over the wound on her neck.

When Mary Anne Wildes reached the infirmary on Hill Street, she was still conscious, which meant that she was able to name Simon Bloom as her attacker. She also stated that Bloom had asked her to marry him. Although she never told anyone what her answer was, we can only presume that she had said no and that Bloom had flown into a jealous rage.

Once the news of the attack spread throughout the town, an angry mob began to descend on The Bullring. There, they demanded that the door of Bloom’s apartment be broken in. Police constables on the scene managed to contain the crowd until a key for the door was procured from the owner of the building.

When officers entered Bloom’s apartment, they found him sitting in a chair with a wound to his throat and a letter in his hand – an unsuccessful attempt at suicide. A blood-stained razor was taken from the apartment as evidence and Bloom was transported to the infirmary.

The following day, at the infirmary on Hill Street, the deposition of Mary Anne Wildes was taken. According to her statement, Bloom had caused the 3-inch-long wound to her neck after he had attempted to choke her. Simon Bloom, who was present at the deposition, refused to cross-examine Ms Wildes.

Later that day, at 10PM, Mary Anne Wildes died as a result of her injuries.

Simon Bloom was later found guilty of her murder. After serving a number of years for the crime, it is believed that he emigrated to America.

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Loftus Hall.

The devil visiting Loftus Hall is probably one of the most well-known ghost stories in Wexford. During a storm in 1766, a boat arrived at the Hook Peninsula; just a few kilometres away from the large mansion house of Loftus Hall. Later, a young man knocked at the doors of the house, seeking refuge from the terrible weather. During his stay at Loftus Hall, he and the family that were taking care of the house decided to pass the time by playing a card game. It was during this game that one of the women, Anne Tottenham, noticed a card on the floor. As she bent down to pick the card up, Anne was horrified to discover that this mysterious young man had cloven hooves instead of feet. Before she could confront him; the man in question went up through the roof, leaving behind a large hole that could never be repaired.

Later, Anne became mentally ill, to the point that her family decided to lock her away in the Tapestry Room. There, it is said that she stared off into the distance, waiting for ‘her stranger’ to return. When Anne died, her muscles seized up so badly that she had to be buried in the same sitting position that she was found.

Indestructible ducks.

In Templeshanbo, which is close to Ballindaggan in County Wexford, there is a church called St. Colman’s. According to the tale, St. Colman’s Church once had a pond that contained ducks that were considered to be indestructible. Wild animals that attempted to kill these ducks would be found dead. One man, who attempted to cook one of the birds, was shocked to find out that his pot remained cold until the duck was released. On another occasion, a kite bird captured one of the ducks before bringing it off to a nearby tree. There, several witnesses watched in shock as the kite seized up and fell to the ground.

The Banshee.

The Banshee is an Irish female spirit that appears before somebody is about to die. In many local stories, the Banshee would appear and wail as she sat there, gently combing her long hair. In Nicky Rossiter’s The Little Book of Wexford, he tells us that the Banshee was often referred as “The Bow” in Wexford Town. He also talks about how older people would discourage you from picking up random combs that you had found on the street – their warning being that it belonged to “The Bow”.

A story from 1976 tells the tale of a drunken Wexford man who attempted to take the comb out of the banshee’s hand. After he had snatched the comb, a supernatural force placed him on a nearby windowsill, where he had to stay for 48 hours, with the comb glued firmly to his hand. Although the fire brigade tried to help the man, they were unable to do so, as an invisible wall had been placed around him.

Tintern Abbey.

In Bannow Bay, onlookers reported that they had seen a line of ghostly monks walking towards Tintern Abbey. These monks were carrying burning torches and signing hymns.

Poltergeist.

In 1910, a poltergeist haunted a lodger at a house on Court Street in Enniscorthy. For three weeks, a carpenter by the name of John Randall reported that his bed covers had been torn off and that heavy furniture had been moved around. One night, his bed started to move across the room. Throughout his stay at the house, he could hear footsteps all around him. Randall, who wrote a signed statement about the poltergeist, lost three-quarters of a stone as a result.

