THE
ROS TAPESTRY - WEXFORD
Norman Ireland Story Threads in New Ross
The
town of New Ross in Wexford is a small harbor village in south east Ireland
of small note in the modern world, but with a major story
to tell in the early medieval history of the country. That story is
brought to life in the magical imagery of fifteen tapestries of glorious
color in thread on linen. The Ros Tapestry Project has taken over ten
years with a few of the panels yet to go. A local community project,
with the contribution of 150 volunteers, working in shifts, the Ros
Tapestry, called needle painting, is the largest modern embroidered
art in Europe. The tapestries, researched and designed by Ann Griffin
Bernstroff, begin as large illustration called cartoons, then copied
in richly colored thread in reverse, by stitchers at a wooden frame. 
The
woolen thread is stitched into a Jacobean Linen Twill fabric, with
varying thread thickness and techniques, stem stitch, bullion knots,
couching and seeding - to create the textures which bring the panels
to life, telling the story of the founding of New Ross as the Norman
settlement in Ireland built by William Marshal. The town at the height
of the Norman age of the 13th Century was one of the most successful
and wealthy ports in Ireland, with as many as 400 ships berthed at
one time on the deep River Barrow, where the Irish and Anglo-Normans
mingled with Italian merchants and bankers.
The
story of the Ros Tapestry begins in the age of the Celts before the
Romans
and the English Normans. The first tapestry
depicts the
enthronement of a Celtic King , set in the sacred wood presided over
by the Druid caste, ready to robe the naked king. Near by the white
mare representing the Earth Goddess. The story then follows Dermot
Mac Murrough, The King of Leinster, who abducted Dervorgilla, the bride
of his enemy, Tiernan O’Rourke from his castle in Roscommon,
to carry her and her dowry to Wexford. Three of Dermot’s son
were taken captive by Rory O’Connor, the High King of Ireland
and beheaded when he failed to pay ransom. Dermot pleaded with Henry
II for help.
In
1169 a small force of 30 Welsh-Norman knights and 360 soldiers landed
on Bannow Strand, lead by Robert Fitzstephens. The founding of
New Ross comes under William Marshal (Guillaume Le Marechal), the
Crusader knight and advisor to Henry II, who upon marrying Isabel,
the daughter
of Richard De Clare “Strongbow” and Dermot’s daughter
Aoife Mac Murrough, gains the Earldom of Pembroke (see Pembroke
Castle)
and on Dermot’s death the Lordship of Leinster. The panels, depicting
battles, marriages, hunts and medieval life, continue to the May Fair
of New Ross of 1345 before the coming of the Black Death plague.
Visiting the Ros Tapestry
Nearing
completion, thirteen of the tapestry panels hang in a former storefront
along the harbor quay, opposite the Dunbrody
Famine Ship (Dunbrody
Famine Heritage Ship).
The exhibit center is open 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm. Admission
is €6 for adults, €5 fro Seniors and €4 for students
and children. An audio guide tells the story of the tapestry panels
and history of the project. If visitors come when the volunteer stitchers
are working, usually three days during the week, it is possible to
join in and contribute a stitch to the fabric of New Ross history.
A small shop offers books, greeting cards and prints of the tapestries. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Ros
Tapestry Exhibition
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SEE ALSO:
HOUSE
OF WATERFORD CRYSTAL
WEXFORD
FESTIVAL OPERA
TANNERY COOKERY SCHOOL - DUNGARVAN
GLENDALOUGH – MONASTIC
RUINS - WICKLOW
