Wexford Harbour and is located ten miles north of Ireland’s southeast corner. Home to the county town, it welcomes visiting boats who may come alongside fishing boats moored against the town quay, to anchor off or pick up club visitor moorings inside the harbour.

The harbour provides complete protection. Attentive daylight navigation in moderate conditions, and possibly, a rise of tide, is required for access as the harbour is situated in a shallow, eastward-facing river estuary. This said, the five-mile-long channel though to the quays is well-marked so it is simply a matter of following the marks one to the next.

Parts of the entrance channel can be shallow depending on recent storms. This makes it essential to make preliminary enquiries of the depth status before a planned entry. The harbour should be avoided entirely in strong easterly conditions where the sea breaks on the entrances sand bar making it impassable.

Keyfacts for Wexford Harbour

Position and approaches

Haven position

52° 20.360' N, 006° 27.370' W

This is in the middle of the moorings off the town quay.

What is the initial fix?

This waypoint is the 2020 position of the Bar Buoy Safe Water Mark. The 'Bar Buoy' is a red/white safe water marker LFl.10s.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Formed by the estuary of the River Slaney, Wexford Harbour is fronted by a shallow, eastward-facing largely drying estuary that is fronted by a shallow bar at its entrance. Wexford, the county town of County Wexford, is situated on the west bank of the river about 3½ miles west of the entrance. The town is fronted by quays, and two conspicuous church spires, standing on the rising ground above the river’s western bank, can be seen from a great distance.

In the past, Wexford Harbour was somewhat exposed to the southeast but a new pier, established on the opposite side of the river to the town, protects this exposure. The central issue with the harbour is the depth in the approach channel that snakes its way inward around the estuary.




The channel is subject to frequent change as the estuary sands shift. This largely depends on the winter storm activity, plus to a lesser degree silting, that cause the channel and its depths to alter each year. As such, all charted depths and sandbank structure are entirely historic and cannot be used for navigation. This has to be seen as a benefit as the estuarial charts present a daunting picture.




Fortunately, the problem of navigating the shifting sands has largely been overcome by the placement of closely spaced channel markings each year that make the routing plain. The harbour channel markers are regularly maintained and can be relied upon to follow the shifts. An interactive preview of the current position of the marks is available for web browsers in which the details of the marks and their positions are available by clicking on their icons. The channel is further supported by a free 'Wexford Harbour Navigation app' available for smartphones intended to aid navigation into Wexford Harbour. The web page Wexford Harbour Navigation app provides a video overview of the installation process and an overview of it running.




Though the path is plain it is the depths at various points along the channel remain a limiting factor for Wexford Harbour. It is therefore essential, before making any approach, to check that the entire channel has sufficient depth, or can be made so by working the tides, to support the vessel’s draft. The latest information can be obtained in advance from the Harbour Office via phone +353 (0) 9122300 / +353 (0)53 9129955 or harbourmaster@wexfordcoco.ie. If the harbour office cannot be reached try Rosslare Radio, [Rosslare Radio] VHF Ch 12, +353 (0) 9133249 or Wexford Harbour Boat Club, available on +353 (0)53 91 22039. All will be delighted to advise on the current status and depths within the channel.




A reasonable expectation is that the town quays can be comfortably accessed by vessels of a draft of 1.8 metres and can support vessels carrying drafts of up to 3 metres that are prepared to work the tides to access the harbour. It is always advisable for first-time visitors to time their visit to utilise good conditions, ideally HW minus 2 hours, daylight with fair visibility to follow the closely spaced channel markers.

Deepwater will always be found in the harbour fairway located in the mouth of the River Slaney, between the south and north training walls alongside the town. The deepest berths charted in the harbour are 3.7 metres. Vessels are always welcome to come alongside the quay or mussel dredgers (that generally do not fish in summer months) without berthing fees. The price of moorings are posted on the harbour office site during the season but a reasonable expectation is about ‎€10 per night.

Outside of this, most of the harbour is silted up with more than half of its present extent uncovering and the remainder shallow.

How to get in?

Use eastern Ireland’s coastal overview for Dublin Bay to Rosslare Harbour when approaching from the north or southwestern Ireland’s coastal overview for Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour for vessels approaching from the south, southwest and east. Wexford Harbour is entered between Rosslare Point and The Raven Point, which form the southern and northern sides of the harbour entrance.


All approaches centre upon finding the constantly changing Bar Buoy, that lies in the North Sheer Channel, somewhere between the entrance and Long Bank, typically on the 10-metre contour and 1½ to 2 miles outside the estuaries' entrance points. This marks the start of a line of clearly visible port and starboard channel markers that lead into the quays.

