The argument on the road signs
Oilgate or Oylegate
Walk into the village from the north and the sign says Oilgate. Walk into the church and the parish notice says Oylegate. The Ordnance Survey, the Central Statistics Office and the National Roads Authority use Oilgate. The diocese of Ferns, the GAA club, the Slaney Inn and most of the older residents use Oylegate. The Irish name, Bearna na hAille, predates both spellings and means the gap in the cliff - where the Slaney breaks through on its way to Wexford harbour. The earlier English name was Mullinagore, from Maolán na nGabhar, the grazing of the goats. Two villages, one place, no resolution.
The M11 bypass, half-built
The road that nearly went away
For decades Oilgate was a lorry village. Every truck from Dublin to Rosslare and most of the cars to Wexford passed through the main street. The Enniscorthy and Gorey bypasses opened in 2019 and the M11 was pushed south as far as Scurlocksbush roundabout, a mile north of the village. From there south the N11 is back to a single carriageway and the village is back on it. Plans for an Oilgate-to-Rosslare bypass exist. Money for the bypass is harder to find. Until it is built, the village is the place where the motorway runs out.
The Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
1963 and Patrick Nolan
Oylegate and Glenbrien merged their GAA clubs in 1946 and won the Wexford Senior Hurling Championship in 1963 with Patrick Nolan as captain. Nolan was a three-time All-Ireland-winning goalkeeper for Wexford - 1955, 1956 and 1960. The club has not won a senior county title since. They got back to the final in 2023, sixty years on, and lost it. They are still hurling.