If you need an overnight stop in southeast Ireland, the historic Viking port and Norman beachhead town of Waterford is your best choice. From here, you can explore the varied sights of County Wexford (including a 12th-century lighthouse, the Kennedy homestead—now a museum—the re-creation of a famine ship, and more). But humble Waterford town is of most interest to crystal devotees and Irish history enthusiasts. If that’s not you, give it a miss. Or consider staying in more appealing Kilkenny (see the previous chapter) and sample this area via day trips.
This region has a pastoral serenity and a strong history of trading from its sheltered ports facing England. The Vikings built the ports and developed the trade routes. Their cousins, the Normans, came along 200 years later and carefully fortified the ports. In 1170, King Henry II visited his new Irish realm with a huge fleet, calling Waterford the “Gateway to Ireland.” With more efficient farming techniques and advanced military technology, the Normans cranked up their dominant culture and shoved the locals aside.
But the Irish made them fight to hang on to it. Like medieval Fort Apaches, Norman-fortified tower-house castles dot the landscape. And throughout your travels here, you’ll see evidence of the region’s Norman (French) roots in its high concentration of family names with old Norman prefixes: De Berg, De Lacy, Devereux, Fitzgilbert, Fitzsimmons, Fitzgerald, and so on.
And how about this: Zorro was from Wexford. Or so say some historians, who claim that the inspiration for the colorful fictitious character was none other than locally born, multilingual, 17th-century Catholic adventurer William Lamport. Lamport ran afoul of the English, fled to Spain, became a pirate, then joined a Spanish regiment fighting Swedes in the Thirty Years War. He was sent to Mexico as a spy (El Zorro means “the fox”) but was executed for sympathizing with native slaves against the Mexican Inquisition.
The oldest city in Ireland, Waterford was once more important than Dublin, and its three fine museums reflect this history. But today, while tourists associate the town’s name with its famous crystal, locals are quick to remind you that the crystal is named after the town, not vice versa (come for the crystal, stay for the history). That said, Waterford is a plain, gray, workaday town of 45,000. Pubs outnumber cafés, and freighters offload cargo at the dock. Wandering the back streets, you’ll get a dose of gritty Ireland, with fewer leprechauns per capita than other Irish destinations (though you’ll also see some recent sprucing-up efforts as the town tries to shake its mediocre image).
A day is enough time for Waterford’s compact historic core. Visit the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre early or late to avoid the midday big bus-tour crowds. Beyond that, your best activity is the historic walking tour (listed under “Helpful Hints,” later), followed by a visit to the branch of the Waterford Museum of Treasures housed in Reginald’s Tower. History buffs may want to dig deeper with visits to the other two branches of this three-museum complex: Chorister’s Hall (medieval life) and Bishop’s Palace (Georgian to modern age). To feel the pulse of contemporary Waterford, hang out on Barronstrand Street—the town’s pedestrian artery.
Waterford’s main drag runs along its homely harbor; all of my recommended accommodations and sights are within a 15-minute walk from here. The sights and TI cluster within a four-block area nicknamed the “Viking Triangle.” The TI and Reginald’s Tower are opposite a modern, white, tent-like structure covering a raised stage called the Millennium Plaza, at the far eastern end of the harborfront from Rice Bridge. The other museums, the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre, and the Theatre Royal are inland from Reginald’s Tower, facing a street called The Mall.
A stubby three-story Victorian clock tower marks the middle of the harbor. It’s also the start of the pedestrian Barronstrand Street, which runs two blocks inland to the town square. Also along the harbor are the bus station and easy parking lots (€1.80/hour). The best overnight lot—enter next to the bus station—costs €5 for a stay from 17:00 to 11:00. Some harborfront lots, including the overnight lot, have machines where you pay before exiting (check the payment/exit procedures as you walk out of the lot; you may need exact change in coins).
The TI sits on the harborfront, where Greyfriars Street meets Parade Quay, facing Millennium Plaza (Mon-Sat 9:00-17:00, usually closed Sun, shorter hours Nov-March; 120 Parade Quay, tel. 051/875-823, www.discoverireland.ie/waterford).
Laundry: A-Class Cleaners does full-service loads the same day if you drop off early (Mon-Fri 9:00-18:00, Sat 9:30-17:30, closed Sun, 129 Parade Quay, tel. 051/844-100).
Bookstore: The multilevel Book Centre, right off the main square, is a fun browse and has a cozy soup and sandwich café on an upstairs balcony (Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00, Fri until 21:00, Sun 13:00-17:00, 25 John Roberts Square, tel. 051/873-823).
