This newly-published work recalls notable Wexfordians (or 'yellow-bellies' in the time-honoured nickname) some of whom have faded into near-obscurity, but are now respectfully revived in Liam Gaul’s engaging book.
Who remembers champion boxer Jem Roche? He may be a footnote to most of us, even Wexfordmen, but he was an Irish hero, not to mind a Wexford sensation. Jem was born in 1878 and died in 1934, at the tender age of 56. He was in fact the first Irish boxer to fight a World Heavyweight title bout in 1908 when he faced world champion Tommy Burns. Burns was on a much-heralded world tour, challenging the best fighters he could line up, from Britain, Australia and Africa and elsewhere.
Roche was beaten by Burns in an encounter which lasted only 88 seconds, the shortest world heavyweight title fight in history on what was Saint Patrick's night at Dublin’s Theatre Royal. "Then Roche struck out, " The Irish Times reported, succinctly enough. "Burns's body shot forward from the hips and the Wexfordman rolled on the floor. That was all."
Interestingly, Roche thrived in another field after that inauspicious defeat, coaching the Wexford Gaelic Football team in the 1910s, which won six Leinster titles and All-Ireland finals four years in a row. Jem, as it happens, was the grandfather of the playwright, TV screen-writer, musician and author, Billy Roche, who is still very much with us and very much in Wexford, which has always been his creative heartland.
Jem Roche is just one of many Wexford personalities from the past who are recalled by Liam Gaul in his new book. Other notable gentlemen whose careers are recalled include Commodore John Barry, the so-called Father of the American Navy. He was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford in 1745 and developed an early affection for sea-faring during time spent with his uncle, a fishing boat captain. The young Barry emigrated to America at 16 years of age and in time he captained many merchant ships.
He was the first American sea captain to conquer a British war ship at sea, and he was also author of a valuable Signal Book. Barry was captain of the ship, Alliance, during the American Revolution, whose crew proved victorious in the final sea battle of the American Revolution off Cape Canaveral in 1783. At the time of the establishment of the U.S. Navy, Barry was appointed senior captain of the war vessel, United States. In 1797, he was granted the highest accolade - Commission Number 1, by President George Washington.
The engaging life story of the celebrated artist and designer Eileen Gray who came from Enniscorthy, is told well by Gaul. "Very little is known of Gray’s emotional life, " writes the historian. "Characteristically, she burned all personal letters and mementos in old age."
The Gray family home was Brownswood House which is just a few miles from Enniscorthy town. In your reviewer’s boyhood, it was known to those who had association with it as 'the san', an abbreviation for the sanatorium which it was in the 1940s and 1950s. The Brown family, who gave the house its name, lived there from the 13th to the 17th century. In 1650, the castle was attacked and destroyed by Cromwell’s troops.
The piper Leo Rowsome and the hurling legend Nicky Rackard are recalled in Gaul’s compelling work, as are four prominent leaders of the 1798 rebellion, namely Father John Murphy, Bagenal Harvey, Myles Roche and John Kelly, the latter immortalised in the song, Kelly the Boy from Killanne.
This welcome book is essential for Wexford folk with an ounce or, as is more likely, many ounces of curiosity about their forebears. Not to make too much of it, but if they were great Wexfordians they were great Irish men and women by default, so the book is for all who are interested in strong personalities - and some unsung heroes too - from the annals of Irish history.
Watch a feature from last April about the life of Eileen Gray on RTÉ's Nationwide here
