| 1. |
St
Helen: St Helen was the mother of Constantine, the first Christian
to be Roman Emperor. Reputed to be involved in the finding of
the True Cross in Jerusalem in 335 A.D., her Feast Day is on August
18th. Devotion to her was brought to this area by the Normans.
|
|
| 2. |
Walton’s
Wish: Philip Walton, one of Ireland’s best ever amateur
golfers and currently enjoying a very successful professional
career has had a major input into the design and layout of this
course. He particularly likes the long uphill fairway and entrance
to this hole.
|
|
| 3. |
Tuskar
Rock: A major hazard to mariners in the days of sail when
its dangerous reputation was well founded. Situated on the direct
route from America to Liverpool, the wrecks in this vicinity lie
two and three deep, as a lasting reminder of the power of the
sea. The light was erected in 1815, ten men having earlier lost
their lives, in 1812, while working on the project. It was here
that the father of Winston Churchill, Lord Randolph Churchill,
on a yachting cruise, landed and enjoyed a liquid repast with
the lighthouse men in the 1880’s.
|
|
| 4. |
The
Tunnel: This hole derives its name from the entrance to the
green, which has been excavated to give a valley effect for your
2nd shot on to a very big green, having played your drive through
the opening in the ‘Famine Walls’.
|
|
| 5. |
The
Pilgrimage: Closely connected with Lough Derg, in Co. Donegal,
Our Lady’s Island – just a few miles from St Helen’s,
has been a place of pilgrimage since the twelfth century and probably
much earlier. One can still see the old castle ruin there which
leans at a greater angle than the Tower of Pisa. It was the property
of Rudolph de Lamporte who was killed, as a Crusader, at the Battle
of Hattin in 1184. The pilgrimage season extends annually, over
the three weeks following August 15th.
|
|
| 6. |
Yola:
the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, colonized immediately after
the Anglo-Normans invasion of 1169, became quickly well established.
Isolated from the rest of the country, during the Irish revival,
this created a Wexford ‘Pale’. This isolation led to
the development of a distinctive dialect based on Middle English
and Irish. This dialect, known as Yola, continued to be spoken
in the Barony of Forth until about 1850, and occasional dialect
words can still be heard.
|
|
| 7. |
Cronigen-(Ballycronigen):
The name of the local townsland which has a large period house
using the same name.
|
|
| 8. |
Carnsore:
The extreme south-east corner of Ireland, Carnsore Point was called
‘Hieron Akron’ or “the Sacred Cape”, by Ptolemy,
the Egyptian cartographer, writing in 140 A.D., in reference to
the pagan rites practised there by the Celtic Druids. This area
is still a stronghold of the ancient mime play of ‘mumming’.
|
|
| 9. |
Famine
Walls: During the Great Famine of 1845-48 many relief schemes
were set up to enable people to earn enough money to buy food.
Works included land drainage and the building of quays, roads
and walls. Many of the stone walls in the country owe their origin
to this period.
|
|
| 10. |
Barony
of Forth: Co. Wexford is divided into eight baronies, some
of which were formed in the sixteenth century, but others, such
as Forth, in the south-east corner date from much earlier Celtic
tribal divisions. Geographically isolated, Forth and neighbouring
Bargy became known as ‘The English Baronies’. Much of
the unique culture, typified by castle and windmill, which developed
within these baronies, still survives.
|
|
| 11. |
Cromwell’s
Bay: The trauma of Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland in
1649 still survives in the folk memory. After the capture of Wexford
town his soldiers attacked many castles in the county, including
Ballyhealy, near Kilmore Quay. Most of the landowners lost their
possessions and were ordered ‘to hell or Connaught’.
|
|
| 12. |
Ballyhire
Castle: During the Irish recovery of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries the descendants of the Anglo-Norman settlers were forced
to construct defended residences for themselves. These usually
took the shape of small castles, like Ballyhire, with various
defensive features, such as battlements, slit windows, musket
loops, murdering holes and machicolations. About Seventy of these
castles, known as tower houses, survive in Co. Wexford.
|
|
| 13. |
The
Piers: In the 17th and 18th centuries stone piers usually
signalled the entry to land owned by the gentry. The piers on
this hole marked the entry to the lands of the Ballyhire Estate.
They present an interesting challenge for the golfer.
|
|
| 14. |
Four
Winds: No coastal site in Ireland is free from the activities
of variable prevailing winds. So it is with St Helen’s and
the strong southerly and south-westerlies which invariable blow
in the area present a stiff challenge to the golfer.
|
|
| 15. |
Rackard’s
Drive: The three Rackard brothers are to the great Irish field
game of hurling that Pele is to soccer. All three were among the
greatest ever exponents of the ancient game. The youngest brother
Billy previously owned this land and built a successful Par 3
golf course on the site now incorporated in this course. The Rackard
name is synonymous with sporting success in County Wexford.
|
|
| 16. |
The
Wishing Well: Prior to ‘tap water’ and the village
pump was the ‘well’ in the field. Local houses were
serviced from this well, indeed steps led up from the beach to
the well at one stage. Good springs were a valuable asset in 19th
century Ireland and well water has many significant properties.
|
|
| 17. |
Splaugh
Rock: The south-east coast of Wexford with its many off-shore
rocks and shoals has always been notoriously dangerous for shipping.
Splaugh Rock, just off St Helen’s, is one of the largest
rocks. The area around the rock is a well known fishing ground.
|
|
| 18. |
Pirates
Cove: “Crew all from Bannow, Fethard and The Hook, Sailing
in The Lowlands Low.” Incidents of pirates and privateers
about in this area, especially on the Saltee Islands whose location
in the busy shipping lanes made it the ideal base. It was frequented
by maritime adventurers of many nations, and the local fishermen
supplemented their meagre income by frequent involvement in the
contraband activities. During the American War of Independence
the great John Paul Jones pursued British shipping off south Wexford
and took many prizes off the Saltees. The well known sea ballad
‘The Lowlands Low’, by P J McCall, gives a flavour of
these adventurous times
|
|
