The award winning National 1798 Centre offers a fascinating insight into the birth of modern democracy in Ireland.
This distinctive centre is located just off the N30 and N11 in the shadow of Vinegar Hill, beside the picturesque river Slaney and just 500 meters from the thriving market town of Enniscorthy.
The Centre tells the epic and heroic tale of the 1798 Rebellion and it's aftermath using the latest multi-media and interactive computers.
A spectacular audio-visual presentation places the story in an international context and state-of-the-art exhibition techniques are used to give visitors a glimpse of our fascinating journey to modern democracy.
AN EXTENSIVE ARRAY OF ARTEFACTS IS ON PERMANENT DISPLAY AT THE CENTRE
The 1798 Visitor Experience
The visitor experience starts outside the building by crossing 'the bridge to democracy'. On the inside, the exhibition display follows a range of themes.
The opulence of pre-revolutionary Europe; the spread of revolution; the Irish context; the United Irishmen; the chain of battles in May and June 1798; Vinegar Hill, and the aftermath of the rebellion.
Following this dramatic display, the visitor moves on to view ghost-like life-size plaster figures which represent the people of 18th century Ireland.
The accompanying narration outlines the unfolding awareness of the spread of revolutionary ideas throughout Ireland, putting across a sense of growing urgency at grassroots level.
A clever analogy of a game of chess is used to reconstruct the 'deadly game of strategy'. The main figures of the day are represented as six-foot chessmen laid out on a chequered floor; the "king" on the Irish side being Wolfe Tone. This 'deadly game' materialises into strings of battles and leads ultimately to Vinegar Hill.
The poignancy of war is made apparent to the visitor in a stunning audio visual presentation which informs that County Wexford experienced eleven out of twenty-three battles and, in a four week period, lost 20,000 people from a population of 120,000.
By comparison, the first six years of the French Revolution cost the lives of 25,000 people from a population of thirty million.
The National 1798 Centre, from its lively exhibition to its attractive text panels, is an entertaining display on that period of history.
School Groups
School groups can enjoy the displays throughout, they are set at a low level for easy viewing. There is a 1798 themed play area situated at the end of the exhibition.
The games allow children to interact with history in a simple manner, simultaneously putting across a very serious message.
Encapsulated in the throw of a dice, the games demonstrate how much of history was an exercise in chance.