Lady Carew.

Lady Carew reported seeing a ghostly funeral procession outside of Castleboro House. Later, it would emerge that she had seen this procession at the exact moment that her husband had died.

Enniscorthy Castle.

When a group called Wexford Paranormal visited Enniscorthy Castle a number of years ago, they used a special audio tool to scan for speech patterns. When they asked ‘what is your name?’, their scanner picked up somebody saying the name “Jim”. Later, the spirit revealed his surname and the names of his wife and children, which allowed the Wexford Paranormal group to find him and his family on the 1901 census (apparently, the family had lived nearby).

Edenvale.

In Edenvale, which is close to Castlebridge, there is supposed to be a “blood stone”, which was stained by the blood of a Catholic priest during the 1400s. According to the story, the priest fell from his horse as he was attempting to flee through the forest. Upon hitting his head on the stone, he died instantly; his blood staining the rock for hundreds of years.

The area around Edenvale is also home to the The Fairyhill Ghost; a ghostly apparition that appeared in the window of a nearby house.

Do you have a ghost story that is local to Wexford? If so, post a comment about it below or contact the website!

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For those of you that are not in the know: The Folly is a small area that is situated close to the Tesco supermarket on Distillery Road. It is located at the top of Mill Road, which a small one-way street that connects Distillery Road and King Street with The Faythe area of Wexford Town.

Above: A Google Maps streetview image of The Folly.

The word “folly” has two definitions:

• lack of good sense; foolishness.
• a costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park.

According to Google’s Ngram Viewer, which charts the usage of words throughout history, the word “folly” peaked in frequency during the early 1800s:

If you look at the graph above, you can see that its usage grew from 1750 to 1800, before dropping off after 1825.

A bit of online research tells us that this particular area in Wexford is home to an old Georgian house called Mount Folly. The house, which is now obscured by trees and a large wall; stood in a prominent position that overlooked the area around Mill Road. A report in the Wexford People newspaper also tells us that this ‘mansion’ was valued at €1 million back in 2004 and that it is a ‘beautiful accommodation of generous proportions’.

Furthermore; the house was built in the early 1800s (according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage), during a time period when the word “folly” was at its most popular.

This leaves us with a number of possibilities:

• The owners of Mount Folly named their house after the place name. If that is the case, then we are still none the wiser about the origins of the name.
• The area got its name from the presence of Mount Folly, which would have stood out at the time. Perhaps the owners of Mount Folly chose the name in an act of self-deprecation.
• Locals considered the house to be so extravagant that they nicknamed it as “The Folly”. Gradually, the name caught on and it was also applied to the general area around it. Later, the Georgian house was renamed to match its nickname.

If you have further information on this, please feel free to contact us.

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Back in 1937, a Wexford farmer by the name of Nicholas Fitzgerald spoke of this strange ‘phenomenon’. Fitzgerald, who had experienced the strange anomaly himself, talked about how there had been several cases of men going ‘missing’ in the Foulksmills area of County Wexford.

The farmer proceeded to speak about the story of a man called Lar, who had somehow managed to get himself lost in a field. Despite knowing the layout of this field like the back of his own hand, Lar was unable to find the path that led to the exit. Throughout the night, Lar fumbled around and searched for this pathway. Unfortunately, his efforts to escape the field ended in failure, leaving him with no other option but to sit down and wait for sunrise.

As soon as daylight began to break, Lars realised that he was not in the field that he had gotten lost in. Instead, he found himself sitting on Cloney’s Bridge in Old Ross, which was a number of kilometers away!

Fitzgerald’s neighbour Nicholas Furlong had also experienced a similar event. One night, Furlong decided to go out into his field in order to check on his horses. It was a dry night and the bright light of the moon was being obscured by an overcast sky. As he walked through the field, Furlong said that he began to feel as though there were thousands of people in the field around him. Despite hearing voices all around him, Furlong could not see anything. As he walked around his field ‘one hundred times’, the farmer was unable to find the gate. It was only when he sat down and removed his shoes and socks that the outline of the gate appeared in front of him. Without performing this act, Furllong believed that he would have spent the night outside!

