a maritime county of the province of Munster, in Ireland, bounded on the N. by the river Suir, which separates it from the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny; on the E. by the harbour of Waterford, which divides it from the county of Wexford; on the S. by the Atlantic; and on the W. by the counties of Cork and Tipperary. It lies between 51° 55' and 52° 15' N. latitude, and 7° 10' and 8° 24' W. longitude; extending 28 miles in its greatest length from N. to S., and 52 in breadth from E. to W., and comprehending an area of 721 square miles, or 461,558 acres, of which 325,345 are arable, 105,496 uncultivated, 23,408 in plantations, 1625 in towns, and 5779 under water. Of the 105,000 acres of unimproved pasture-land, situated chiefly on the summits of the Monavullagh and Knockmealdown Mountains, it is probable that 20,000 acres may be advantageously reclaimed for cultivation, 30,000 acres may be drained for pasture, and 55,000 Waterford acres, situated mostly near the summits of the mountains, may be considered as not worthy of improvement. A remarkable example of success in the cultivation and reclaiming of mountain-land may be observed around the abbey of monks of the order of St Bernard la Trappe, situate at Mount Melleray, three miles north of Cappoquin.
In the time of Ptolemy, all this district was inhabited by the tribe of the Brigantes, whose territory extended from Carnsore Point in Wexford, westward along the coast to the Blackwater. It was afterwards peopled by the Desii, who are supposed to have migrated from a tribe of the same name in Meath; and having spread themselves also over the plain country of Tipperary, those settled in Waterford were distinguished by the name of South Desii, and the others by that of North Desii. Here the Danes established a permanent settlement in the ninth century, making the city of Waterford their chief seat of government; and though frequently involved in wars with the surrounding natives, they retained possession of the city and district until their subjugation by the English, who, in 1170, under Strongbow, stormed Waterford, took their chieftain, or prince prisoner, and brought the whole of the Deccis into the possession of the English. Shortly after, Henry II. granted the greater part of the county to Robert le Poer, and the remainder, with that of Cork, then a petty kingdom, to Milo de Cogan, two of his followers. In 1206, King John erected the territory into a county, from which the city was excepted, being under a separate jurisdiction. King John landed at Waterford in 1211, and personally visited many parts of the country. The next king of England who visited Ireland, Richard II., landed at Waterford in 1394, with an army of 4000 men-at-arms, and 30,000 archers. This king again landed at Waterford in 1399. In 1444, the county, together with the greater part of the rest of Munster, was granted to James, earl of Desmond. A few years after, both county and city were granted to John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, who was then created earl of Waterford; but both lands and title were resumed by the king under the statute 28th Henry VIII., which vested the lands of absentee proprietors in the crown. The county suffered severely in the reign of Elizabeth, through the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond, and the Spanish invasion; and also in the wars of 1641, during the first years of which, its possession was the subject of continued sanguinary contention between the English and Irish forces, until it was ultimately reduced under the authority of the English Parliament by Cromwell. During the war of the Revolution, it took part with King James, and was reduced by King William's forces, under General Kirk, after the decisive battle of the Boyne.
