Gorey

Amenities

There are two hotels in the town, both with leisure centre, swimming pools, and conference facilities. The town has several restaurants, serving Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Irish cuisine

Courtown Harbour or Courtown, a small holiday resort used by weekend visitors from Dublin, is situated 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Gorey.

The town marked the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Christ Church in May 2011. The church, which was completed in 1861, was designed by James Welland, one of the provincial architects of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the Church of Ireland. It is noted for its stained glass windows designed by Harry Clarke and Catherine O'Brien.

Entertainment

Gorey has a local 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. Every second year a pantomime is produced.

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 do so. In 2007 the Society staged Oklahoma!, for which it received several nominations in the Association of Irish Musical Societies' annual 'Oscars'. 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.

Several music groups are active in the Gorey area, which play both traditional Irish music as well as rock, popular local bands include Sinsaol and Arís.

Gorey Choral Group, a mixed-voice choir of around 38 members, has participated in contests all over Ireland and Wales.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, an eclectic arts festival, organised and directed by local artist Paul Funge was held in the town during the summer. Many performers appeared - including U2, Horslips, the Virgin Prunes, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Glasnevin Musical Society, the Wexford Festival Choir, Niall Tóibín and Eamon Morrissey.

Every year, varying from the last week in July to the first week in August, Main street closes for four days for the Market House Festival. It has become tradition that acts, local and non-local play in the street during the night while family activities go on throughout the day on the street and in the town park.

There is also a number of pubs, bars and nightclubs, including Oscars 64 (which is also home to the O2 nightclub), Paddy Blues, McGovern's, French's, Breen's Bar, The Coach House, Katie Daly's, and The Bridge Bar.

A 7 screen cinema, Movies at Gorey, opened in June 2010; it is located on the Courtown road.

Sport

Naomh Eanna GAA club was founded in 1970 by a group of Christian brothers. Naomh Eanna's club ground is called Pairc uí Síochain located at the top of Clonattin Gorey Co.Wexford. It has two adult playing fields with one having floodlights. There is also an U12 hurling field. Their achievement's include winning the Intermediate county final in 1974 and 2015 to go up to the senior grade.

Shopping

Gorey shopping centre opened in October 2007, and is home to shops such as Dunne Stores, Hickey's Pharmacy, and Bella Moda. It is also has cafes such as the Bagel Factory and Insomnia.

Development

The town lies on the N11 (Dublin-to-Rosslare) route, and until a by-pass was opened in June 2007, traffic congestion was an issue. The by-pass is a 23-kilometre-long high standard dual carriageway, and was upgraded to motorway status in August 2009.

Education

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 with over 1,600 students. In 2012 another post-primary school, Creagh College opened to accommodate Gorey's increased population of secondary school students. Five local primary schools, Gorey Loreto Primary, Saint Joseph's Primary, Gorey Central School, Gorey Gaelscoil and Gorey Educate Together National School feed the Community School, as do a number of schools in various local areas. An additional secondary school, Creagh College, was opened in 2011 as a result of the overflow of the community school.

The library in Gorey opened its doors in 2011 after a decade of plans to build it and is open from Monday to Saturday with the exception of Bank holidays.

Transport

Gorey railway station opened on 16 November 1863. It is located on the Dublin to Rosslare Europort line.

Several bus services serve Gorey. Bus Éireann route 002 links the town with Dublin Airport and Rosslare Harbour, while route 006 links Gorey with Dublin and Waterford. Ardcavan also operate a daily service linking Gorey with Dublin.

Wexfordbus operates a service linking Gorey with Dublin Airport.

In addition, Gorey Bus Links operate two local routes, one linking Gorey with Ballycanew, Ballygarrett and Courtown, with another linking the town with Ballymoney, Castletown and Inch.

Newspapers

The Gorey Guardian and the Gorey echo are both the local newspapers. Both news papers are produced on a Tuesday each week.

Town twinning