Reference: Nolan, Brendan (2012-10-31). Wexford Folk Tales. The History Press.

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Wexford’s historic Bullring, which was named after a blood sport called Bull-baiting.

The Cornmarket: As the name suggests, this part of Wexford was once home to a busy corn market. On market days, farmers from the surrounding countryside would travel into town in order to sell their stock. Nowadays, it is the location of Wexford’s Art Centre.

US President John F. Kennedy lays a wreath at the base of the John Barry statue on Crescent Quay. This was during his famous visit to County Wexford in 1963. Commodore John Barry, who was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford, is often referred to as “The Father of the American Navy”.

Wexford’s North Main Street in the early 1900s.

Wexford Quay and its old woodenworks; compared against its present-day waterfront plaza.

A view of North Main Street, as seen from The Bullring.

If you are interested in contacting Des, you can find his website at www.deskielyphotography.com

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On the 3rd of October, Cromwell demanded that Sinnott surrender the town:

Sir – Having brought the army belonging to the Parliament of England before this place, to reduce it to its due obedience, to the end effusion of blood may be prevented, and the town and country about it preserved from ruin, I thought fit to summon you to deliver the same to me, to the use of the state of England. By this offer, I hope it will clearly appear where the guilt lie, if innocent persons should come to suffer with the nocent. I expect your speedy answer. Sir, your servant.

In this letter, Cromwell tells Colonel Sinnott that he has come to take Wexford Town and make it “obedient” to the English parliament (at the time, Wexford was a stronghold for the Royalist-Confederate alliance, which Cromwell intended on crushing). He outlines his hope that bloodshed can be prevented and that the town and its surrounding landscape can be spared from ruin. He also tells Sinnott that the blame will lie with him if innocent people are hurt during his quest to punish the guilty.

Sinnott replied to Cromwell’s demands on the same day:

I have received your letter of summons for the delivery up of this town into your hands, which standeth not with my honour to do of myself; neither will I take it upon me, without the advise of the rest of the Officers and mayor of this Corporation (this town being of so great consequence to all Ireland), whom I will call together and confer with, and return my resolution unto you tomorrow by twelve of the clock. In the mean time, if you be so pleased, I am content to forbear all acts of hostility, so you permit no approach to be made: expecting your answer in that particular, I remain. My lord, your lordship’s servant.

Sinnott tells Cromwell that he can not make the decision to surrender the town by himself. Instead, he must first confer with the mayor of Wexford and the other officers inside the town; and that his “resolution” (conditions for surrender) will come by 12PM the following day. He ends his letter by suggesting that, in the mean time, both sides should restrain themselves from showing acts of hostility.

Cromwell replied the following day (4th of October, 1649):

Sir, – Having summoned you to deliver the town of Wexford into my hands, I might well expect the delivery thereof, and not a formal treaty, which is seldom granted, but where the things stand upon a more equal footing. If therefore yourself or the town have any desires to offer, upon which you will surrender the place to me, I shall be able to judge of the reasonableness of them when they are made known to me. To which end, if you shall think fit to send the persons named in your last, entrust by yourself and the town, by whom I may understand your desires, I shall give you a speedy and fitting answer. And I do hereby engage myself, that they shall return in safety to you. I expect an answer hereunto within an hour; and rest. Your servant, O.C.

Here, we get the impression that Cromwell is willing to entertain Sinnott’s demands, despite them not being on an “equal footing”. Although Wexford was guarded by a stone wall, it is worth noting that Cromwell’s army was considerably larger than the town’s forces and that it was equipped with heavy siege guns and mortars. Still – It seems as though Cromwell was interested in hearing Sinnott’s list of conditions on the off-chance that they might prove to be acceptable to him; thereby allowing his forces to take the town with ease. The letter ends with Cromwell promising the safe return of anyone who delivers these list of conditions.