The general character of the county is mountainous. The Knockmealdown ridge, the highest point of which is 2609 feet above the sea-level, ranges along its north-western boundary, forming the line of demarcation on the side of Tipperary. The Commeragh and Monavulagh Mountains lie in a direction nearly north and south from the east of Clonmel to Dungarvan; their loftiest summit, Knocknasfrian, is 2478 feet high. On several of the summits of these mountains are large piles of stones, apparently of artificial construction, but of unknown origin. To the south of Dungarvan are the Drum Mountains, much lower than the preceding, but rugged and difficult of passage. They form the division between two of the baronies. The south-eastern district is low, of alluvial formation, and forms a kind of peninsula, cut off from the remainder of the county by a line of marshy land, which has the appearance of having been once under water. There are no large rivers in the interior. The Suir forms its northern boundary from beyond Clonmel to the estuary formed by its junction with the combined waters of the Barrow and Nore. Vessels of Waterford. 800 tons come up to the city of Waterford, where they can discharge their cargoes at the quay; barges and lighters can proceed upwards to Carrick-on-Suir, and boats of fifty tons to Clonmel. The Blackwater, called also the Owenduff and Owenmore, "the black and the great river," after flowing through the western part of the county, forms part of the boundary on the side of Cork county, and discharges itself into Youghal harbour. It is navigable for vessels under 100 tons to its confluence with the Bride, a smaller stream which joins it from the west. The Brickey empties itself into Dungarvan harbour. The Neir, in the west of the county, is a small tributary of the Suir. There are no lakes, except a few of very small size in the Commeragh Mountains, the largest, called Cummeiloughs, are but six or eight acres in extent, the others, called Stilloughs, smaller. A tract at Ballyscannan, in Middlethird barony, covered with water during winter, subsides into a small lake in the dry season. The county enjoys the benefit of an extensive line of seacoast. Two miles east of the city is the Little Island, of triangular shape; after which the coast takes a southern direction, forming the western side of Waterford harbour, at the entrance of which is the pier harbour of Dunmore, with a lighthouse exhibiting a fixed light, red towards the sea, and bright inland. The harbour, in which vessels of fifteen feet draught may lie afloat, covers a cove of six acres. West of Dunmore are the small islands of Fileskirt. Farther westward, between Brownstown and Newtownhead, is Tramore Bay, notorious for shipwrecks. A vessel caught in it finds it almost impossible to work out by plying to windward. The ground is so foul and rocky that cables are frequently cut and ships lost. The north-west is the only part which affords a possibility of escape, the east being so shoal and rocky that vessels driven on that side are involved in terrible breakers at a considerable distance from shore. Proceeding westward are the small grassy rocks called the Islands of Jeane, and the inlets called Bonmahon, Clonea, and Rineshark. Dungarvan harbour affords shelter to vessels drawing ten feet of water.
Ardmore Bay and Whiting Bay are still farther west. Youghal harbour forms the western boundary of the county. Off the coast, and extending along that of the southern part of the adjoining county of Wexford, is the Nymph Bank, long looked upon as an inexhaustible source of supply of round fish, but much less productive than had been represented; the fish not being abundant, and of a poorer description than those taken on other banks.
The eastern part of the county consists of clay-slate, interrupted by small patches of primitive limestone, susceptible of a high polish, and by conglomerate and basalt, which latter appears in a columnar form on the cliffs over the sea. A copper mine at Knocknahon, except the mines of Berehaven in Cork, the most productive in Ireland, has been worked for many years by the Mining Company of Ireland. The ore is sent in a crude state to Swansea to be smelted. The average annual produce is stated at 4500 tons, valued at £40,000. Lead was formerly raised in large quantities in the same district. The veins in the hill of Crunch and on the shore at Kilmurrin have given out a large quantity of silver. The western part of the county is old conglomerate, with red, purple, green, and gray clay-slate. It is bordered in many parts by a band of millstone grit and white sandstone, which also constitutes the fringe of a broad bed of carboniferous limestone, that passes through a great part of the interior from east to west. Slates from the quarries south of Lismore are raised at an average of 2500 tons annually, value £4200. Mineral veins are also found in this district. At Ardmore, an iron mine was formerly wrought, from which steel of superior quality was said to have been fabricated. The sandstone in many places is wrought into millstones. Ochres, boles, and clays, fit for the manufacture of earthenware, are found in various places.
The population of the county, according to calculations made at different periods, was as follows:
| Date | Authority | Inhabitants | |------------|-----------|-------------| | 1760 | De Burgo | 60,096 | | 1792 | Beaumont | 75,000 | | 1812 | Parl. census | 119,457 | | 1821 | Ditto | 127,842 |
The latest of these returns show a reduction of 45 inhabitants per square mile in ten years, the number in 1841 being 272, and in 1851, 227. The population according to the return of the Commissioners of Public Instruction in 1834, gives a total population of 182,018; of which number the members of the Established Church were 8391, the Protestant dissenters 861, and the Roman Catholics 172,768. The proportion of Roman Catholics to Protestants, including Protestant dissenters, was as 1 to 0.05352, or as 1 to 19th nearly; or the Protestants were to the Roman Catholics as 1 to 1867. The number of children receiving instruction in public schools was as follows, according to the returns under the population act in 1821, those of the Commissioners of Education in 1824-26, of the Commissioners of Public Instruction in 1834, and of the Board of National Education in 1839.
