The village of Ferns is rich in history and a village of great beauty in the county of Wexford.The new parish church of St Aidan's contrasts with its ancient past.

Ferns Cathedral was built in the 13th century. It was propably built by John St John, the first English bishop of Ferns who died in 1243 A.D. It stood within the boundary of the monastery founded by St Aidan in the sixth century. The remains of St Aidan (or Edan) who was also called St Mogue are buried beneath the Church. An inscription on the wall states that he died on Jan 31 632 A.D. The Cathedral was burned in 1575 and rebuilt in 1577 and there were many additions to it since then.

The first Christian settlement in Ferns was about 600 A.D. In 930 A.D. the monks were robbed by Viking raiders and the monastery was burned. In 1158 Dermot Mc Murrough founded an abbey in Ferns. St Mary's Abbey was suppressed in 1539 and the property reverted to the King of England. The abbey is probably located within the original enclosure of St Aidan.

In the cemetery, there are many high crosses. Part of a shaft with fret pattern decoration is said to mark the grave of Dermot Mc Murrough (died 1171), the deposed King of Leinster who invited the Normans to Ireland in 1169 A.D.

Photos taken by Fr Aquinas T. Duffy

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