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ROS
ROSS (NEW), an inland
port, borough and market-
town, and a parish, partly in
the barony of SHELBURNE,
but chiefly in that of BAN-
TRY, county of WEXFORD,
and province of LEINSTER,
19½ miles (W. by N.) from
Wexford, and 70¾ (S. S. W.)
from Dublin, on the road
from Wexford to Waterford,
and on the eastern bank of
the river of Ross, sometimes called the Barrow; contain-
ing 7523 inhabitants, of which number, 5011 are in the
town and borough. Colgan states that St. Abban built
a great monastery, now called Rossmactreoin, on the
banks of the Barrow, and that this monastery, in pro-
cess of time, gave rise to a noble and ancient city,
formerly called Rossglas and subsequently Rossmac-
trium or Rossmactreoin; the magnitude and age of
which was demonstrated by the ruins and walls remain-
ing in his time (about 1620). Camden says that the
town was founded by Isabella, daughter of Strongbow
and consort of William le Mareschal, afterwards Earl
of Pembroke, who held it in right of his wife. The
charter granted to it by Roger Bigod, in the reign of
Edw. I., directs that the provost, when elected, should
be presented to him and his heirs at the castle of Old
Ross, or, in case of absence, to their seneschal in the
town of New Ross, thus shewing the pre-existence of
the town. It afterwards acquired the name of Rossponte
or Rosspontum, from the circumstance of a bridge having
been built over the river here. Its situation on a navi-
gable river in the heart of a fertile country soon render-
ed it populous and wealthy: the same circumstances
exposed it to the predatory incursions of the neighbour-
ing chieftains, to defend themselves from which the
townsmen, in 1269, at which time they were grievously
harassed by a feud between the Fitzmaurices and the
De Burgos, resolved to secure the town by a wall. So
anxious were they to accomplish this undertaking, that
not only did the whole of the male population work at
it by turns in companies, but many of the young wo-
men also aided in it, to commemorate which, a strong
tower or gate called Maiden tower, was erected east-
ward in the town, for a prison exclusively for persons
guilty of offences against females. The walls enclosed
a circuit of a mile; and at that period the town could
array for its defence, 363 cross-bow men, 1200 long-
bow archers, 3000 pikemen, and 104 horsemen, a
number of fighting men nearly equal to its entire
population at present. In the reign of Edw. I. the
town was laid under an interdict by the pope, in con-
sequence of the inhabitants having destroyed a house
of the Crutched friars on account of the alleged pro-
fligacy of one of its members. Another proof of its
early importance may be adduced from the attempts
made by the people of Waterford to deprive it of the
privileges of a trading port. The controversy, which
commenced so early as the reign of Hen. III., was
finally decided in favour of Ross by a decree of the
English court of Chancery in the reign of Edw. III. In
1469 the town was partially burned by Donald Fuscus,
then head of the Mac Murroughs or Kavanaghs; and
the inhabitants afterwards suffered so much from re-
530
ROS
peated occurrences of acts of lawless violence, that, in
1483, they procured an act of parliament, empowering
them to “reprize” themselves against robbers, and
further enacting that no person should alienate his free-
hold in the town without the consent of the provost
and council. The latter provision leads to the inference
that these acts of aggression were producing the effect
of driving the wealthier and more respectable part of
the population out of the town. This inference is con-
firmed by the preamble of a charter of Rich. III., which
describes the place as being so reduced by this cause to
extreme poverty and misery, as to be nearly depopu-
lated. Another charter allows them to treat and make
truce with the Irish enemies and to sell them provi-
sions, as well in time of war as of peace. In the war
of 1641 the town, which was then held for the Irish,
was besieged by the Duke of Ormonde, who, having
attempted to storm it through a practicable breach,
was driven back with considerable loss and forced
to raise the siege. Immediately after, the battle of
Kilrush was fought in the neighbourhood, in which
the Duke obtained a signal victory, and the Irish in
their flight broke down the bridge of Ross to prevent
his pursuit. On the arrival of Cromwell in 1649, the
Duke, after having garrisoned Wexford, threw himself
into this town, which he also supplied with the means
of defence. Cromwell, having taken the former town,
invested Ross, which, notwithstanding the Duke’s pre-
cautionary measures for its defence, surrendered without
resistance upon articles, and its fortifications were im-
mediately dismantled. The gate though which his troops
entered has since been called Three-Bullet gate, instead
of its former name, Bewley gate, from the circumstance
that three cannon-shot fired against it was the signal
for demanding a surrender: the shot were found a few
years after in the walls of the gateway and are in the
possession of John Deane, of Stokestown. During
the disturbances of 1798, the town was the scene of a
most sanguinary conflict between the king’s troops and
the insurgents, in which the latter, after ten hours’
severe fighting, during which they had possession of the
greater part of the town for some time, were ultimately
defeated with great slaughter. Lord Mountjoy, who
commanded the county of Dublin Militia, was killed at
the Three-Bullet gate during the engagement.
The town is beautifully situated on the side of a hill
declining so precipitously to the Ross river (formed by
the Nore and Barrow, which unite about one mile
to the north of it,) as to render the communication
between the upper and lower parts extremely inconve-
nient. Some of the principal streets run nearly parallel
with the river, and are intersected by others at right
angles; minor streets and lanes diverge from these in
several directions: the total number of houses, in 1831,
was 1040. It is well supplied with water: the streets
are partially paved but not lighted, the paving and cleans-
ing being executed by contract under the corporation.
The general appearance of the town for some years did
not indicate an increase of prosperity; a circumstance
attributed to the difficulty of obtaining land on leases of
sufficient duration to encourage building; but within
the last two years there has been a visible improvement,
several new houses having been built. The want of a
bridge, after the destruction of the old one in 1643,
was supplied by a ferry until the latter part of the