Shopping: The Irish Handmade Glass Company features artisans trained at the old Waterford Crystal factory, who work right in front of you fashioning unique crystal creations (Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00, Sat from 10:00, closed Sun, behind the Kite Design Studio storefront, 11 Henrietta Street, tel. 051/858-914, www.theirishhandmadeglasscompany.com).
Taxis: Try Premiere Taxi Service (tel. 051/373-373) or Rapid Cabs (tel. 051/858-585). Rapid Express offers coaches to Dublin’s airport (tel. 051/872-149).
Historic Walking Tour: Jack Burtchaell and his partners lead entertaining, informative, hour-long, historical town walks (worth ▲▲) that go from the TI to the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre, giving you a good handle on the story of Waterford. They meet at the TI every day at 11:45 and 13:45—or you can join the tour as it swings by the Granville Hotel at 12:00 and 14:00 (just show up, pay €8 at the end, mid-March-mid-Oct only, tel. 051/873-711, www.jackswalkingtours.com).
Theater: Waterford’s small but lively Theatre Royal claims a 225-year tradition. Given the dearth of other nighttime options in Waterford beyond pubs, it’s worth checking out their schedule of plays, concerts, and light opera (€15-30 tickets, located on The Mall across from the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre, tel. 051/874-402, www.theatreroyal.ie).
With a tradition dating back to 1783 (absent about 100 years, from the late 1840s Famine until the post-WWII boom), Waterford was once the largest—and still is the most respected—glassworks in the world. The economic downturn of 2008 shattered the market for luxury items like crystal, forcing the huge Waterford Crystal factory outside town to close. The company was bought by American investors who opened a new, scaled-down factory in the town center (and later sold it to a Finnish company for a handsome profit). While 70 percent of Waterford Crystal is now manufactured by cheaper labor in Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, the finest glass craftsmen still reside here, where they create “prestige pieces” for special-order customers. The one-hour tour of this hardworking little factory is a joy. It’s more intimate than the old, larger factory, and you’re encouraged to interact with the craftsmen. Large tour groups descend midday, so try to visit before 10:00 or after 15:30.
Arriving in 819, Vikings first established Waterford as their base for piracy. Waterford was a perfect spot for launching their ships, since it’s located at the gateway to one of the most extensive river networks in Ireland. From here, raiders could sail and row 50 miles into Ireland, an island with no towns, just scattered monastic settlements and small gatherings of clans—perfect for the Vikings’ plan of rape, pillage, and plunder.
Later, the Vikings decided to “go legit.” They turned to profiteering, setting up shop in an established trading base they named Vandrafjord, or “safe harbor.” Ireland’s first permanent town eventually became known as Waterford. It was from this base that the Norsemen invaded northern England.
In the 12th century, a deposed Irish king named Diarmuid MacMurrough opened the Irish version of Pandora’s box by inviting the Normans over from England, hoping to use their advanced military technology to regain his land from a rival clan. The great warrior knight Strongbow came...and never left, beginning Ireland’s long and troublesome relationship with the English. In 1170, Strongbow married the Irish princess Aoife in here in Waterford (in a Gothic church where Waterford’s Christ Church Cathedral stands today). One of Ireland’s most famous and melodramatic paintings (hanging in the National Gallery in Dublin) depicts this event, and a copy of it covers a wall in Chorister’s Hall Medieval Museum. With this marriage, Strongbow was next in line for the title of King of Leinster, which he was named after the death of his father-in-law, MacMurrough, a year later.
Strongbow’s success was so rapid that King Henry II got worried about a rival kingdom blossoming on his flank. He quickly gathered his navy and sailed over from England to make sure Strongbow knew who was boss—and to intimidate Irish clan leaders into swearing loyalty to the Crown. England’s first roots in Ireland had been planted.
For the English, Waterford has often proved to be a tough nut to crack. During Oliver Cromwell’s brutal scorched-earth campaign of 1649-1650, he destroyed any town still loyal to King Charles I (see “The Curse of Cromwell” sidebar, later). Waterford was the only Irish city to withstand Cromwell’s siege.
Cost and Hours: Tours cost €14 and depart every 30 minutes (cheaper online); Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00 (last tour at 16:15), Sun from 9:30, shorter hours Nov-March, call to confirm, shop open longer hours; on The Mall, one block south of Reginald’s Tower; tel. 051/317-000, www.waterfordvisitorcentre.com.
Visiting the Factory: The tour begins with a bit of history and a look at an impressive six-foot-tall crystal grandfather clock. It then loses momentum as you’re ushered into a glitzy and pointless five-minute fireworks film montage set to a techno beat. But things pick up again as your guide takes you into the factory to meet the craftsmen in their element. Glassblowers magically spin glowing blobs of molten crystal into exquisite and recognizable shapes in minutes. If you get dizzy blowing up balloons for a kid’s party, consider the lung stamina that these craftsmen display. Watch closely as the glassblower puts his thumb over the opening between breaths to keep the heat and pressure inside the blob constant.
