Wexford: Opera, history and city life

Wexford combines a distinctive opera programme with historic streets and places where the city’s history can be explored on foot. If you’re looking for a hotel in Wexford, you can plan your stay around a festival or event, walks through the city, or both.

Opera and stages in Wexford

Every year from late October to early November, Wexford Festival Opera hosts a two-week opera and performance festival. Performances take place at the purpose-built National Opera House and at selected venues around Wexford Town. The festival’s history began in October 1951 with the first Festival of Music and the Arts.

The National Opera House opened in 2008 on the site of the former Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Wexford Festival Opera for more than 50 years. Today’s venue has two performance spaces: the larger O’Reilly Theatre and the more intimate Jerome Hynes Theatre. The programme includes Irish and international events spanning opera, music, family events, comedy, theatre and dance. If you’d like to plan your trip around the festival, check the dates and programme for the relevant year.

Another cultural venue is Wexford Arts Centre, housed in the listed historic Cornmarket building. It serves as a touring venue and offers both a performance and a gallery programme. Together with the wide range of events at the National Opera House, it offers a choice of experiences ranging from stage performances to exhibitions.

Explore the city’s history on foot

In Wexford Town, you can stroll through winding medieval streets and discover the town’s Viking roots. WexWalks takes visitors through historic streets and lanes, presenting Wexford as an ancient Viking settlement and medieval port town. Tour topics also include rebellions, cemeteries and churches. As well as the streets themselves, the tours explore different chapters in the town’s history.

West Gate Tower is the last surviving of the six towers in Wexford’s town wall. Volunteers from Wexford Lions Club also offer a tour of the 13th-century Selskar Abbey and Westgate Heritage Tower. This tour follows a seasonal schedule until the end of September; check the exact dates before you travel.

City life and nearby walks

The 80-metre-long Monck Street has a retractable canopy system and is designed as a pedestrian-friendly area with plenty of places to eat and enjoy entertainment. If you’re relying on the canopy when planning your visit, check its current status beforehand.

There’s also an opportunity to walk beyond the streets: the bird-rich polders beside Wexford Town are suitable for walking. They’re close to the town and offer an alternative to guided walks through the historic lanes.

More destinations in County Wexford

If you’d also like to include destinations in County Wexford, the Irish National Heritage Park is a 35-acre open-air museum with 16 reconstructed sites. It offers activities, reconstructions, workshops and courses for visitors of all ages. At Hook Lighthouse, at the tip of the Hook Peninsula, guided tours explore 800 years of lighthouse history.

At Johnstown Castle, the Irish Agricultural Museum displays agricultural machinery, vehicles and artefacts, some of them up to 100 years old. A tour of the castle includes an 86-metre-long underground servants’ passage. Check the current tour arrangements before planning this part of your visit. Tintern Cistercian Abbey also adds to the county’s historic attractions: William, Earl Marshal, founded the abbey around 1200. It is in a special nature conservation area, surrounded by woodland with walking trails.

Discover more destinations: Wellingtonbridge, Ballinaboola, Curracloe, Carne, Milehouse, Duncannon, Ardamine, Gorey

For the broader travel overview: County Wexford.