| Date | Males | Females | Sex not ascertained | Total | |------------|-------|---------|---------------------|-------| | 1821 | 6088 | 2119 | — | 8207 | | 1824-26 | 9476 | 5524 | 182 | 15,121| | 1834 | 7200 | 4100 | 300 | 11,000| | 1838-39 | 3510 | 2614 | — | 6,154 |
According to the return of 1824-26, in which only the religious persuasion of the people is noticed, the numbers are, of the established church, 1373; dissenters, 100; Roman Catholics, 13,662; religious persuasion not ascertained, 46. The number of schools of each denomination, and of pupils attending them, in 1851, was ascertained by the Census Commissioners to be:
| No. of Schools | Number of Children | |----------------|-------------------| | | Males | Females | Total | | CITY OF WATERFORD. | | | | | Church Education | 1 | 31 | 24 | 55 | | Endowed | 2 | 59 | 30 | 89 | | Boarding | 1 | 33 | 18 | 51 | | Private | 30 | 431 | 293 | 727 | | Parochial | 2 | 32 | 20 | 52 | | Free | 8 | 1,037 | 302 | 1,339| | Industrial | 1 | ... | 42 | 42 | | Workhouse | 1 | ... | 354 | 354 | | Gaol | 1 | 25 | ... | 25 | | Total | 47 | 1,671 | 1,083 | 2,754|
| COUNTY OF WATERFORD. | | | | | National | 63 | 2,805 | 2,559 | 5,363| | Church Education | 7 | 116 | 113 | 229 | | Endowed | 1 | 37 | ... | 37 | | Boarding | 4 | 108 | 71 | 179 | | Private | 44 | 638 | 449 | 1,087| | Parochial | 18 | 605 | 231 | 866 | | Free | 11 | 215 | 870 | 1,085| | Mission | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | | Charitable Boarding | 1 | 8 | 14 | 22 | | Workhouse | 5 | 753 | 613 | 1,366| | Gaol | 1 | 31 | 6 | 37 | | Total | 156 | 5,319 | 4,956 | 10,275|
Total County and City... 203 6,990 6,039 13,029
The county is divided into eight baronies, and the county of the city of Waterford, the valuation and acreable contents of which are as follows: Waterford.
These are subdivided into seventy-four parishes, thirty-three in the diocese of Waterford, and forty-one in that of Lismore; the cathedrals of each of these being in the cities of the same name with the respective dioceses. Waterford sent eight members to the Irish Parliament, two for the county, and two each for the city of Waterford and the boroughs of Dungarvan, Lismore and Tallow. By the arrangements at the time of the Union, the number was reduced to four, two for the county, and one each for Waterford city and Dungarvan. The Reform Act for Ireland added one member to the city.
The county is included in the Leinster circuit. The assizes are held in the city of Waterford, and general sessions of the peace are held four times in the year in that city; twice a year at Dungarvan, and twice at Lismore. The county gaol, the infirmary and the lunatic asylum for the county and city are in Waterford city. The county contains the poor-law unions of Dungarvan, Kilnaughton, Lismore, and Waterford; portions of the two latter being in neighbouring counties. The unions of Clogheen and Carrick-on-Suir, which are seated in Tipperary, also include parts of this county.
Though the land is in general coarse, there is a considerable tract of rich soil, particularly in the south-eastern quarter; and the mountainous districts affords good pasture for cattle. The estates are in general very large; that of the Duke of Devonshire is the most extensive. Tillage has increased rapidly since 1779, when not one third part was under the plough. The settlement of the religious fraternity of St Bernard la Trappe, near Cappoquin, the members of which have devoted much attention to the reclamation and improvement of a large mountainous tract granted to them for their residence, has stimulated the spirit of industrious exertion. Wheat and oats are largely raised, clover very generally grown, but other kinds of green crops are not yet so general as in England. Lime for manure is abundant in the western parts, and large quantities of coralline sea-sand are carried into the interior for the same purpose. The fences are mostly banks of earth topped with furze in the flat country, and dry stone walls in the mountainous parts. The extent of land under each description of crop in 1849 and 1859 was:
| Crops | 1849 | 1859 | |----------------|------|------| | Wheat | 36,081 | 23,671 | | Oats | 26,633 | 32,526 | | Barley, bere, rye, beans, and peas | 8,444 | 3,651 | | Potatoes | 23,934 | 23,385 | | Turnips | 9,984 | 10,886 | | Other green crops | 2,659 | 4,042 | | Flax | 11 | 38 | | Meadow and clover | 15,688 | 18,749 | | Total | 123,432 | 116,948 |
The best breeds of cattle are to be seen on the pastures.
