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RAHEEN

CO. WEXFORD · IE

Raheen
An Ráithín, Co. Wexford

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 05 / 05

An Ráithín · Co. Wexford

A little ringfort name, a church, and a share in St. Abban's.

Raheen is the kind of small Wexford village that only turns up on a map if you zoom in. An Ráithín - the little ringfort - sits inland in the south-west of the county, off the main roads, between New Ross, Enniscorthy and Wexford town. A church, a primary school, a shop, a community hall, and houses scattered along the local lanes. The name is older than any of the buildings. A rath was the basic Gaelic farmstead - a circular earthwork around a house and a few outbuildings - and the diminutive on this one suggests a smaller version of the type. There are thousands of raths across Wexford. This village kept the word.

The thing to know about Raheen is that it doesn't stand alone. The GAA catchment, the parish church, the school runs and the social weight of the place all spread out across the three villages of Raheen, Adamstown and Newbawn - the trio that amalgamated their hurling and football clubs in 1969 under the name St. Abban's, after the 7th-century saint of the wider parish. The pitch is at Adamstown. The pub night after a championship match could be in any of the three. If you're trying to understand a place like Raheen, you have to look at the parish, not the village.

Coords

52.3833° N, 6.8333° W

01 / 05

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The name

"The little ringfort."

An Ráithín - a rath is an early-medieval circular earthwork, the standard farmstead of Gaelic Ireland. The diminutive suggests a smaller one than the neighbours had. There are thousands of these all over Wexford. Raheen kept the name.

Stories → 02 The parish

Three villages, one club.

Raheen sits in the GAA catchment that merged with Adamstown and Newbawn in 1969 to form St. Abban's. The pitch is up at Adamstown. The jersey is the thing the three villages share.

Stories → 03 The crossroads

Off the main roads, between three towns.

Roughly 11 km from New Ross, 23 km from Enniscorthy, 27 km from Wexford town. A church, a school, a shop, a community hall - and not much more.

Getting there →

02 / 05

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Three villages, one jersey

St. Abban's and the 1969 merger

Before 1969 Raheen, Adamstown and Newbawn ran their own small GAA clubs and struggled to put a senior team together between them. That year the three parishes agreed to amalgamate as Naomh Abán Maigh Arnaí - St. Abban's Adamstown - taking the name of the 7th-century saint associated with the wider parish. The pitch and clubhouse went to Adamstown as the largest of the three. The catchment still includes anyone who grew up in Raheen. St. Abban's have won the Wexford senior hurling championship a number of times since.

A Norman name in the townland

The Howells of Courthoyle

Courthoyle, the townland next to Raheen, is literally the court of the Howells - a Norman family who held land here through the medieval period. The cemetery at Courthoyle, about half a kilometre from the village, is where local families have been buried for generations. There isn't a castle to walk around; what survives is the name and the graveyard. The Norman layer is most of what's left visible from any of it.

1798, eleven kilometres away

Carrigbyrne, up the road

The big historical story in this corner of Wexford happened on Carrigbyrne Hill, a few kilometres south on the N25 toward New Ross. In the first days of June 1798, around 10,000 United Irish rebels under Bagenal Harvey camped there before marching down to the disastrous Battle of New Ross on June 5th. Raheen lies in the country the rebels moved through. The forest park on the hill is the walk locals do - see Newbawn for the longer version of that story.

03 / 05

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Quiet. Nothing in particular drawing you here. Fine on a country drive.

◐ Mind yourself

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings and the GAA championship in the air. Tie it to Adamstown's show on the first Saturday in July if you want a reason to be in the parish.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

A pass-through stop on the way between New Ross and Enniscorthy. Carrigbyrne Forest is good in October light.

◐ Mind yourself

Winter

Nov-Feb

Dark and quiet. The church and the school keep the lights on. Otherwise not much.

◐ Mind yourself

04 / 05

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Coming for the village itself

Raheen is a working country settlement, not a destination. Come for the parish - Adamstown's show, a St. Abban's match, the Carrigbyrne walk - not for a day out in the village.

Looking for a pub or a restaurant

There isn't one to recommend. The two pubs of the parish are in Adamstown; Foley's is in Newbawn. For food, New Ross or Enniscorthy. Don't drive out hungry expecting to be fed in the village.