Heavy molten crystal has an intentionally high lead content (it’s what distinguishes fine crystal from common glassware). A cooling-off stage allows the crystal to set. Then glasscutters deftly cradle the fragile creations against diamond-edged cutting wheels, applying exactly enough pressure to ensure that the grooves are replicated with surgical skill. The glasscutters will be glad to demonstrate if you ask.
Watch the skilled cutters muscle rough unfinished pieces—weighing as much as bowling balls—and cut intricate patterns. The crystal vases and bowls may look light and delicate, but hold an unfinished piece (with its lead-enhanced heft) and you’ll gain a new appreciation for the strength, touch, and hand-eye coordination of the glasscutters.
Afterward, visit the glittering salesroom, surrounded by hard-to-pack but easy-to-ship temptations. Take a look at the copies of famous sports trophies (they make backups of their most important commissions, just in case). If you make a significant purchase, be sure to ask about getting a VAT refund (see here).
Waterford presents its impressive history in a three-museum complex called the Museum of Treasures, with locations just a damsel’s handkerchief-drop from each other. The museums line up along the southern flank of the “Viking Triangle,” the footprint of the original Viking-fort section of town, about a two-minute walk apart (the museum’s tagline is “Vikings to Victorians: 1,000 years of history in 1,000 paces”).
To see the branches in historical sequence, first visit Reginald’s Tower on the harborfront to understand the Viking roots of the city. Then stroll up The Mall to find Chorister’s Hall Medieval Museum, a modern structure tucked behind the Theatre Royal. This branch shows Norman and Tudor artifacts above an original 13th-century vaulted wine cellar. Finally, right next door, you can visit the imposing Bishop’s Palace, a fine mansion full of everything Waterford from 1700 to the present. Few Irish towns can claim a meatier bite of Irish history than Waterford.
Note: Entry to Reginald’s Tower is covered by the Heritage Card (see “Sightseeing Passes,” here). The Chorister’s Hall and Bishop’s Palace are not, but they do offer a combo-ticket for entry into both.
This oldest part of the oldest town in Ireland is named after Regnall, the first (Norwegian) Viking leader of Waterford, who built a fortified oaken tower here in A.D. 914 and later invaded Jorvik (York, England). Dating from the late 1100s, the stone Norman tower you see today replaced the wooden one and was once the most important corner of the town wall. The tower is Ireland’s oldest intact building and the first made with mortar. Today, its four floors creak with Viking artifacts.
Cost and Hours: €5; includes guided tour upon request—ask for the one-hour version, which adds a historical walk around the block to French Church; daily 9:30-17:30, Jan-Feb until 17:00, tel. 051/304-220, www.waterfordtreasures.com.
Visiting the Museum: Before you enter, look for the cannonball embedded high above the entrance, courtesy of Cromwell’s siege cannons.
Once inside, you’ll find an interesting Viking town model opposite the ticket counter. Upstairs, a display of early coins explains how the Vikings introduced the concept of coinage to the Irish after they eventually settled down and set up trade posts. Look for the tiny Kite Brooch that delicately blends both Scandinavian and Irish styles. In their day, brooches were considered badges of status, and this one’s owner must have been at the top of the heap. As you climb the narrow stone stairways, watch your head (people were shorter 800 years ago). And be sure to go all the way to the top floor, where an informative 10-minute animated video traces the evolution of the town from muddy fort to modern city.
Waterford’s favorite son had a short but amazing life. The son of the town’s mayor, Meagher joined Daniel O’Connell’s nonviolent movement to repeal the Act of Union with Britain. Impatient with the slow-moving political process of constant compromise, Meagher joined the radical Young Irelander movement that advocated separation from Britain by force of arms. He became an inspiring and fiery speaker nicknamed “Meagher of the Sword.” He went to France in 1848 and returned with the first Irish tricolor flag—a gift from the French that represented the Catholics (green), the Protestants (orange), and peaceful coexistence between the two (white).
Involved in a failed uprising, Meagher was sentenced to hang, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison in Tasmania. In 1852, Meagher escaped Tasmania via an American whaling ship and sailed to New York, where he eventually became a lawyer and started an Irish newspaper. After a trip to Nicaragua (to study the feasibility of building a canal or railway across the isthmus), he returned to New York to fight in the American Civil War. Meagher was made a Union general, raised a regiment of Irish immigrants, and famously led them into battle at Antietam and Fredericksburg. After the war, he became the first governor of the Montana territory. At age 44, Thomas Francis Meagher fell off a riverboat one night and drowned in the Missouri River. Sheer accident, foul play, or careless drunkenness? Nobody knows for sure—but his body was never found.