From the initial fix situated in the immediate vicinity of the 2020 position of the 'Wexford Harbour Bar Buoy', the Bar Buoy as it is known locally, should be visible.

Buoy (Lighted) Safe Water Mark L Fl 10s position:52° 19.183' N, 006° 19.453' W




From the bar buoy, the channel marker buoys should be clearly visible out to the west as there is little distance between them. Then it is simply a matter of following the chain of markers leading in. The town’s conspicuous church spires will be clearly visible in the distance. Although the harbour has a very well marked and maintained channel, there is little margin for error, so keep tight to the marks.




The channel is long, approximately 5 miles, and snakes around the bay so a transit hour should be factored into tidal planning. The shallowest point of the channel is typically found in the sheltered inner reach of the harbour.




The conspicuous Black Man south cardinal is located on the end of the north training wall but the wall itself covers at high water and it is important to pass well south of this marker.


The town is situated on the west bank of the river fronted by ½ a mile of quays below Wexford Bridge that spans the mouth of the river.

A new quay has been added on the opposite and eastern side of the river to the town from which the north training wall extends southeast to the Black Man marker. The bridge restricts vessels of any airdraft higher than the 5.8 metres centre arch’s vertical clearance.




Leisure craft may anchor in the river harbour between Ballast Bank and Wexford Bridge, in depths from 2.3 to 6 metres. Streams are strong, attaining a rate of about 2 knots at springs in both directions. A tripping line is highly advisable in this historic harbour.




Alongside berths are available at the town quays or rafted up with from 0.3 metres to 3.7 metres, and 2.7 metres. Some visitor moorings are provided by WHBTC, close north of the Ballast Bank.




Vessels that can pass under the bridge will find Wexford Sailing Club half a mile above the bridge off the south bank of the river, with the pathway marked by two further channel marks. There is a boat slip 300 metres from the clubhouse.




Craft with little airdraft that do not exceed a draught of 1.1 metres will find the River Slaney navigable for a distance of 19 miles. With some planning, it may be possible to reach Enniscorthy which is 13 miles upriver from Wexford.

Why visit here?

The ancient County town of Wexford, in Irish Loch Garman, is situated where the River Slaney widens into a spacious harbour before exiting into the Irish Sea. According to local legend, the town acquired its 'Irish' name from a young man called Garman Garbh who drowned on the river mouth’s mudflats in floodwaters released by an enchantress. The resulting lake was thus named the Lake, Loch, of Garman.



The name 'Wexford' comes from the much later Viking period who founded the town in about 800AD. The name is derived from the name 'Veisafjoror' that translates appropriately to 'inlet (fjord) in the mudflats' in the Old Norse and the name has altered little through the centuries. For the 350 years that followed, the Viking establishment remained a largely independent Wexford settlement of Ostmen, as the Danes or Norwegians were called, who only paid token dues to the Irish Kings of Leinster. They built a formidable walled town that ran down running to the water's edge. These walls included towers or turrets at intervals and it was defended on the outside by a ditch, beyond which there was rising ground. Although the Irish had several times won battles against the foreigners they were quite incapable of taking the town by storm. Likewise, as long as the sea communication remained open, the town could not be reduced by siege. So the harbour town of Wexford remained a secure enclave for the Danish and a perfect harbour for their vessels to carry on a level of trade with South Wales and Bristol that was only superseded by that of Dublin and Waterford.




This all changed with the Norman invasion of Ireland. This invasion was a two-stage process. The first wave was a loosely associated collection of Norman knights led by Fitz-Stephen that landed in Bannow Bay in 1169. The invasion only began in earnest the following year when the main body of Norman, Welsh and Flemish forces landed in Baginbun under the command of Raymond le Gros, Raymond Fitzwilliam, and then, shortly afterwards, the invasion leader Strongbow, Richard de Clare. Wexford Town, however, was to be the focal point of the first invasion and it would feel the brunt of the first wave. With the objective to taking Leinster, the southeast province of Ireland, Fitz Stephen could not leave so important a holding in hostile hands in his rear. Accordingly, Wexford Town was the first objective of the invaders.

