This Irish Genealogy site offers the Irish descendant (from New York, Canada, UK, Australia...) the chance to trace their Irish family tree and search for their surname origins and the records of their Irish ancestor's birth, marriage or death.

Kyle J. Betit is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kyle specializes in Irish and immigration research. Kyle Betit is Research Director of ProGenealogists, Inc., in Salt Lake City and the author of the Irish Genealogy Pages at http://ireland.progenealogists.com
 

Wexford Town Public Library
© Kyle J. Betit, 2007

Address
McCauley's Car Park,
Off Redmond Sq.,
Wexford,
Co. Wexford,
Republic of Ireland
Telephone: +353 53 9121637
Fax: + 353 53 9121641
Email: wexfordlib@wexfordcoco.ie


Wexford town’s library holds important resources for genealogy, family history, and local history. I was fortunate to visit there in August 2007 when researching a family from Crossabeg Catholic Parish [Tikillin Civil Parish] just north of Wexford town and the River Slaney.

The library has microfilmed some Catholic parish registers that are available in no other repository. This might be a bit surprising considering that the National Library of Ireland (Dublin) microfilmed Catholic registers for the whole country up to 1880s in a project in the 1950s. However, not all registers were available or located at the time. For example, the National Library of Ireland has records for Crossabeg Parish starting only in 1856, but the microfilm at the Wexford Town Library starts in 1794!! That makes a world of difference in researching local families.

The library is small, and there are only two microfilm readers, so you need to call ahead and make an appointment to use one of the readers. Both readers have copiers, and you can make as many copies as you want for a very reasonable charge.

The library also has an excellent collection of local histories, parish histories, and historical journals for County Wexford and further field. The library holds some family histories too. You don’t need an appointment to look at books. Some books can be checked out, but others must remain in the library. You can search the library’s catalog online at http://www.wexford.ie/library .

Other libraries in the Wexford Public Library Services are available in other towns in Wexford also, with some resources for genealogical research. Again, check the library catalog.

Wexford Town Library is located in the heart of the town of Wexford. It is just across from Redmond Square in the square behind McCauley Pharmacy (there also is a parking lot behind the pharmacy).

This library is a different one than Wexford Local Studies and Archives in Ardcavan Business Park, which has additional resources for the genealogist. For descriptions, see the web sites http://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Library/LocalStudies/ and http://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Library/Archive/ . You also need to make an appointment to visit there.