Sinnott’s reply:

Sir, – I have returned you a civil answer, to the best of my judgement; and thereby I find you undervalue me and the place so much, as you think to have it surrendered without capitulation or honourable terms, as appears by the hour’s limitation in your last. Sir, had I never a man in this town but the townsmen and the artillery here planted, I should consider myself in a very befitting condition to make honourable conditions; and having a considerable party with them in the place, I am resolved to die honourably, or make such conditions as may secure my honour and life in the eyes of my own party. To which reasonable terms, if you hearken not, or give me time to send my agents till eight of the clock in the forenoon tomorrow, with my propositions, with a further safe-conduct, I leave you to your better judgement, and myself to the assistance of the Almighty; and so conclude.

Here, it seems as though Sinnott is attempting to buy time. Looking back; we can see that he is drawing out the negotiations in order to reinforce the garrison inside the town (during the negotiation process, he managed to bring the troop numbers in Wexford up from 1,500 to nearly 5,000). In this letter, he tells Cromwell that his demand of a quick surrender is selling the town short; and that he considers himself to be in a situation where he can make “honourable” demands. He then asks that Cromwell wait until 8AM the next morning, so that a meeting can be held between the two sides to discuss the terms of the town’s surrender.

Later that day, Sinnott sends another letter, confirming the details of the proposed meeting:

Sir, – I have advised with the Mayor and Officers, as I promised, and thereupon am content that four, whom I shall employ, may have a conference and treaty with four of yours, to see if any agreement and undertaking may be begot between us. To this purpose I desire you to send mine a safe conduct, as I do hereby promise to send unto yours when you send me the names. And I pray that the meeting may be had tomorrow at eight of the clock in the forenoon, and that they may have sufficient time to confer and debate together, and determine and compose the matter; and that the meeting and place may be agreed upon, and the safe conduct mutually sent for the said meeting afternoon. Expecting your answer hereto, I rest, my lord, your servant.

Sinnott is telling Cromwell that he will send four of his men to meet with Cromwell’s delegates at 8AM the next day, in the hope that both parties can come to some sort of agreement. He asks that Cromwell give his men safe passage and that they be given the time and space to debate and confer with one another.

Again, Sinnott sends a letter to Cromwell. This time, he informs him of the names of those who will be representing Wexford at the meeting. He also asks that Cromwell send him the names of his delegates:

Send me the names of your agents, their qualities, and degrees. Those I fix upon are – Mayor Thomas Byrne, Major Theobald Dillon, Alderman Nicholas Chevers, Mr. William Stafford.

The next morning, Sinnott informs Cromwell that his agents are ready to be sent out and that he hopes both sides can come to an “honourable agreement”. Again, he asks that Cromwell promise them safe passage:

Sir, – My propositions being now prepared, I am ready to send my agents with them unto you; and for their safe return, I pray you to send a safe-conduct by the bearer unto me; in hope an honourable agreement may thereupon arise between your lordship, and My lord, your lordship’s servant.

Unfortunately, there is a slight “hitch” in the negotiation process:

My Lord, – Even as I was ready to send out my agents unto you, the Lord General of Horse came hither with a relief, unto whom I communicated the proceedings between your lordship and me, and delivered him the propositions I intended to dispatch unto your lordship; who hath desired a small time to consider of them and to speed them unto me; which, my lord, I could not deny, he having a commanding power over me. Pray, my lord, believe that I do not this to triffle out time, but for his present consent; and if I find any long delay in his lordship’s returning them back to me, I will proceed of myself, according to my first intention: to which I beseech your lordship give credit, at the request, my lord, of your lordship’s ready servant.

In this letter, it looks as though Sinnott is attempting to stall things by saying that his superior, the Lord General of Horse, James Touchet, has commanded him to wait for confirmation before proceeding with the negotiations. According to Ireland 1649-52 by Michael McNally, the Earl of Castlehaven, James Touchet, had managed to slip 500 troops into Wexford via the River Slaney while the negotiation process was still ongoing – hence Sinnott’s usage of the word “relief”. Sinnott goes on to say that he will proceed with the negotiations by himself if Touchet takes too long to respond.