After landing in Bannow Bay Fitz-Stephen joined forces with Diarmait MacMurrough’s forces, the ousted King of Leinster, who brought about the invasion to regain his kingdom. They immediately set out for Wexford town after a brief passing skirmish in Duncomick, Dún Cormaic meaning 'fort of Cormaic', they set up camp outside Wexford fort laying siege to the town. Their first attack did not fair well. On the rising ground behind the town they placed archers so as to command the turrets on the walls. Under the shelter of their arrows, Fitz-Stephen's men in mail proceeded to fill in parts of the ditch fronting the wall with rounds of rushes. Over the levelled areas they set to scale the walls with ladders or some extemporized substitute. But the townsmen stood to the defence, and, hurling great beams and stones from the battlements on the heads of the assailants repulsed the assault. Withdrawing then from the walls, the assailants rushed to the neighbouring strand and set fire to all the vessels they could lay their hands on. According to a folk song, eighteen of the English were killed, while the townsfolk lost but three.

The next morning, Fitz Stephen proceeded to renew the attack, but this time with more circumspection than before. His next move was classic Norman military tactic for 'when the besieged will not abandon all hope of defending their town, send in envoys to treat for peace'. And this would work as the Norse inhabitants were persuaded by the Bishop of Ferns to accept a settlement with MacMurrough. This may seem an unnecessary concession but it would somewhat represent a return to the status quo. MacMurrough had earlier claimed overlord of the 'Foreigners of Wexford' after Donnell Kavanagh has defeated them in 1161. That was only 8 years earlier and it was an autonomy that had only lapsed with his Diarmait's recent difficulties. Through the Bishop's negotiations, they agreed to submit and renew their allegiance to Diarmait giving him four hostages for their future fidelity. No violence was done, but the town was henceforth held by the victors and distributed to the Normans by Diarmait to keep them keen. Therein, technically, the first Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in this settlement in Wexford's Selskar Abbey that was founded at the end of the 12th-century on the supposed site of a former Viking temple. King Henry would shortly after spend the Lent of 1172 within its walls as a penance for the 1170 murder of Thomas Becket.

The fatalities of the first offensive are believed to have been the only deaths during this relatively bloodless siege. This was not to be the case for the next 1649 Oliver Cromwell Siege of Wexford that was a much more bloodthirsty affair. Wexford had been a thorn in Parliament’s side since the Irish rebellion of 1641. It had ejected its Protestants in 1642, leading to 80 of them drowning and was the hub of Royalist Privateers that was perilously close to the English mainland. For all these reasons, Wexford was the next in line after Drogheda had been taken in September 1649. In October his parliamentary army of 6000-foot soldiers, 2,000 cavalries along with, critically, mighty siege guns camped north of the town. They first sent a detachment to capture Rosslare fort that lay at the time at the mouth of the harbour. Once this was secure Cromwell's fleet could enter the harbour unopposed. The army moved to the south of the town from where they bombarded Wexford Castle. Initially, Cromwell issued a summons to surrender, offering lenient terms in the hope that he could secure Wexford intact and use it as winter quarters for his troops. The mayor, aldermen and many citizens of Wexford were prepared to surrender but the military commander David Sinnot, knowing that the Duke of Ormonde’s main Royalist army was close at hand, started to play for time. Cromwell lost patience and talks broke down.

After a week’s bombardment, his troops breached the defences the town’s castle was inexplicably surrendered without a fight by its English Royalist captain, Stafford, and after this, any notion of a fight was over. The troops of the New Model Army, on their own initiative, immediately assault the walls of the town, causing the Confederate troops to flee in panic from their positions. A rout commenced with Irish troops flee from their stations in a panic to be pursued and often massacred by Cromwell’s men. Many more tried to cross the nearby river Slaney to escape the orgy of violence unfolding in the town, but most, including the governor Sinnot, drowned or were shot as they tried to swim. The Castle guns were then turned on the town and Cromwell's troops launched an immediate attack on the town's defenders. Irish troops made a stand in the market square, called the 'Bull Ring', but were quickly overwhelmed.

Violence in the town grew out of hand, spreading to its civilian population and the buildings as well as the survivors of the garrison. Cromwell and his officers made no attempt to restrain their soldiers, who slaughtered the Wexford defenders and plundered the town. Hundreds of civilians were then shot or drowned as they tried to escape the carnage by fleeing across the River Slaney. Estimates of the death toll vary. Cromwell himself thought that over 2000 of the town's defenders had been killed and much of the town, including its harbour, was burned and looted. As many as 1,500 civilians were also killed in the sacking. Cromwell’s principal regret was that the town was so badly damaged during the sack that it was no longer suitable as winter quarters for his troops. He reported that the remaining civilians had "run off" and requested soldiers to be sent from England to re-populate the town and re-open its port.

