The "pikemen" will march from Enniscorthy to Vinegar Hill this evening, and bonfires will be set blazing throughout Co Wexford to usher in the commemoration year of the 1798 Rising. The series of cultural, historical, civic and sporting events organised by the Comoradh '98 committee will get under way early in January and continue throughout the year. The first major event takes place on Friday, when the group, Anuna, will head the bill at a concert before an audience of 800 at St Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy.
The programme includes the Wexford soprano, Lynda Lee, and a new composition by Shaun Davey and Sebastian Barry, Requiem for the Men, Women and Children of 1798.
The civic ceremony in Enniscorthy this evening will focus on Vinegar Hill, the battlefield which most symbolises the defiance and eventual defeat of the United Irishmen.
After 150 volunteer pikemen have begun the half-hour march to the hill, Councillor Charlie Kavanagh, the chairman of Comoradh '98, along with other local public representatives, will light a Flame of Freedom that will be carried to the summit and used to light a bonfire. All of the battle hills of the county are expected to return the signal with their own ceremonial fires.
A ceremonial flag-raising will take place in the Market Square, Enniscorthy, on New Year's Day as the programme of events which has been in the planning over the past 10 years is launched.
The Anuna concert will be followed by another major musical event in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in two weeks' time, as exhibitions on the 1798 theme open to the public at centres throughout the country.
Lectures and seminars will follow, as a detailed re-examination and discussion of the period of the rebellion are undertaken. The '98 Conference in Wexford on February 7th will set the scene for the historical debate.
More than 40 commemorative events are scheduled before March 1st, said Bernard Browne, chief executive of Comoradh '98. The official calendar of events as a whole lists 340 events, including a number in Northern Ireland.
The summer will see large-scale highlight events, for which substantial numbers of visitors from Europe, the US and Australia are expected to travel to Ireland. The Tour de France stage start in Enniscorthy in July has been woven into the programme. Wexford expects to gain very substantial economic and employment benefits from all of the year's activities.
Bernard Brown continues a strong family tradition of association with commemorations of the 1798 Rising. An ancestor, Michael Browne, was organiser of the centennial commemoration in 1898, and his daughter, Senator Kathleen Browne, was involved in the 150th commemoration.
Enrolment to Comoradh's own major fund-raising event, the Wexford Senate, is ongoing and has been very successful so far, according to Mr Browne.
The Wexford Senate of 500 will be reconvened at Johnstown Castle, Wexford, on May 31st and will be called to order by the President, Mrs McAleese. It will consist of men and women, Irish-born and of Irish ancestry, who have each paid a nomination subscription of £2,000 to sit as representatives of the Irish diaspora of 70 million worldwide.
The subscriptions qualify for tax relief in this country and in the US, Canada and Australia. Comoradh says the Wexford Senate should provide a focal point for the Irish across the world. "It is hoped that the Wexford Senate will become a living memorial to the 30,000 people who died in 1798 and to the thousands of emigres transported to many lands across the seas".
The construction phase of the new National 1798 Visitor Centre in Enniscorthy has just been completed, and the multi-media centre is now being fitted out. It is to be opened in late March and is expected to attract up to 100,000 visitors during 1998.
Comoradh '98 has a Website at www.wexford.ie and its email address is: 98com@iol.ie