History of Waterford

Mesolithic people are known to have been in this area of Ireland some 8,000 years ago. The fine harbours, coastal coves and the navigable waters of the Suir and the Blackwater rivers attracted them. Between 5,000-4,000 years ago sophisticated tribes who were engaged in agriculture arrived. During their tenure they built the great megalithic tombs, sixteen of which lie in Waterford. These vary in size from the large court cairns and passage graves to smaller, but more numerous, portal dolmens.

Celtic era

The Celts came about 2,500 years ago and overcame the indigenous Bronze Age inhabitants with iron weapons. This new hard metal helped them to build great roads and erect defensive forts, like the promontory forts which occupy the strategic headlands all along the Waterford Coast. They also brought their Goidelic Celtic language – the tongue on which Irish and Scottish Gaelic is based. An Rinn in west Waterford is a Gaelic speaking area, where Irish is still the first tongue of the people. The histories, myths and legends of the Celts were passed down orally. The earliest writing began about 1,700 years ago and it was undertaken on stones carved in the alphabet known as Ogham. Many examples of these stones can be seen in the county, the most accessible being at Ardmore Church and Round Tower. Their locations, together with the locations of the promontory forts, are marked on the 1: 50,000 Ordnance Maps for County Waterford.

Christian period

During the early Christian period many of the Celtic stories were recorded in the writings of the monks. This was a time which brought immense prestige to Ireland in general and to Waterford in particular through the influential monastic settlements at Lismore and Ardmore. St. Declan founded his monastery at Ardmore in 416 and was preaching the Christian message before the arrival of St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. During this golden age, great illuminated manuscripts were scribed and decorative sacred metal work was produced. Lismore was a renowned educational establishment which attracted influential figures from all over Europe to study there. Read more about Waterford's Christian History.

Viking era

Having raided and ransacked monasteries all over Ireland during the 8th and 9th century, the Vikings established a settlement at Waterford in 914. Shortly after, they established their city-state and even appointed their own bishop, rejecting the authority of Lismore. Nominally dependent on Munster, the settlement was, nevertheless, surrounded in 1137 by Diarmuid McMurrough, the Leinster king and forced to acknowledge his suzerainty. Diarmuid was later banished from his kingdom by Roderick O’Conor, the High King, for abducting the wife of O’Rorke, another chieftain. He sought to restore his kingdom by seeking the help of Henry II, the Plantagenet King of England. Henry authorised him to raise an army from among the Anglo Norman in Wales. Read more Waterford's Viking History.

Norman times

The first Anglo-Normans landed in Wexford in 1169. In return for the success of their joint mission, Diarmuid promised the hand of his daughter Aoife and the kingship of Leinster to his chief ally, Strongbow. In 1170, after the City of Waterford was taken, Strongbow married Aoife in the city’s Cathedral. This act changed the course of Irish history and established a firm foothold in Ireland for the Plantagenet King of England and his successors. Henry declared Waterford a Royal City in 1171. It remained fiercely loyal to the crown, prospered and became a major trading port. Read more Waterford's Norman History.

Waterford resisted sieges in 1487 and 1495 by the followers of the pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, who challenged Henry VII’s right to the throne. After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and the insinuation of the Protestant faith by the English crown, Waterford declined because of its adherence to the old faith. It submitted to Cromwell in the 1650s when the Lord Protector of England sent frigates to bombard the city.

Cromwellian period

The 18th century saw the expansion of Waterford City under the new Protestant merchant class. This new class had been imposed during the Cromwellian period and following the victory of William of Orange over the forces of James II at the Boyne in 1690 and at Aughrim in 1691. The new confidence of this class saw the extension of the city beyond its medieval confines. Trade links with North America, particularly Newfoundland, were consolidated and a flowering of classical architecture occurred, epitomised in the two cathedrals by John Roberts, the elegant City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce building. In 1783 Waterford Crystal was established, bringing the art of glass making, which had been practiced around the county for centuries, into a large commercial context.

In contrast to the confidence of the ruling Protestant class, the lot of Roman Catholics grew progressively worse during this century. A series of Penal Laws had been imposed on Roman Catholics after the battle of Aughrim in 1691 which denied them access to public office, prohibited them from educating their children abroad or opening schools at home, banned the Irish language, forbade the carrying of firearms, denied them enlisting in the army and prohibited them owning a horse worth more than £5.00.

Victorian period

The Act of Union (1801), when the Irish Parliament was abolished and all power reverted to Westminster, signalled a decline in the fortunes of Waterford. The great famine of the 1840’s and the economic deprivation which followed, saw the most significant exodus of Irish people in any area. Waterford Port was a centre for mass emigration in the terrible years between 1845-1847, when the potato crop failed for three successive years. This bleeding of the youngest and best deprived Ireland of a valuable resource at a vital time in her history. In the years which followed the Waterford Glass industry declined along with many other enterprises. Read more Waterford's Victorian History.

Post WW1

The nation’s morale was at an all time low right through the early years of the 20th century. The War of Independence (1919-1921) and the subsequent Civil War (1922-1923) saw great unrest and economic uncertainty in Waterford and in the country as a whole.

Since the ending of the Second World War Waterford City and county had witnessed unprecedented economic growth. The Waterford glass industry was revived in 1947 and has again proven itself as one of the leading high quality craft products in the world, hence, Waterford – The Crystal County.

History marks the city and county, gives its people their character and traditions and makes it a fascinating place to visit and enjoy.

<< Return to Waterford page