A HISTORY OF TAGHMON PARISH
The earliest records of Taghmon go back to the sixth century when Saint Munn founded his monastery in the year 597. It was then known as Achadh Liathdrom- the grey field on the ridge. The ridge was on the slope of a low hill of which there are several across South Wexford. Here the monastery thrived for a number of years and Saint Munn’s Blessed Well and Stone Bed is still in existence in Brownscastle. Saint Munn died on 21st of October 634 and is reputed to have been buried in the monastery. The area was subsequently named after him Teach Munna The House of Munn. The name was sometimes latinised into Fintanus and later as Fintan to whom the present catholic church and cemetery is dedicated to. There are two other saints associated with the parish of Taghmon Saint Garvan and Saint Abban. Garvan is the patron saint of Caroreigh and his origins reputedly go back further than the founding of Taghmon. The townsland of Kilgarvan is named after him where there is the ruins of an earlier church in the middle of the cemetery. Saint Abban is the patron saint of Adamstown but he had a thriving monastery in Camross in the parish of Taghmon. His religious life spanned fifty years from 570 until his death on 16th March 620
In the following centuries after the Viking invasion in the eighth century and the Norman invasion in the twelfth century, Taghmon became a kind of frontier town situated between the Viking and Norman settlers in South Wexford and the Gaelic clans in the north of the county. This is evidenced by the fact there were once a number of castles located in the parish as a defence against attack. Theses were located at Slevoy, Harperstown, Taghmon, Sigginshaggard, Traceystown, Mulmintra, Brownscastle, Ardinagh, Coolstuff, Growtown and Dungeer. Taghmon Castle is last one standing and it dates back to the fifteenth century and is associated with both the Talbot and Hore families. Following his campaign of siege in Wexford Cromwell granted Taghmon Castle and over one thousand acres in the surrounding area to Captain Thomas Holmes in 1656.
An article published in 1934 about Taghmon in 1734 stated that the village had a distillery, brewery, tanyard, foundry, stone cutting works and a large linen works in Coolaw employing 170 people. The lime kilns at Poulmarle were the most extensive in the county. The woolen mills at Brownecastle which were in use up to 1912 produced some of the finest blankets and tweeds in the country
In 1798 Taghmon was situated on the main road from Wexford to New Ross and as such was strategically important to both sides in the insurrection. In the weeks preceeding the rebellion over one thousand people took the Oath of Allegiance in the parish of Taghmon. The Taghmon Yeoman Cavalry was under the leadership of Captain William Allen Cox of Coolcliffe. The insurgents under Captain Bagenal Harvey spent the night of 31sy May 1798 in Taghmon. He appointed local men William Devereux and his son John to key roles and both played a prominent part on the rebel side in the Battle of Ross. Following the Battle of Horetown on the 20th of June General Sir John Moore spent some time in Taghmon rebuilding his troops which by the time he left amounted to nearly two thousand men. Captain Allen Cox of Coolcliffe was captured and taken prisoner by the insurgents and piked and killed on Wexford Bridge
Taghmon returned two members to the Irish parliament up to the act of Union in 1800 when the borough was disenfranchised
London publisher Samuel Lewis is his famous Topographical Dictionary of Ireland in 1837 wrote Taghmon contains 231 houses some of which are neatly built. It’s chief trade arose from its public thoroughfare which has been recently diverted into the new line road between Wexford and New Ross. A market for salt butter is held every Tuesday and Friday with petty sessions held on alternative Wednesdays. The parish consists of 7,946 statute acres principally under tillage with the Bog of Slevoy now under cultivation
During the Civil War of 1922/23 two young men from Taghmon were executed by firing squad at Wexford Gaol. They were twenty five year old Jim Parle and nineteen year old Jack Crean who along with William Hogan from Wexford town also nineteen supported the anti treaty side in the war. Members of the Free State army fired the fatal shots on 13th March 1923.
Fairs were a huge source of business and commerce for Taghmon with up to twenty three being held annually right up to the 1960s when the new mart was opened. Livestock lined the streets on those days with two of the biggest fair days of the year on May 2nd and May 28th.
Sport has been a feature of life in Taghmon for the past two hundred years. The Taghmon Races for horses ponies and athletic events were popular in the 1800s and drew big crowds. Greyhound coursing meetings were held at Forest and cycling clubs existed in Taghmon and Camross. In pre GAA days the most popular sport was cricket and was played on a number of pitches around Taghmon. The gaelic games revival began in Taghmon in 1886 a tradition that continues to this day with many notable names and successes particularly in the 1950’s while soccer, handball and tennis are also part of the parishes sporting history.
Culturally the parish has been well served over the past century. Camross Hall opened is doors for the first time in 1924 and has provided an outlet for many talents from the parish. Dancing has been its number one attraction over the century but also Camross Drama Group has presented many award winning productions while the famed Dungeer Mummers won international acclaim in the 1960’s Taghmon Camross Community Centre opened in 1980 and has provided a sporting and social outlet for the parish with the Tops bringing the house down on many an occasion in the early years of this century. In the late 1960s Taghmon became famous for the annual Mardi Gras. A street festival of music song and fancy dress it continued right up to the end of the 20th century
Two branches of Macra na Feirme thrived in the parish one in Trinity and the other in Camross in the last half of the twentieth century. Success came to Camross in the 1970s and 80’s with national titles in public speaking, drama and light entertainment. The parish boasts two very active guilds of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association Camross and Taghmon
Taghmon Action Group was formed in 2002 and during this time has overseen some major projects and developments in the local area. TAG has grown from being a small idea to a highly productive, local operation which has grown to having it’s own premium office space, childcare centre and in 2013 a new state of the art community, training and education centre was added
The educational needs of the parish have been well served. Two schools in the parish remain in Taghmon and Caroreigh but in times gone by there were schools in Traceystown, Trinity, Tottenhamgreen, Shanoule, Kilgarvan and Garradreen
The three catholic churches in the parish were built in the nineteenth century Saint Fintan’s in Taghmon, Saint Garvan’s in Caroreigh, and the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Trinty. Saint Munn’s Church of Ireland is located in the centre of Taghmon village also dates back to the nineteenth centurty. A day of great religious ceremony in the early part of twentieth century was the annual Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Taghmon
It’s a a parish with a long history geographically stretching from Camross Hill to almost Cleariestown and from Tomcoole to almost Goffs Bridge. It has produced many famous sons and daughters down through the centuries too numerous to mention here