A Short History of Waterford.

800 AD to the coming of the Normans

The name Waterford is derived from an old Norse word Vedrarfjiordr that can be traced back to the late 9th century.

Vedrarfjiordr is believed to be derived from either Fjord of the Rams, probably a reference to the export of sheep from the area, or more prosaically, from windy fjord. This latter meaning probably refers to Waterford as being a safe haven for Viking ships sheltering from a windy Irish Sea.

The Vikings, realising the strategic and trading importance of the three rivers which empty into Waterford Harbour, built a longphort or dock at the confluence of the St. John's River and the River Suir.

Waterford City was founded in 914 AD and developed into a significant urban area during the 10th century. Waterford is arguably the oldest area of continuous urban settlement in Ireland. Reginald’s Tower marks the site of the first defensive structure built by the Viking settlers. The Tower is mentioned in the Irish Annals as early as 1088 thus making it the oldest civic building structure on this island. In the 1080s, a Viking fleet at Waterford had become a major force in the tangled web of Irish and Welsh political intrigue when Diarmuid O’Brien, King of Munster, negotiated that the fleet go to Wales to assist Gruffydd ap Cynan to recover the Kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales.

A hundred years later it was the turn of a dispossessed Irish king to seek help from beyond the sea in order to regain his lost kingdom. Thus it was, that in 1169 a group of Anglo-Norman mercenaries landed in Wexford at the invitation of Dermot McMurrough and by 1170 they were at the walls of Waterford. After a bloody battle the city fell to Strongbow and his armour clad Anglo-Norman supporters. Strongbow was made heir to the McMurrough lands in Leinster and as previously agreed married Dermot’s daughter Aoife.

The Marriage of Strongbow to Aoife Mc Murrough

This marriage which took place in Waterford's Reginald's Tower, symbolises the long and sometimes tortuous birth of a new Ireland. In 1171 the King of England, Henry II, arrived in Waterford and anxious to exercise his control over a process of conquest that was taking place almost despite him, began to demand the submissions of the Anglo-Norman knights.

The submission of Strongbow and his followers was received by Henry at Waterford. Henry II recognised Strongbow as McMurrough’s heir to Leinster but the strategically important port cities of Dublin and Waterford, which Strongbow had captured, were retained by the King. Henry II elevated Waterford to the status of a royal city - a status that was to change the course of the city’s history dramatically. Consequently in the years after the invasion, many English and French merchants settled in Waterford. This new merchant class with it's trading contacts in England and on the continent was to make Waterford medieval Ireland’s chief port for the import of wine and a major exporter of wool and hides. The city flourished during the 13th century and many new monasteries, friaries and churches were built.

New stone-built defences protected it's citizens and a sophisticated form of local government developed whereby the citizens elected a mayor on an annual basis to rule over the city.

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The 14th and 15th Centuries

The 14th century saw the beginning of the breakdown of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland. However Waterford’s close connections with cities such as Bristol and Chester ensured that it remained very much part of the English political scene. This century also saw the plague known as the ’Black Death’ wipe out a third of the city’s population. This decline in population, which was experienced all over Europe, had an adverse effect on trade. The subsequent decline in demand caused the City Fathers to become even more tenacious in protecting the city’s monopoly on shipping entering Waterford Harbour.

Traditionally, all ships entering the harbour, with the exception of those originating in Leinster, were obliged to unload at Waterford. In 1372 Waterford City Council commissioned the decoration of the Great Charter Roll, an illuminated manuscript measuring 14 feet in length, in an attempt to strengthen their legal case against the burgesses of New Ross who were working to nullify Waterford’s monopoly. The manuscript thus produced has fortunately been preserved in Waterford and is regarded as the most important Irish illuminated manuscript from the late medieval period.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, Waterford was surrounded by hostile neighbours — the O’Driscolls (sea pirates from Co. Cork) were the scourge of the city’s shipping, while their allies the Powers, an Anglo-Norman family who controlled Co. Waterford, were often known to attack the city and plunder the nearby countryside in search of booty.

Yet despite the problems Waterford was by the end of the 15th century a strong and well-fortified city with an international reputation for good quality woollen shawls which were known on the continent as ’Waterford Rugs’.

In 1495 an attack on the city by Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of Henry VII was repulsed. Canon mounted on the ringworks in front of Reginald’s Tower saved the city and gave Waterford the distinction of being the first Irish city to use artillery in its defence. In recognition of the city’s loyalty, the King gave the city it's own motto: ’Urbs Intacta Manet’ — Waterford, the Loyal City.

The 16th century saw Waterford gripped by a religious and political dilemma. The English monarchy, for whom the citizens always displayed a great loyalty, had severed it's links with the Papacy in Rome.

For over a century Waterford walked a tightrope between treason and loyalty. During this period the city’s loyalty to Rome was never in doubt. Many scholars of international repute were born in the city, so much so that during the late 16th and early 17th century it was known as ’Parva Roma’ - Little Rome. The city’s attempts to keep on the right side of both the monarchy and the papacy ended when Oliver Cromwell entered the scene. Cromwell unsuccessfully besieged the city in 1649 - the only city ever to hold out against him. However in August of 1650 his son-in-law took Waterford.

The Cromwellian army expelled many of the rich Catholic merchants whose families had resided in the city since the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. Luckily, the trading links they had established over the centuries stood them in good stead. Many of the Catholic merchants who were forced to flee to both France and Spain were later to establish themselves in the wine business.

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The 17th and 18th Centuries

The restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 brought only temporary respite to the catholics of Waterford.

In 1690 William of Orange defeated the Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne and the Protestants were once again in the ascendance beginning a new phase in the city’s history.

As the new Protestant merchant class grew rich from trade, especially that with the New World, the city took on a new mantle.

The defensive walls were removed from along the quays and many of the old gates to the city were demolished to allow for the greater movement of men and merchandise.

The 18th century was to see Waterford transformed. Great new public buildings were being erected, many of them under the watchful eye of the Waterford born architect, John Roberts. Roberts designed City Hall and both the city’s cathedrals. The fact that the Catholics of Waterford were allowed to build the cathedral testifies to a large measure of religious tolerance existing in the city. In fact when Christ Church was being demolished in 1773 to make way for the new Church of Ireland Cathedral, vestments dating from the reign of Henry VII (1485 — 1509) were discovered.

As a gesture of good will the Protestant Dean presented them to the Catholic Dean. The vestments are the only pre-Reformation vestments to have survived in Ireland and are now in the National Museum. Roberts’ architectural genius was to make Waterford prominent among the Irish cities in terms of its classical architecture. The sophisticated elegance of the city was not reflected solely in its great public buildings for in 1783 the now world famous Glass Factory was established by the Penrose Brothers.

Modern Times

During the nineteenth century Waterford Glass achieved a world-wide reputation with exports going to the four corners of the earth. Many of the ships carrying this glass to foreign ports were in fact built here in Waterford. The ship building trade that has been practised in the port for over a thousand years has entered a new phase.

By the mid-nineteenth century Waterford had four ship building yards and was second only to Belfast in terms of tonnage produced. The first iron steam ship ever to sail into a Russian port was built in Waterford and appropriately it carried with it a gift of Waterford Glass presented to the Tsar when the ship sailed into St. Petersburg.

Today Waterford is still one of the premier ports in the country. Much of the city’s architectural heritage has survived and is being restored for future generations to enjoy. The centuries old glass making tradition is still practised in the city.

Waterford’s past is therefore more than just history - it is a living tradition, for this is a city where people continue to live in the shadow of ancient city walls and practise trades that have been perfected by their forefathers for centuries.

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