The later 1798 United Irishmen revolt was to see more slaughter in the town. At the time County Wexford was the centre of the Rebellion against English rule, Wexford town was held by the rebels throughout the fighting. The 'Bull Ring' was the scene of another notorious massacre of local Loyalists by the United Irishmen who executed them there and on the then wooden bridge over the river. Immediately afterwards the 'Bull Ring' became an open-air armaments factory where pikes and other weapons for the insurgents were built and repaired. This is commemorated today by the 'Pikeman' statue which stands centrally in the Bull Ring.


With this legacy of uprising and defeat, it is unsurprising that one of Wexford’s most cherished sons was to feature in a more successful revolution. This is John Barry, March 25, 1745, to 1803, who was an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later the United States Navy. He is widely credited as being "The Father of the American Navy". Appointed a Captain in the Continental Navy in 1775 he was the first Captain placed in command of a US warship commissioned for service under the Continental flag. He went on to become America's first commissioned naval officer, at the rank of Commodore, receiving his commission from President George Washington in 1797. A significant statue on Commercial Quay portrays him looking out over Wexford Harbour.

Throughout these trials and tribulation, the town’s axis of history moved slightly southward to the small square known as the 'Bull Ring'. Originally a beach where boats laid up to land their produce into the town's markets, it got its name from the bloodthirsty sport of bull-baiting. This was introduced to the town by the Butchers Guild when from 1621 to 1770 bulls were baited twice a year and their hides presented to the Mayor.

In the 19th-century the Port of Wexford became important. It derived great commercial advantage by being the only harbour between Dublin and Waterford, and the outlet of a rich agricultural district. Coal was its major import plus agricultural machinery whilst grain, cattle, pigs, butter, bacon, oysters, and pit wood were its chief exports. In 1861 alone, 813 vessels carrying 81,779 tons of freight arrived, of which 161 were steamers and 40 from the UK colonies and other countries. The custom dues amounted to £175,701; this was a wealthy hive of activity in its time.




However, in the 20th-century the increase in the size of commercial ships as well as the estuary's constantly silting sands cased the port to fall into decline. It became unprofitable to dredge the channel from the harbour mouth to the town quays in order to accommodate these larger ships, and so in 1968, the port closed. In the 1990s the old wooden fronts to the quays were removed as part of a development plan to upgrade the area as a town amenity, as well as to retain it as a commercially viable waterfront. Today the port is now used exclusively by the local mussel dredgers and fishermen, and for local and visiting pleasure craft.

Wexford town has a diverse wealth of leisure attractions to offer visiting yachtsmen. It retains the winding streets that were first set down by the Danes in the 9th-century but of the ancient fortifications of Wexford, which once included four castles and five fortified gateways, scarcely anything remains except for fragments of the West Gate Tower. Close by it are the remains of the churchyard of Selskar Abbey where the treaty was signed.

What the town has is plenty of lively pubs, bars and hotels which provide quality live entertainment most evenings, plus several top-class restaurants to choose from. For art lovers, a visit to the Wexford Arts Centre is very rewarding as the Centre provides a year-round programme of artistic activity for the town. On the outskirts of the town, no more than 5km from the quay, there is the Irish National Heritage Park. For further details of what's on during your visit, there is a Tourist Office conveniently situated on the quay.



From a boating perspective, Wexford is an excellent place to reprovision a boat. There are two major supermarkets close to the quay and the town’s main high street is a short stroll away. It is also a very good pick-up or drop-off point for crew with very good connections to Rosslare Europort, which is only 11 miles away, an hour to Waterford with its airport, and two hours to distant Dublin serviced by national rail and local and national bus networks.

What facilities are available?

Wexford is a primary regional town featuring shopping, restaurants, cinemas, trains and bus connections to Dublin and elsewhere in the country.

Wexford Harbour Boat Club welcomes visiting yacht crews providing a bar, showers and toilet facilities. Wexford Harbour Boat Club is however above the bridge, about a kilometres walk by road, and most people find it quicker to use the dingy to pass under the bridge and tie up at the club pontoon. Power boat cruisers are welcome to come up to the Boat Club and arrange for a refuelling lorry at the club pontoon. Contact a local member to have this arranged.

Any security concerns?

Wexford does not have any particular security issues. You can leave a boat unattended but it is advisable to lock it up and don’t leave anything visible on the decks.

With thanks to:

Jack Higginbotham and Brian Coulter, Wexford Harbour Boat Club.

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