NEW ROSS

Irish Ros Mhic Thriain (Wood of the Son of Treon) town, County Wexford, Ireland. It lies along the River Barrow, just below the latter's junction with the Nore. In the 6th century St. Abban founded the Abbey of Rossmactreoin, which gave rise to the ancient city Rossglas, or Rossponte. By 1269 the town, which stands on a steep hill overlooking the river, was walled. New Ross's inland water communications reach Dublin by means of the Barrow and the Grand Canal. New Ross has breweries and tanneries, a salmon fishery, and a fertilizer factory; it exports agricultural produce. Barges are also constructed in the town. The nearby village of Dunganstown was the ancestral home of the U.S. president John F. Kennedy, whose great-grandfather sailed for the United States from New Ross in the 1840s. Pop. (1991) 5,021.