Castles and Historic Sites in Co. Wexford
5 places
1.Hook Lighthouse
world's oldest intact lighthouse
The world's oldest intact operational lighthouse — an 800-year-old medieval tower at the tip of the Hook Peninsula with guided tours, a clifftop café, and sweeping sea views.
- Highlights
- Oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world
- 115-step climb through 800 years of history
- Life-size hologram guides (St Dubhán & William Marshal)
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
2.Johnstown Castle
86-metre underground servant passage
A romantic 19th-century Gothic Revival castle set on a 120-acre estate with ornamental lakes, walled gardens, and one of Ireland's finest rural-life museums — all just outside Wexford town.
- Highlights
- 86-metre servants' subterranean passageway — Ireland's longest
- Free-roaming peacocks across the grounds
- 4-acre Victorian walled garden with restored glasshouses
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
3.Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum & Gardens
home to Ireland's longest servants' tunnel
A romantic 19th-century Gothic Revival castle set on a 120-acre estate with ornamental lakes, walled gardens, and Ireland's longest servants' tunnel — all just 10 minutes from Wexford town.
- Highlights
- 86-metre servants' tunnel — Ireland's longest
- Gothic Revival castle designed by Daniel Robertson
- 19 exhibition spaces in the Irish Agricultural Museum
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
4.The Shell Cottage
a cottage covered in 50,000 seashells
A 19th-century thatched farmhouse whose every wall is encrusted with over 50,000 seashells arranged into intricate nautical murals — the life's work of sailor Kevin L. Ffrench, perched above Cullenstown Strand on Wexford's south coast.
- Highlights
- Over 50,000 seashells covering walls, roof, chimney and outbuildings
- Intricate shell murals: lighthouse, pirate ship, birds, dolphin
- 30-year labour of love by sailor Kevin L. Ffrench
5.Enniscorthy Castle
a rare 16th-century swordsman carved in its dungeon wall
A Norman castle towering over the River Slaney that has seen knights, rebels, and merchants across nearly 1,000 years — now a lively museum with rooftop views, a rare medieval dungeon graffito, and a permanent exhibition on modernist designer Eileen Gray.
- Highlights
- Three floors of exhibitions spanning 1,000 years
- Rare late-16th-century swordsman graffiti in the dungeon
- Rooftop views over Vinegar Hill and the River Slaney
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access