County Waterford

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County Waterford
Contae Phort Láirge

Location

Statistics

1,837 km²

Population (2002)

113,241

Website: www.waterfordcoco.ie

County Waterford (Irish: Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in the province of Munster on the south coast of Ireland. Administratively, the City of Waterford is a county-level authority. Dungarvan is the administrative centre for the rest of the county.

Cities, towns and villages in County Waterford include:

[edit] The Déise

County Waterford is known locally as "The Decies" (An Déise). Sometime between the 4th and 8th centuries, a tribe of native Gaelic people called the Déisi were driven from the southern parts of the country, conquering and settling here. The ancient principality of the Déise is today roughly coterminous with the current Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.

The Deise region has two mountain ranges, rivers and lakes and over 30 beaches along a volcanic coast line. It is one of the few regions in Ireland with a Gaeltacht, an area with native Irish speaking people. The Deise has a rich history from megalithic tombs and ogham stones, to Vikings, to remnants of English occupancy, including the Gaulstown Dolmen, Reginalds Tower and The Ballysaggartmore Towers respectively.

The people that live in the Deise today are known to thrive on Irish traditions such as hurling and eating blaas (a type of floury bread roll, unique to the region).