Gorey 2026

Gorey District Hospital

I have been living on the east coast since arriving from Kerry in 1967 and during those years I have noticed huge increases in population.

The census figures state that the population of Gorey was 2858 in 1967 rising to 3024 in 1971 and 3554 in 1981. Everyone knew everyone else in this small rural market town with some lovely traditional family business premises.

I got my haircut in Halfords You went in and waited for Noel to emerge from their kitchen. They were established in 1923, Funges was there since 1927 and was always and is still a lovely, friendly family shop. Mylie Doyles, that little gem of a shop, opened in 1967 and has recently won national recognition as one of the top 100 small shops in Ireland.

I bought all my clothes from that gentleman Michael Leacey trading in Gorey’s main Street

And then we had Lar Murphys with their Main Street petrol pumps who were trading there since 1940.Their restaurant on Main Street is still a lovely, friendly hub.

We also had that focal social point in Gretta Doran’s Railway Hotel, where we met after performing in plays in Gorey. Upstairs was such a welcoming place after a performance. Gretta had produced her first play in 1952 and was a great character and hostess.

I remember being sick a few times and going into Dr O Dohertys waiting room in Charlotte Row. There was great banter, buzzing conversations and few complaints. Nowadays it is so different when you ring up a doctor’s surgery, make an appointment, go into the waiting room and watch everyone staring at their phones actively avoiding interaction with other patients.

I can also remember having back trouble and being treated by Dr Conal O Doherty in Gorey District hospital. He had set up practise in Gorey town in 1952,

Gorey District Hospital was built in 1940. It was built on the site of the former Gorey Workhouse (dating back to 1842) to replace an older fever hospital.

This was a medical hub with a maternity unit and most children from the town and surrounding north Wexford / South Wicklow area were born there.

The ambulance bay, with local drivers, was and still is based in the hospital grounds.

That was then but the face and population of Gorey was and is still changing rapidly.

By 2006 the population of Gorey town was 7293 rising to 9114 in 2011 and by 2026 we now have close on 13000 people living in the urban area of Gorey. The current estimate for Gorey urban and rural is a population of more than 21000 which is a huge rise in population figures for the Gorey area.

The projections for house building are also stark with 275 due for completion in 2026 alone ,325 in 2027 and over 350 in 2028. All these people will need services such as school places and health services.

Gorey town is well served with nail bars, barbers, hairdressers, boutiques, pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, bookies, supermarkets, card shops, toy shops and lots more but it urgently needs a proper Primary Care centre.

It is the obvious location for a community care centre for North Wexford serving Gorey town and its huge rural and coastal hinterland from Ballymoney, Castletown, Courtown and along down the coast to Ballygarrett. As I said at the outset the town population has increased substantially but the health infrastructure has most certainly not kept pace.

When I am out on my daily walk, health services are a constant topic of discussion, particularly among newly arrived people. I am hearing that many people cannot get a doctor, dentist or mental health service and must travel to Dublin or surrounding towns for care. This is not good enough in boom town Gorey in prosperous Ireland 2026.

A friend of mine had a heart condition and had to travel to Arklow for post operative care. Another had to bring a child to Enniscorthy for an assessment. This is not good enough because Gorey is a major population centre bigger than Enniscorthy and equal to Arklow. We need a care centre locally to make sure that all people who need care don’t have to travel on bus, train or taxi to outlying areas. We deserve and need a centre immediately.

I remember reading in the Gorey Guardian many years ago in 2010 that we were going to get a Primary Care Centre .16 years have elapsed and not a sod is turned on the Centre with the HSE withdrawing from that process in 2024.

In 2025 we read that a new tender process began and we are led to believe that a preferred site has been identified and negotiations are advancing.

Gorey already has two Primary Care Centres on The Avenue and Conal House on St Michaels Road, but we need a much bigger purpose-built centre. We need it urgently and it is time for the HSE and Government to deliver it. If it was deemed necessary in 2010 it is needed now more than ever. The population has more than doubled in the intervening years in the greater Gorey area.

Many Gorey people will have gone to play school on the old site of Conal House and Gorey Pipe Band also practised there . Memories.for lots of people

The contrast with Arklow is huge. Their centre lists over 45 community services including physiotherapy, speech and language, dietetics, dental services, cardiology, mental health services, psychology, chronic disease  and many more which you can read about online.

Enniscorthy Primary care has much the same range of services available as Arklow has, while Gorey still waits. We need action and building now and no more words and empty promises. Let the next photo shoot by our local politicians be a sod turning ceremony for Gorey Primary Care Centre. We don’t need to languish any further in HSE and political bureaucracy. Build the centre now.