To learn more about this little-known, but fascinating Irish leader, read Timothy Egan’s The Immortal Irishman (2016), which offers a vivid account of the contrasting events and locales in Meagher’s life.
The statue outside (in the middle of the street) is of Thomas Francis Meagher (see sidebar), whose short, hell-bent-for-leather life took him on precarious adventures from Waterford to Tasmania to Nicaragua to Montana and, finally, to an unknown watery grave.
This middle branch of the museum triumvirate uses its three floors to focus on life in Waterford from the Norman invasion of the late 1100s to the Williamite English triumph of the late 1600s. Your visit is enhanced by an excellent free audio/videoguide that plays automatically as you move from room to room (pay attention to the changing images it displays—they’ll help you navigate among artifacts).
Cost and Hours: €7, €10 combo-ticket with Bishop’s Palace; June-Aug Mon-Sat 9:15-18:00, Sun 11:00-18:00; Sept-May Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00; last entry one hour before closing, tel. 051/304-500, www.waterfordtreasures.com.
Visiting the Museum: Begin by descending under the modern building and into an original wine-vault cellar from the 1200s (long on atmosphere but otherwise empty).
Ride the elevator to the top floor to see a grand collection of well-described Anglo-Norman artifacts. The Great Charter Roll of 1372 was compiled to reinforce Waterford’s claim to a monopoly of the lucrative wine-import trade. Check out the wall-size copy of the famous painting depicting the pivotal marriage of Norman leader Strongbow to Irish princess Aoife, then bring it to life on your audioguide. Detailed town models and an informative 10-minute audiovisual presentation complete the history here.
Down one floor, you’ll learn how religion played out on Waterford’s historic stage. Watch this floor’s audiovisual presentation first to understand the broader context of this town’s role in Irish history. Then feast your eyes on “Heaven’s Embroidered Cloths,” a collection of priestly vestments produced in Medici Florence, decorated in affluent Bruges, and shipped to conflicted Waterford. Hidden under a flagstone in the floor of Christ Church Cathedral during a siege, they were rediscovered 123 years later during renovation.
Housed in the former mansion (built 1743) of the local Protestant bishop (with his Christ Church Cathedral looming right behind it), this museum presents a grand sweep through the history of Waterford since 1700, and contains the world’s largest collection of old Waterford glass.
Cost and Hours: €7, €10-combo ticket with Chorister’s Hall, same hours and contact info as Chorister’s Hall. Entertaining 45-minute free tours are led by actors in period dress, who inhabit the palace as servants of the bishop (hourly June-Aug 9:30-18:00, Sept-May 10:00-16:00).
Visiting the Palace: The refined interior hints of the privileged lifestyle of the holy resident. Back then, a visit with the bishop would depend on social class. The bishop would meet upper-class visitors at the top of the grand stairway, greet middle-class merchants at his office doorway, and not budge from his desk chair for anyone from the lower class. Under no circumstances would he come downstairs to greet anyone.
These days, you’ll work your way through three floors spiced with characters like Waterford-born action hero Thomas Francis Meagher (see sidebar). You’ll learn why the province of Newfoundland in Canada owes over 50 percent of its population to immigrants from Waterford. And if you’ve ever wondered what bull baiting was, you’ll be filled in on this equally cruel (and long outlawed) Irish version of a bullfight.
Particularly poignant is the top-floor coverage of local WWI loyalists (Waterford was more loyal to the British crown than most Irish towns) contrasted with the 1916 Rising and flowering of Irish Republicanism.
The year is 1793. With Catholic France (30 million) threatening Protestant Britain (8 million) on one side, and Catholic Ireland (6 million) stirring things up on the other, English King George III was stuck between a rock and a hard place. To lessen Irish resentment, the king granted Ireland the Irish Relief Act, which, among other things, allowed the Irish to build Catholic churches and worship publicly for the first time since the penal laws forbade them a hundred years earlier. Allowed new freedom, the Irish built this interesting cathedral in 1796. It’s Ireland’s first Catholic post-Reformation church and its only Baroque church. The building was funded by wealthy Irish wine merchants who were flourishing in Cádiz, Spain. Among its treasures are 10 Waterford Crystal chandeliers.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 8:00-19:00.
Nearby: The cathedral faces Barronstrand Street, which leads from the clock tower on the harborfront through the pedestrian-friendly town square to Patrick Street. The street separates the medieval town (on your left with the river behind you) from the 18th-century city (on your right). A river once flowed here—part of the town’s natural defenses just outside the old wall. The huge shopping center that dominates the old town was built right on top of the Viking town. In fact, the center is built over a church dating from 1150, whose stone foundation you can see at the bottom of the escalator (behind the glass, next to the kiddie rides).
