Gorey

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This article is about the town in Ireland. For the artist, see Edward Gorey, for the town in Jersey, please see Gorey, Jersey
Gorey
Guaire
Location
Location of Gorey
centerMap highlighting Gorey
Irish grid reference
T151598
Statistics
Province: Leinster
County: County Wexford
Elevation: 48 m (157 ft)
Population (2006) 7,193 

Gorey (Irish: Guaire), is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland, situated beside the main N11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the Gorey Guardian and Gorey Echo.

Main Street, Gorey.
Main Street, Gorey.

Gorey is an hour's drive from the outskirts of Dublin. As accommodation prices continue to rise in the capital, many workers have made the decision to move further outside of the city; Gorey's position on the N11 - a direct link to the capital - has made it an attractive choice for commuters, many of whom spend less time travelling to work than their counterparts living in particular areas of Dublin. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in the building of new houses in Gorey. Between 1996 and 2002, the population has risen by 44% in the town, and by 23% in the surrounding district[1].

Contents

[edit] Amenities

Many new shops have been added in the last few years, including the Gorey Shopping Centre; Esmonde Street has been developed from a residential street to a mainly-commercial street and, by all appearances, a similar transformation is occurring on 'The Avenue'. Five supermarkets compete for customers in the town.

For visitors, there are 2 modern hotels, both with leisure centre, swimming pools, and conference facilities. The town has several restaurants, catering for Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and, of course, Irish cuisine

Courtown Harbour or Courtown, a small holiday resort popular with weekend visitors from Dublin, is situated 5 km (3 mi) east of Gorey.

[edit] Entertainment

Gorey has an extremely active theatre group which produces several plays through the year and organises performances by visiting groups. They also host an annual, week-long Drama Festival. In the summer months, the group produces a twice-weekly play which is popular with both locals and visitors. Every second year, a Pantomime is produced, which is always well received.

Gorey Musical Society has one production a year; in 2006, they staged the all-Irish musical, "The Ha'penny Bridge", and were the first amateur group to have been given the honour to do so. In 2007, the Society successfully staged 'Oklahoma!', for which the society received several nominations from the Association of Irish Musical Societies' annual "Oscar. At the awards ceremony in Killarney, Gorey MS received the award for the Best Overall Show in Ireland, as well as the awards for Best Male Singer and Best Supporting Actress[2].

Several music groups are active in the Gorey area, which play both traditional Irish music as well as rock.

Gorey Choral Group, a mixed Voice Choir of around 38 members, has participated in contests all over Ireland and Wales, and brought many trophies back home.

In the 1970's and early 80's, an eclectic arts festival was held in the town during the summer. Many big and soon-to-be big name performers appeared including U2, Horslips, The Virgin Prunes, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Glasnevin Musical Society, the Wexford Festival Choir, Niall Toibin and Eamonn Morrissey.

There is also a substantial number of pubs, bars, and nightclubs, including Oscars 64 (which is also home to the "O2" night-club), Paddy Blues, French's, Club Jupiter, The Coach House, and The Bridge Bar.

[edit] Development

Until recently, traffic through the town, which lies on the N11 (Dublin to Rosslare) route, was a major problem. A by-pass was opened at the end of June 2007. It is a 15-mile-long high-standard dual-carriageway.

[edit] Education

Rapid growth has led to an overcrowding problem in the local schools, with the secondary school, Gorey Community School having the largest student population of any school in Ireland. Four local primary schools feed the Community School, as do a number of schools in various local areas.

[edit] Transport

Gorey railway station opened on 16 November 1863.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ McDonald, Frank. Ireland.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  2. ^ The 2008 production of South Pacific was complimented by the preformance of Garreth Kinsella, a Transition Year studen in G.C.S. Associaton of Irish Musical Societies. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  3. ^ Gorey station. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.