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The market town of ENNISCORTHY , fourteen miles north of Wexford on the N11, is well worth visiting for the National 1798 Visitor Centre (Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm; www.1798centre.com ; GBP4/?5.08), arguably the best interactive centre in Ireland and a must for anyone with an interest in the history of the eighteenth century and the political complexities of contemporary Ireland. Drawing on a rich array of audiovisual techniques, the exhibition brings to life the events surrounding the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland, and sets it in the wider context of revolution in France and the struggle for independence in America. One of the highlights is a tremendously effective audiovisual dramatization of a debate between the English radical Thomas Paine and the Anglo-Irish conservative Edmund Burke. For a more traditional presentation of the events of 1798 and for material on the 1916 uprising, call in at The County Museum (March-Sept daily 10am-6pm; Oct-Feb Sun 2-5pm; GBP3/?3.81), housed in a Norman castle overlooking the town. It's crammed with a wonderful mixture of local objects, from an ogham stone to a sedan chair. Across the river, covered in mustard and yellow gorse, lies Vinegar Hill , the site of the rebels' main encampment during the 1798 Rebellion - and the scene of their final slaughter by Crown forces. Enniscorthy hosts the enjoyable week-long "Strawberry Fair", usually held over the last week of June, or, the first week of July (tel 054/33256), which combines music and street entertainment with the pleasures of soft fruit. The modern Enniscorthy Holiday Hostel , Railway Square (IHH; tel 054/37766) offers family rooms , doubles (GBP26-33/?33.01-41.90), dorms and bike hire. The uplands to the north and west of Enniscorthy are bald and spartan. There's little in the way of sights on this side of the Blackstairs Mountains, though if you're heading north, FERNS , seven miles from Enniscorthy, makes a good lunch stop. One-time seat of the kings of Leinster, it's now a little scrap of a village, top-heavy with history: it was here that Dermot MacMurrough was attacked by Tiernan O'Rourke - whose wife he had abducted fourteen years earlier. MacMurrough sought help from Henry II in France, who lent him Richard Fitzherbert de Clare (Strongbow), and thus an adultery led to the Norman invasion of Ireland. An abbey was founded in Ferns in the sixth century, and you can see its remains in St Edan's churchyard and the adjacent field. Most impressive, though, are the ruins of the thirteenth-century castle , with its pair of towers - which you can climb - and two curtain walls (opening times and admission charges to be confirmed; tel 01/647 2453; Heritage Card). When you're feeling peckish, head for The Courtyard in the village, which does superb bar food. Decent budget accommodation and camping are to be found at BUNCLODY , about twelve miles north of Enniscorthy, at The Bunclody Hostel (closed Oct-Feb; tel 054/76076). The village itself is pretty unremarkable, but it is on the Dublin-Waterford bus route, and just three miles from CLONEGALL at the southerly end of the Wicklow Way - the hostel will pick you up from here on request. Quite the nicest family seaside town in the area is COURTOWN , around 25 miles north of Wexford (turn off the N11 onto the R742 at Gorey) and plumb in the middle of another excellent, long stretch of sand. A short walk from the beach is Harbour House (tel 055/25117; GBP40-55/?50.79-69.84), a well-run B&B . GOREY , four miles inland from Courtown, is the main shopping centre for the north Wexford coast, a very cheerful place of brightly coloured stores and plenty of interesting bars. Whether you're stopping here or not, you're likely to get caught up passing through Gorey as it's a notorious traffic bottleneck jammed with the heavy traffic travelling from Rosslare Harbour and Wexford to Dublin.
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