Sheep are not a common stock; swine, raised chiefly for Waterford export, are very numerous, as are goats in the higher lands. Waterford is one of the principal dairy counties in the island, and exports much butter. Very little cheese is made. The number of live stock in the county was as follows in 1858 and 1859:
| Livestock | 1858 | 1859 | |-----------|------|------| | Horses | 14,150 | 14,184 | | Cattle | 81,486 | 84,440 | | Sheep | 44,171 | 42,408 | | Pigs | 65,560 | 55,701 |
The want of timber, both for ornamental and useful purposes, is much felt; but the deficiency is yearly diminished by the increased attention to plantations. There is but little bog. The extensive range of seacoast, indented by numerous creeks and inlets, holds out great inducements for profitable employment in the fisheries. During the ten years' continuance of the system of bounties, and of grants and loans for the building and repairs of boats and the purchase of fishing-gear, adopted by the Board of Fisheries instituted in 1819, the sea-fishery was carried on with much spirit, particularly in Dungarvan, the centre of the system. Some working fishermen accumulated capital; some became boat-owners, and some boat-owners masters of trading-vessels. But on the termination of the bounties and grants, the business declined rapidly; the boats fell into decay, and were laid up. The Nymph bank stretches along the whole of the southern coast, and was once supposed to afford an inexhaustible supply of cod, ling, &c., but its capabilities are not now so highly estimated. The coasts abound with shell-fish. Salmon and other species of river-fish, are taken in large numbers in the Blackwater and Suir, and in the numerous smaller streams.
Carrick-on-Suir was once the centre of a very extensive woollen manufacture, which branched out into most parts of this county. It has been for many years almost extinct, the supply at present serving only for the domestic consumption of the peasantry. The largest cotton-factory in Ireland for spinning and weaving has been established at Portlaoise, to the west of Waterford city, giving employment to upwards of 1000 people. There are distilleries, breweries, and paper-mills. Flour is also extensively manufactured, and largely exported. Some glass was formerly made at Waterford, and coarse earthenware in several places; but Waterford is not a manufacturing county. The inland trade chiefly centres in Waterford city, which is also a good emporium for the export of grain and salted provisions. Some business in both departments is also done at Dungarvan and Youghal.
Among the mansions of the nobility and gentry of large estates, the most remarkable are Lismore Castle, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, formerly an episcopal residence until granted by Miler Magrath, archbishop of Cashel, to Sir Walter Raleigh, from whom this and other property was purchased by Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork. It is seen to great advantage, being built on the verge of a hill, with the river Blackwater running beneath. Curraghmore, the magnificent mansion of the Marquis of Waterford, is situated about 10 miles from Waterford.
The habitations, dress, and manners of the peasantry, in the rural districts, resemble those similarly circumstanced in other parts of the province, being distinguished chiefly by the difference of their modes of life, as residing on the seacoast, the rich pasture-lands, the mountain-districts, or in the vicinity of a populous town. The county contains numerous remains of ancient structures. A pillar-tower at Ardmore, about 90 feet high, is in a state of high preservation. Waterford. Near the same place is a large rath, and several others in various parts. The remains of small circular intrenchments, mostly at short distances from each other, can also be traced. Cromlechs are also numerous, some very large. The names of upwards of twenty monastic establishments have been preserved, but the sites of few of them are now discernible. The same may be said of the numerous castles erected in many parts of this county, long the theatre of petty wars. Natural caves are to be seen, both on the coast and in the interior, as well as others which have every appearance of owing their origin to human ingenuity. There are several mineral springs, chiefly chalky.
