More than 2,000 pikemen, women and children marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Vinegar Hill yesterday in a spectacular and colourful parade.
The Hill, outside Enniscorthy, was the main stronghold of the rebels in Co Wexford during the 1798 rebellion. Yesterday, dressed in the familiar waistcoat and open-necked shirt, and carrying pikes, people from towns and villages throughout the county, as well as from Carlow, Laois, Manchester and New York, marched through the town to the Hill. They were led by several bands, including the Artane Boys Band and the Garda Band.
They passed a reviewing stand, where Nicholas Furlong, the journalist and historian, provided a commentary on each group. When they reached the Hill, the poet, Anthony Cronin, recited a poem specially written for the occasion.
The march, which was the high point of the 1798 bicentenary commemoration, was watched by thousands of people lining the route. Locals compared it to major events in Wexford's history such as the welcome home for victorious hurling teams and the visit of President John Kennedy to his ancestral home in Dunganstown in 1963.
The American ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, a sister of the late president, was among the dignitaries who reviewed the parade. The Government Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan, and the local Oireachtas representatives were also there. The mood was carnival-like and celebratory, with the flags of several countries as well as the local colours of purple and gold blowing in the cool breeze. The sun shone for much of the day.
There was near-silence when Ms Helen Kirwan sang the evocative Boolavogue. But, in accordance with the wishes of the organisers, there was no triumphalism.
The Wexford Fianna Fail TD and County Council chairman, Mr John Browne, said that in commemorating those who fought and died, and those who innocently and unjustly suffered on all sides, people were not called on to approve of everything done in the name of freedom, order or religion.
On the Hill, with its memorial to the pikemen and its panoramic view of the lush Wexford countryside, Mr Cronin read his poem entitled 1798.
Some of it reads:
They wore their Sunday best for early battle, Coming with ribbons in their hats to join Their neighbours at the crossroads by the chapel As on a holy day of obligation. War is release and sudden holiday, For some, release now from a nightly horror, The flaming thatch, the mingled oaths and screams.