This Protestant cathedral, with 18th-century Georgian architecture, is the third church to stand here. Look for the exposed Gothic column six feet below today’s floor level, a remnant from an earlier church where the Norman conqueror Strongbow was married (see sidebar on here).
Wander over to the macabre tomb of 15th-century mayor James Rice, which bears a famous epitaph: “I am what you will be, I was what you are, pray for me.” To emphasize the point, he requested that his body be dug up one year after his death (1482) and his partially decomposed remains be used to model his likeness, now seen on the tomb’s lid...complete with worms and frogs.
Cost and Hours: Free, €2 donation requested, Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00, Sat until 16:00, closed Sun except for services, tours available on request.
Waterford is a working-class city. Cheap accommodations are fairly rough; fancy accommodations are venerable old places that face the water. I recommend one historic option, two modern places, and a budget choice. Many find sleepy Ardmore, an hour southwest down the coast, a smaller and more scenic home base (see here).
$$$ The Granville Hotel is Waterford’s best and most historic hotel, grandly overlooking the center of the harborfront. The place is plush, from its Old World lounges to its 98 well-tended rooms (super breakfasts, Meagher’s Quay, tel. 051/305-555, www.granville-hotel.ie, stay@granville-hotel.ie).
$$$ Dooley’s Hotel, a more modern, family-run place on the harbor with 113 big rooms, can be less expensive than the Granville but is still high quality (Merchant’s Quay, tel. 051/873-531, www.dooleys-hotel.ie, hotel@dooleys-hotel.ie).
$$$ Treacys Hotel—family-run and modern—is on the waterfront, close to the Rice Bridge with 163 pleasant, earth-toned rooms (1 Merchants Quay, tel. 051/877-222, www.treacyshotelwaterford.com, res@thwaterford.com).
$ Portree Hostel & Accommodation is the central budget option. It’s just across the bridge from the train station and combines 24 basic rooms upstairs with 15 dorm beds in its basement hostel (breakfast €7 extra, guest kitchen in hostel section, parking, 10 Mary Street, tel. 051/874-574, www.portreehostel.ie, portreeguesthouse@gmail.com).
(See “Waterford” map.)
For something livelier than tired pub grub, consider these good restaurants found on less-frequented back streets. They’re small and popular with locals.
$$$ Emiliano’s Ristorante Italiano is the most romantic place in town, hidden on a tiny lane behind Reginald’s Tower. They serve a great selection of tasty pasta dishes and fine wines (Tue-Sat 17:00-22:00, also open Sat-Sun for lunch 12:30-14:30, closed Mon all day, 21 High Street, tel. 051/820-333).
$$ Fork & Knife Bistro is a friendly Polish place with a B.Y.O.B. liquor policy. It serves hearty Eastern European fare, including potato pancakes stuffed with pork goulash and topped with sour cream (Tue-Sun 10:00-21:00, closed Mon, 11a O’Connell Street, tel. 087/171-8688).
$$ Bodega is my favorite wine bar, run by laid-back Cormac in a warm-glow Mediterranean atmosphere. Their lamb sliders get raves (Mon-Sat 12:00-22:00, closed Sun, 54 John Street, tel. 051/844-177).
$ Burzza Pizza, right next door and under the same ownership, serves not only pizza but also “proper” hamburgers (Mon-Sat 12:00-22:00, closed Sun, 53 John Street, tel. 051/844-969).
$ Granary Café occupies the bottom floor of an old stone warehouse facing the waterfront (café on back side, away from traffic). It’s a soup/salad/sandwich cafeteria that tries harder than most (Mon-Sat 8:00-17:00, Sun from 10:00, Hanover Street, tel. 051/854-428).
On the Harborfront: With a central waterfront location, the $ Granville Hotel’s carvery is the traditional budget lunch option (daily 12:30-14:30, otherwise good bar food daily 10:30-21:30, Meagher’s Quay).
Pub Grub and Music: Waterford’s staple food seems to be pub grub. Several typical pubs serve dinner in the city center. But for your musical entertainment, you’ll need to hum a medley of your favorite show tunes. For some reason, not much live music exists in town. Ask at your hotel, or just wander around, read the notices, and follow your ears. Anything with a pulse will be found on George Street, Barronstrand Street, and Broad Street.
Supermarket: The best grocery option is Dunnes in the shopping center (daily).
From Waterford by Train to: Dublin (8/day, 2.5-3 hours), Kilkenny (6/day, 45 minutes). For details, see www.irishrail.ie.