Waterford City is situated on the northern verge of the county, and on the southern bank of the Suir, about 20 miles from the mouth of the harbour. It was founded by the Danes, according to some authorities, as early as the middle of the second century, but as stated by others with more probability, in the ninth century. It continued in the possession of these settlers, wholly independent of the surrounding native princes, and generally at variance with them, till the arrival of the English under Strongbow, who took it by storm, and was in the act of consummating his victory by an indiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants, when he was prevented by the interference of his ally and protector Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster, whose daughter Eva he subsequently married in the city. Henry II., afterwards landed here, and from that period it long continued to be one of the principal places of communication with England, and a considerable mart for foreign trade. King John, when Earl of Morton, landed here in 1183. On his accession to the throne, he granted its first charter, and again visited the city the year after. In the next century it suffered twice by conflagrations, the latter time so severely, that it remained several years in a decayed state. In 1368, the citizens, under the command of the mayor, suffered a severe defeat from the Poers and O'Driscolls. At the close of the same century, Richard II. landed here on both the occasions on which he visited this part of his dominions. Money was coined here by the Danes, and a mint established by John; a privilege confirmed by Edward IV., when he abolished all the mints in Ireland except those of this city, Dublin, and Drogheda. Waterford signalized itself by its steady attachment to the royal interests during the attempts of Simnel and Warbeck, in the reign of Henry VII. The latter of these pretenders laid siege to it, but was forced to withdraw his forces, in commemoration of which the city obtained its motto, "Urbs intacta manet." At the close of the long-continued warfare which had devastated Ireland during the latter part of Elizabeth's reign, the citizens objected to having James proclaimed, and refused admission to Lord Mountjoy, then lord-deputy, and his forces, until compelled to submit by his threat to level the city and strew it with salt. In the wars of 1641, they sided with the confederate Catholics, and after several vicissitudes of fortune, ultimately capitulated to the parliamentary army under Ireton. In the subsequent war in 1688, they took part with King James, who here embarked for France after his defeat at the Boyne; and the city shortly afterwards surrendered, upon terms, to King William's forces under General Kirk.
The walls of the Danish city enclosed a triangular area of about 15 acres. The only remaining vestige of them is a round tower, built by one of the Danish sovereigns, and from him named Reginald's Tower, which has been rebuilt from its ruins, and is now occupied as a barrack. The county of the city extends along the river from Carrick-on-Suir to Passage, and on the north side beyond the river into Kilkenny county. This portion is connected with the main body by a wooden bridge. It comprehends an area of 9683 acres, including 822 on which the city stands, and Waterford contains twelve parishes, three of which are rural. The corporation consists of a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty councillors. The city returns two members to the imperial Parliament, by a constituency numbering about 1150.
The municipal courts are a court of conscience, for debts under forty shillings; the mayor's court, for disputes as to servants' wages. The city business is transacted in the town-hall, an elegant modern building. Besides the county court-house and prison already noticed, there are a city gaol, and a penitentiary or house of correction. The ecclesiastical buildings are a cathedral, founded in 1076, but since taken down and rebuilt from the ruins and materials of the old building, but without any resemblance to the former structure; several parochial churches, a Roman Catholic cathedral, Roman Catholic chapels, and dissenting meetinghouses. There are several endowed schools, the principal of which are the Blue-coat schools for boys and girls. Among the charitable institutions are, the Widows' Houses; the Lepre Hospital; the Hospital of the Holy Ghost; the Fever Hospital, the first founded in Ireland; and the District Lunatic Asylum, confined to the county and city.
The quays, the finest range in the kingdom, which extend along the bank of the river from one end of the town to the other, and from which most of the other streets branch out, form the most ornamented part of the city. Waterford derives its wealth and importance from its commerce, which is now chiefly with Great Britain. So early as the commencement of last century, it adopted the liberal policy of admitting foreign traders to the freedom of the city, which induced several intelligent merchants from the continent to settle here. The exports are mostly cattle, sheep, pigs, grain, flour, butter, and salted and dried provisions. Mercantile affairs are superintended by the Chamber of Commerce, incorporated in 1815, and by the Board of twenty-four Harbour Commissioners, appointed by the Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce. Under their management a dock-yard has been constructed, capable of receiving vessels of very large dimensions, and the main passages of the river have been cleansed and deepened. The consequence has been a rapid and extensive increase of trade.
The population of the county of the city amounted in 1834 to 29,352, of which number 4427 were members of the Established Church, 429 Protestant dissenters, and 24,433 Roman Catholics. The population of the city alone, in 1851, was 23,339. The population of the other towns containing more than 2000 souls each was, in 1851, Dungarvan, 6965; Lismore, 2340; Carrickbeg (a suburb of Carrick-on-Suir), 2108; Cappoquin, 2145; and Portlaoise, 4351.