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heritage · Thursday 20 August 2026 · TBD 
Walking Tour of Gorey Town Centre - National Heritage Week
At Gorey Town Centre · Main Street, Gorey, Co. Wexford
At Gorey Town Centre · Main Street, Gorey, Co. Wexford
Gorey is one of those north Wexford towns where a lot of Irish history happened quietly and the built fabric still carries the evidence, if you know where to look. This free guided walk through the town centre, organised by the North Wexford Historical Society as part of National Heritage Week 2026, is a proper way to spend an August morning - on foot, in good company, with someone who can point to a wall or a doorway and tell you exactly what it means.
The tour is a continuation of the walking tours long associated with Willie Willoughby, the NWHS President who spent years bringing Gorey’s past to life for locals and visitors alike and who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gorey Awards in 2025. It is a fitting tribute to his work and a genuine piece of local heritage education in its own right.
The route takes in some of the most historically loaded spots in the town centre. St Michael’s Church on Saint Michael’s Road is one of the highlights - a Pugin-designed building from 1839 to 1843 that is unusual even by that architect’s standards: Pugin built it in a Romanesque style rather than his usual Gothic, making it a rare piece of ecclesiastical architecture in Ireland.
Market Square holds several layers of history in a compact space. The Methodist Church there dates to 1834 and is the oldest church in Gorey. The square also contains an old cemetery where Bishop Thomas Ram, the man whose 1619 charter effectively founded the modern town, is buried. The Market House on Main Street - a Victorian-era building with a chiming clock, rebuilt in 1709 - was another of Willie Willoughby’s set pieces: he lectured on it for years.
Past tours organised by the NWHS have returned to the library afterwards for questions, answers and light refreshments, so allow a little extra time beyond the walk itself.
Gorey sits on the N11 between Dublin and Wexford town, roughly 90 kilometres south of Dublin and 55 kilometres north of Wexford. By car it is a straightforward drive on a good dual carriageway for much of the route. There is paid and free parking in and around the town centre, with the Gorey Shopping Centre car park off Esmonde Street a reliable option.
By rail, Gorey has its own station on the Dublin Connolly to Rosslare Europort line, with several services a day from Dublin that take around 75 to 90 minutes. The station is a short walk from the town centre.
The town has a decent stretch of independent shops and cafes along Main Street, and the surrounding north Wexford coast - Courtown, Ballymoney, Ardamine - is within easy reach for an afternoon on the beach after the tour. There is more to see in Gorey and across Co. Wexford.
Heading to Gorey Town Centre in Gorey? Wexford has plenty more to see. Read the Gorey area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.