Cromwell’s response:

Sir, – You might have spared your trouble in the account you gave me of your transaction with the Lord General of your horse, and of your resolution in the case he answer not your expectation in point of time. These are your own concernments, and it behoves you to the improve the relief to your best advantage. All that I have to say is, to desire you to take notice, that I do hereby revoke my self-conduct from the persons mentioned therein. When you shall see cause to treat, you may send for another. I rest, sir, your servant.

Cromwell responds by telling Sinnott that his communication with the Earl of Castlehaven, James Touchet, is not his concern. He also states that it is Sinnot’s responsibility to improve Wexford’s defences. He ends the letter by revoking his promise of safe-passage for the delegates that Sinnott listed in a previous letter: Mayor Thomas Byrne, Major Theobald Dillon, Alderman Nicholas Chevers and William Stafford.

On the 11th of October, Cromwell ordered his artillery at Trespan Rock to begin firing on Wexford Castle. This prompted the Governor of Wexford, David Sinnott, to call for a truce. It is at this point that Sinnott sent his list of propositions to Cromwell. The delegates that delivered these propositions were Major Theobald Dillon, Major James Byrne, Alderman Nicholas Chevers and Captain James Stafford. Sinnott’s list contained the following proposals:

1. That the people of Wexford should have leave to hold and practice the Roman Catholic religion.
2. That the regular and secular Clergy should be permitted to hold their livings, and exercise their ministry.
3. That the Bishop should be suffered to continue to govern his diocese.
4. That the garrison should be allowed to withdraw with the honors of war.
5. That such of the inhabitants as pleased to withdraw might carry their goods, chattles, ships, or military stores with them.
6. That the municipal privileges of the town should not be curtailed.
7. That the Burgesses should continue to be capable to hold property elsewhere in Ireland.
8. That the Burgesses wishing hereafter to leave should have liberty to sell their property, and have safe-conduct to England or elsewhere.
9. That the inhabitants be regarded as in all respects freeborn English subjects.
10. And that there be an absolute amnesty in regard to all past transactions.

Later that day, Cromwell rejected these proposals:

Sir, – I have had the patience to peruse your propositions, to which I might have returned an answer with some disdain. But, to be short, I shall give the soldiers and non-commissioned officers quarter for life, and leave to go to their several homes with their wearing clothes, they engaging themselves to live quietly there, and to take up arms no more against the Parliament of England. And the commissioned officers quarters for their lives, but to render themselves prisoners. And as for the inhabitants I shall engage myself that no violence shall be offered to their goods, and that I shall protect the town from plunder. I expect your positive answer instantly, and if you will upon these terms surrender, and in one hour send forth to me four officers of the quality of field officers, and two Aldermen, for the performance thereof, I shall thereupon forbear all acts of hostility. Your servant, O. Cromwell.

Here, Cromwell seems as though he is willing to agree to some of Sinnott’s terms. Regular soldiers can return to their homes and commissioned officers will be taken prisoner. He promises that civilians will not be harmed and that Wexford will not be plundered. However, he seems to have disagreed with the proposals concerning religion and Catholicism, as he was a staunch Puritan who believed in reformation. He ends the letter by asking Sinnott to reply within the hour.

Unfortunately, the negotiations were never allowed to run their course, as later that day, Captain James Stafford surrendered Wexford Castle, allowing Cromwell’s army to attack and scale the town wall. If you look at Sinnott’s previous letter, you can see that Captain James Stafford was named as one of the four delegates that would deliver the ten proposals to Cromwell. Stafford’s decision to surrender Wexford Castle has been the source of much debate, with many people believing that he struck a deal with Cromwell.

The Sack of Wexford has gone down as one of the most infamous events in Irish history, as Cromwell’s soldiers massacred hundreds of people, with many civilians being among the dead. The damage to Wexford was so great that Cromwell’s army could not use the town as a winter’s quarters. Its population had been so badly decimated that Cromwell asked the English Parliament for English soldiers to help repopulate the town; as many of the civilians had simply  died or “run away”.

As for the Governor of Wexford, David Sinnott, who negotiated with Cromwell – he was hanged and his family estate’s confiscated.

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