By Bus to: Cork (almost hourly, 2 hours), Kilkenny (2/day, 1 hour), Rosslare (4/day, 3 hours), Wexford (5/day, 1 hour). Waterford bus station info: Tel. 051/879-000. For details, see www.buseireann.ie.
The southeast corner of Ireland, peppered with pretty views and historic sites, is easily accessible to drivers as a day trip from Kilkenny or Waterford. Five sights worth considering are within an hour’s drive of Waterford and can also be done as a day loop from Kilkenny (if you get an early start).
The dramatic Hook Head Lighthouse—capping an intriguing and remote peninsula—comes with lots of history and a good tour. The Kennedy Homestead is a pilgrimage site for Kennedy fans. These two stops involve more back-roads navigation, but they feel more intimate (study your map south of the town of New Ross).
The Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross gives a sense of what 50 days on a “coffin ship” with dreams of “Americay” must have been like. The Irish National Heritage Park near Wexford is like a Knott’s Berry Farm...circa the Stone Age. And the National 1798 Centre in Enniscorthy explains the roots of the Irish struggle for liberty. These three stops, which are no strangers to tour buses, form an easy driving triangle whose legs are N-25, N-11, and N-30.
If you’re driving from Waterford to Kilkenny, consider a visit to the ruins at Jerpoint Abbey and Kells Priory on the way (see the “Between Kilkenny and Waterford” section in the previous chapter.)
New Ross, Enniscorthy, and Wexford, which form a three-town triangle, are about 30 minutes apart and connected by fast roads. The Kennedy Homestead is a 15-minute drive south of New Ross, and the lighthouse is a one-hour trip from Waterford to the end of the Hook Peninsula. All are well-signposted and easy to find...except for Hook Head Lighthouse (see details later).
Connecting Dublin with Waterford, you could visit several of these sights in a best-of-County Wexford day en route. On a quick trip, the sights are not worth the trouble by public transit. If you’ll be spending the night, blue-collar Enniscorthy (with decent hotels and B&Bs) provides a good glimpse of workaday Ireland.
This claims to be the oldest operating lighthouse in Europe. According to legend, St. Dubhan arrived in the fifth century and discovered the bodies of shipwrecked sailors. Dismayed, he and his followers began tending a fire on the headland to warn future mariners. What you see today is essentially a structure from the 12th century, built by the Normans, who first landed five miles up the east coast (at Baginbun Head, in 1169). They established Waterford Harbor—a commercial beachhead for the rich Irish countryside they intended to conquer. This beacon assured them safe access.
Today’s lighthouse is 110 feet tall and looks modern on the outside. (It was automated in 1996, and its light can be seen for 23 miles out to sea.) But, except for its modern light, it’s actually 800 years old, built following a plan inspired by the lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt—one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Since it’s a working lighthouse, it can be toured only with a guide.
Cost and Hours: Fine 45-minute tours cost €9 and depart every half-hour July-Aug, every hour off-season, last tour usually at 16:00; daily July-Aug 9:30-18:00, May and Sept until 17:30, Oct-April until 17:00; tel. 051/397-055, www.hookheritage.ie.
Getting There: The lighthouse can be a bit tricky to find. But if you follow the brown Hook Scenic Route signs south of Ballyhack and remind yourself that you’re on a narrow peninsula with the lighthouse at the southern tip, you’ll be funneled straight there (more or less).
If connecting Waterford to Hook Head, use the car-ferry shortcut from Passage East to Ballyhack. Buy a round-trip and carefully save the tiny receipt for the return journey...the scrap of paper seems determined to ride the next breeze out to sea (€12 round-trip, €8 one-way, 5-minute crossing; runs continuously Mon-Sat 7:00-22:00, Sun 9:30-22:00; Oct-March daily until 20:00, www.passageferry.ie). To reach the ferry from Waterford, take Lombard Street (near Reginald’s Tower) south, and follow it all the way to Passage East (it becomes R-683).
Visiting the Lighthouse: As you view the black-stained, ribbed, vaulted ceilings and stout, 10-foot-thick walls, you can almost feel the presence of the Cistercian monks who tended this coal-burning beacon for the Normans. Climbing 115 steps through four levels rewards you with a breezy, salt-air view from the top.
Oliver Cromwell passed through here to secure the English claim to this area (see “The Curse of Cromwell” sidebar, later). He considered his two options and declared he’d take strategic Waterford “by Hook or by Crooke.” Hook is the long peninsula with the lighthouse. Crooke is a little village on the other side, just south of Passage East.
There’s a decent cafeteria and a shop with fliers explaining other sights on the peninsula. Kids-at-heart can’t resist climbing out on the rugged rocky tip of the windy Hook Head.
