Community Project
The MacMurrough Inquiry – Ferns Heritage Project
The MacMurrough Inquiry took place on October 12th, 2019 to mark the 850th anniversary of the arrival of the Normans in Wexford. The event took place in St. Edan’s Cathedral and was part of the 2019 Ferns Conference.
The Inquiry, which was packed with local members of the community and visitors from Wales, used a model of judicial inquiry with real barristers and a real high court judge in modern dress and the key characters from the medieval period dressed in medieval costume. It explored the extent to which Diarmuid MacMurrough was responsible for the Norman ‘invasion’.
Witnesses from the period gave testimony, based on historic facts, and on events leading up to the ‘invasion’. Ancient Connections brought two actors from Wales to play the parts of Strongbow (The 2nd Earl of Pembroke) and Robert Fitzharding, a Bristol merchant. Ancient Connections also arranged for historian Dr Euryn Roberts from Bangor University to set the historical scene for cross-border relationships between Wales and Ireland during this period.
The Inquiry found Diarmuid McMurrough not guilty of causing the invasion.
Date: October 2019
Project Outputs: A Mock Inquiry
