The folks in New Ross, County Wexford are going all-out this Fourth of July with an Irish America Day celebration. Tons of activities are planned: re-enactments of the Boston Tea Party at the Dunbrody Famine Ship, an American-style BBQ, a performance by comedian Des Bishop, and much more. Visit the official Irish America Day website and follow them on Twitter for all the latest information. Sheila Langan from Irish America Magazine highlights the festivities here. Judging from the slate of events, Irish America Day looks better than most Fourth of July celebrations in the States! One thing…will there be fireworks?

That Wexford is pulling out the stops for a Fourth of July celebration should come as no surprise. The county does a great job of embracing its ties to America and honoring emigrants, both past and present.

The website for the Dunbrody Famine Ship is a fine example of Wexford’s commitment to preserving the memory of Ireland’s emigrants. There is the ship itself – a replica of the original three-masted cargo ship commissioned by the Graves family of New Ross. The ship was intended to transport timber, cotton, and other goods from North America, but from 1845 to 1851 the ship also carried thousands of Irish escaping the Famine on each outbound journey to Canada and the United States. The ship provides a concrete reminder of what our ancestors endured.

Many of the passengers aboard the Dunbrody were tenants evicted from Lord Fitzwilliam’s estates in County Wicklow, as well as tenants evicted from Viscount de Vesci’s Portlaoise estates. Click here to learn more about the Fitzwilliam Emigration Books available online from the New Brunswick Archive in Canada. So, when you locate the name of your ancestor in the list of tenants evicted from Lord Fitzwilliam’s estates and then visit the Dunbrody Famine Ship, you will come closer to understanding your ancestor’s experience more than one-hundred-fifty years ago. That is pretty amazing.

Also included on Dunbrody.com is an Irish Emigration Database which allows you to search thousands of passenger lists, an opportunity to add an ancestor’s name to the Irish Emigrant Wall of Honor, and information on how to Sponsor a Tree in Ireland.

Turning our attention to present-day emigrants, the Spring 2012 issue of Wexford Worldwide has a great profile on expat John Murphy, a native of Ramsgrange, New Ross Wexford and current resident of Manhattan. Mr. Murphy is the Director and Legal Counsel at UBS Investment Bank. He shares memories of growing up in Wexford, what he misses most, Wexford sightseeing tips, and even his favorite beach.

The Wexford Worldwide newsletter provides a way for Wexford natives to keep in touch with the happenings of their home county – a sort of digital letter from home. It is a terrific effort by Wexford to reach out and keep the diaspora close. Events for the entire year are listed, and coming up later this month is Wexford Day, a celebration of the county’s rich heritage:

Top of the list is a relative newcomer to the calendar – Wexford Day. Sunday, 24 June 2012 will see attractions and tourist sites open for free for visitors and locals to enjoy right throughout the county. Locals and visitors to the county are encouraged to wear Wexford’s county colours while enjoying free access to the gems of Wexford town and county.

The list of Wexford attractions open, free of charge on June 24th is quite impressive: the Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross;Duncannon Fort; Europe’s oldest working lighthouse at Hook Heritage; The Irish Agriculture Museum at the 19th centuryJohnstown Castle; the Irish National Heritage Park and its 35-acre heritage trail; the National 1798 Centre at Enniscorthy; and the immaculately refurbished Enniscorthy Castle. A great day to get out and see Wexford!

If you are unable to attend this year, Wexford natives and those who trace their roots to the area are reminded in the newsletter to mark their calendars for Wexford Day 2013 – this would be a great time to visit Wexford as part of the larger Gathering Ireland 2013, a country-wide initiative to welcome visitors to Ireland.

If you are planning a trip to Wexford, why not stay at the gorgeous Dunbrody Country House Hotel? From the Dunbrody House website:

Located on the dramatic Hook Peninsula and set in 200 acres of beautiful parkland, Dunbrody Country House is an enchanting and intimate 1830s Georgian manor.  Ancestral home to the Chichester Family, the house has a long and well-established tradition of hospitality.  A warm reception awaits you here at Dunbrody, an oasis of tranquility where you can escape to crackling turf fires, fresh flowers, romantic walks, explore our kitchen and herb gardens or maybe just feed the chickens or visit our pot-bellied pig Delago…

Sounds perfect to me. Follow Dunbrody House on Twitter – that is how I learned about it!

Next time we will take a look at one of the most famous Americans whose ancestry is traced to Wexford (care to guess…leave a comment!) and we will see what the Archive and Library of Wexford County Council have to offer.