Patrick Joseph Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy’s great-grandfather, left Ireland in 1858. Distant relatives have turned the family homestead into a little museum/shrine for Kennedy pilgrims. Physically, it’s not much: A barn and a wing of the modern house survive from 1858. JFK and his entourage visited here in June 1963, a few months before he was assassinated. While it’s now just a private home, anyone interested in the Kennedys will find it worth driving the long narrow lane to see.
Cost and Hours: €7.50, daily 9:30-17:30, tel. 051/388-264, www.kennedyhomestead.ie.
Getting There: It’s four miles (6 km) south of New Ross near Dunganstown (from R-733 follow brown signs with JFK’s face in profile, down a long one-lane road; park behind the modern visitors center). Don’t confuse the Kennedy Homestead with the nearby JFK Arboretum—a huge park with 4,500 species of trees. It’s nice if you like trees and plants, but there’s no Kennedy history there.
Visiting the Homestead: Inside is a fascinating exhibition on Kennedy’s Irish heritage, his brief visit here, and the aftermath of his tragic death. A little barnyard houses one long shed with knick-knacks and photos of his visit. Look for the old bench-style car seat (with furniture legs added by Kennedy’s second cousin). This was the nicest seat in the homestead’s modest home, where the eminent visitor sat to take tea. There are a couple of short videos: JFK chatting with his distant relatives, and then being whisked away by helicopter to continue his triumphant tour of the country. JFK’s assassin denied him the opportunity of a promised return visit. But his widow, Jackie, made sure that his Irish relatives here got some of his precious memorabilia.
Permanently moored on a river in the tiny port of New Ross, this ship was built as a re-creation of similar vessels that sailed to America full of countless hungry Irish emigrants. The Dunbrody is a full-scale reconstruction of a 19th-century three-masted bark built in Quebec in 1845. It’s typical of the trading vessels that originally sailed, empty, to America to pick up goods; during the Famine, shipowners found that they could make a little money on the westward voyage. On board, extended families camped out for 50 days on bunk beds no bigger than a king-size mattress. Commonly, boats like this would arrive in America with only 80 percent of their original human cargo (in the worst cases, only 50 percent). Those who succumbed to “famine fever” (often typhus or cholera) were dumped overboard, and the ships gained their morbid moniker: “coffin ships.”
Cost and Hours: €10, daily 9:00-18:00, Oct-March 10:00-17:00, 45-minute tours go 2/hour, last tour starts one hour before closing, upstairs café handy for lunch with nice views of the ship, tel. 051/425-239, www.dunbrody.com.
Getting There: The Dunbrody is in New Ross, near the Kennedy Homestead. During work hours, you’ll need to feed the parking meters in the lot (€1/hour, free on Sun).
Visiting the Ship: Your visit starts with an audiovisual presentation on the life Irish emigrants were leaving behind, followed by coverage about the building of the vessel. Then you’ll follow an excellent guide on board the ship, encountering a couple of passengers (one traveling first class, the other second) who tell vivid tales about life onboard. At the end, you’ll get a glimpse of the new life Irish immigrants would encounter in New York. Most arrived filthy (try skipping a shower for six weeks), illiterate, penniless, and speaking only Irish.
Roots seekers are welcome to peruse the computerized file of the names of the million immigrants who sailed on these ships from 1846 through 1865. Before you leave, check out the Irish America Hall of Fame, commemorating the contributions Irish men and women have made to US history (with short videos on Henry Ford and JFK, whose roots lie in this part of Ireland).
The scariest bogeyman in all of Irish history was Oliver Cromwell. In 1649, he led Parliamentary forces to victory in the English Civil War and had King Charles I beheaded. Assuming the title of Lord Protector, he created a commonwealth (instead of a kingdom) and initiated one of the longest periods in the past 1,000 years during which England functioned without a monarch. Cromwell then turned his attention to Ireland, determined to root out the last royalists loyal to the English monarchy and to punish the Irish for the 1641 massacre of Protestant settlers.
Driven by his Puritan Calvinist beliefs, Cromwell claimed a divine right to carry out God’s work as he saw it. He thought buttons to be a sign of vanity and so he fastened his clothes with hidden hooks. To him, all Catholics were complicit in the Protestant deaths by virtue of their misguided faith. He saw priests as little more than witch doctors. Even Protestant Anglicans (the faith founded by Henry VIII a century before) were looked on with suspicion as “Catholics without a pope.” Cromwell’s self-righteous army of 12,000 soldiers had God on their side and Ireland in their musket-sights.
Cromwell and his tough New Model Army landed in Dublin on August 15, 1649, and marched north to the town of Drogheda. In a bloody siege lasting three days, his soldiers massacred almost all of the town’s 3,000 inhabitants. A handful of lucky survivors silently slipped into the River Boyne and played dead, floating downstream out of harm’s way. Cromwell then turned south to Wexford, where his army again massacred 3,000-some civilians and Irish troops. Few garrison towns resisted after that. Cromwell’s merciless efficiency brought almost the entire island under English control in less than a year.
Catholic landowners were forced to give up their land or face execution...a deal with the devil known as “to hell or to Connaught.” About 11 million acres of productive land was taken from Catholic landowners and handed over to Cromwell’s soldiers as payment for service. In “exchange,” these Catholics got unfertile ground west of the River Shannon. This forced mass migration essentially destroyed Ireland’s Catholic landowning class. (In 1641, Catholics owned 59 percent of Ireland—by 1714 they owned 7 percent.) Some Catholics were allowed to stay on as tenants, providing labor for their new English masters.
Upon Cromwell’s death in 1658, his less-dynamic son took over, and the English began to miss their monarchy. In 1660, Charles I’s son, Charles II, was invited back from exile in France and the monarchy was restored. Soon after, Cromwell’s body was dug up, hung, and beheaded—his head was stuck on a pike and displayed in front of London’s Parliament for 20 years (curiously, a heroic statue of him stands there today). But most of Ireland’s Catholics never regained their land, and for the next 250 years Ireland continued its slow downward cultural spiral at the hands of the English government.
Before you leave New Ross, consider a short visit to see the Ros Tapestry. Outlining the colorful Norman history of the region, it’s a bit like a recently woven version of the ancient Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy. Consisting of 15 large embroidered panels, not all of which are complete yet, this is a labor of love that local women have been working on for more than 20 years. Visitors are invited upstairs to take part in its creation by doing one stitch themselves.
Cost and Hours: €8, includes audioguide, Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-15:00, tel. 051/445-396, www.rostapestry.ie. It’s housed on the ground floor of an old six-story stone warehouse about 100 yards north of the Dunbrody Famine Ship, across the street; leave your car in the Dunbrody parking lot.
This 35-acre wooded park, which contains an 1857 tower commemorating local boys killed in the Crimean War, features replicas of buildings from each era of Irish history. Since Ireland’s countless ancient sights are generally unrecognizable ruins—hard to re-create in your mind—this park is intended to help out. You’ll find buildings and settlements illustrating life in Ireland from the Stone Age through the 12th-century Norman Age. As a bonus, you’ll see animal-skin-clad characters doing their prehistoric thing—gnawing on meat, weaving, making arrowheads, and so on.
Cost and Hours: €9.50, daily 9:30-18:30, winter until 17:30, last entry 1.5 hours before closing, audioguide-€2, free guided tours leave throughout the day until about 16:00—reserve in advance, tel. 053/912-0733, www.inhp.com, info@inhp.com.
Getting There: It’s clearly signposted on the west end of Wexford—you’ll hit it before entering town on the N-11 Enniscorthy road.
Visiting the Park: Your visit begins with a 15-minute video. From there, follow the audioguide, or better, do the hour-long guided tour. There are 16 stops, each covering a different stage of Irish civilization. The highlight is a monastic settlement from the age when Europe was dark, and Ireland was “the island of saints and scholars.” While you can wander around on your own, there’s hardly anything actually old here, and the visit is most worthwhile if you take the included tour.
Located in Enniscorthy, this museum creatively tells the story of the rise of revolutionary thinking in Ireland, which led to the ill-fated rebellion of 1798 (Ireland’s deadliest). Enniscorthy was the crucial Irish battleground of a populist revolution (inspired by the American and French revolutions). The town witnessed the bloodiest days of the doomed uprising. The material is compelling for anyone intrigued by the struggles for liberty, but there’s little more here than video clips of reenactments and storyboards on the walls.
Cost and Hours: €7; Mon-Fri 9:30-17:00, Sat 12:00-17:00, closed Sun; shorter hours Oct-March; last entry one hour before closing, tel. 053/923-7596, www.1798centre.ie.
Getting There: Enniscorthy is 12 miles (19 km) north of Wexford town. The National 1798 Centre is the town’s major sight and is well-signposted (follow the brown Aras 98 Centre signs).
Nearby: Leaving the center, look east across the River Slaney, which divides Enniscorthy, and you’ll see a hill with a stumpy tower on it. This is Vinegar Hill. The tower is the old windmill that once flew the green rebel flag. Drive to the top for the views that the rebels had of the surrounding British forces. The doomed rebels tried desperately to hold the high ground, with no shelter from the merciless British artillery fire.