County Waterford

County Waterford (Irish: Contae Phort Láirge; the English name comes from Old Norse Vedrafjörður) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Waterford which is derived from the Old Norse name Veðrafjǫrðr or Vedrarfjord. There is an Irish-speaking area in the south of the county. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county at large, including the city, is 113,795 according to the 2011 census.

Geography and political subdivisions

County Waterford has two mountain ranges, the Knockmealdown Mountains and the Comeragh Mountains. The highest point in the county is Knockmealdown, at 794m. It also has many rivers, including Ireland's third longest river, the River Suir (184 km); and Ireland's fourth longest river, the Munster Blackwater (168 km). There are over 30 beaches along Waterford's volcanic coast line. A large stretch of this coastline, known as the Copper Coast has been designated as a UNESCO Geopark, a place of great geological importance. The area around Ring (An Rinn) is a Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking area.

Waterford City is the county seat, prior to the merger of the 2 Waterford authorities in June 2014 Dungarvan was the county seat^[1] for Waterford County Council.

Baronies

There are eight historic baronies in the county: Coshmore and Coshbride, Decies-within-Drum, Decies-without-Drum, Gaultiere, Glenahiry, Middle Third, Upperthird and Waterford City.

Towns and villages

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1600	14,456	—
1610	9,887	−31.6%
1653	13,136	+32.9%
1659	13,286	+1.1%
1821	76,103	+472.8%
1831	85,217	+12.0%
1841	196,187	+130.2%
1851	164,035	−16.4%
1861	134,252	−18.2%
1871	123,310	−8.2%
1881	112,768	−8.5%
1891	98,251	−12.9%
1901	87,187	−11.3%
1911	83,966	−3.7%
1926	78,562	−6.4%
1936	77,614	−1.2%
1946	76,108	−1.9%
1951	75,061	−1.4%
1956	74,031	−1.4%
1961	71,439	−3.5%
1966	73,080	+2.3%
1971	77,315	+5.8%
1979	87,278	+12.9%
1981	88,591	+1.5%
1986	91,151	+2.9%
1991	91,624	+0.5%
1996	94,680	+3.3%
2002	101,546	+7.3%
2006	107,961	+6.3%
2011	113,795	+5.4%
^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore
Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon, Butlerstown
Cappoquin, Carrickbeg, Carriglea, Cheekpoint, Clashmore, Clonea-Power, Clonea Strand, Colligan, Coolnasmear, Crooke
Dungarvan, Dunhill, Dunmore East
Dunhill
Faha, Faithlegg, Fenor, Ferrybank, Fews, Fourmilewater
Glencairn, Grange
Helvick Head
Kilbrien, Kilgobinet, Kill, Killea, Kilmacthomas, Kilmanahan, Kilmeaden, Kilrossanty, Kilwatermoy, Kinsalebeg, Knockanore
Lemybrien, Lisduggan, Lismore
Mahon Bridge, Mine Head, Modeligo, Mothel, Mount Congreve, Mount Mellaray
Newtown
Old Parish
Passage East, Portlaw
Rathgormack
Sliabh gCua, Stradbally
Tallow, Tramore, Touraneena, Tourin, Tycor
Waterford, Whitechurch, Whiting Bay, Woodstown
Villierstown

History

Bunmahon, 1906

County Waterford is colloquially known as "The Déise", pronounced "day-sha" (An Déise). Some time between the 4th and 8th centuries, a tribe of native Gaelic people called the Déisi were driven from southern county Meath/north Kildare, conquering and settling here. The ancient principality of the Déise is today roughly coterminous with the current Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. The westernmost of the baronies are "Decies within Drum" and "Decies without Drum", separated by the Drum-Fineen hills.^[8] There are many megalithic tombs and ogham stones^[9] in the county. The Viking influence can still be seen with Reginald's Tower, one of the first buildings to use a bricks and mortar construction method in Ireland. Woodstown, a settlement dating to the 9th Century was discovered 5.5 kilometres west of Waterford city. It was the largest settlement outside of Scandinavia and the only large-scale 9th Century Viking settlement discovered to date in Western Europe. Other architectural features are products of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland and its effects.

Local government and politics

As of 1 June 2014, Waterford City and County Council is the local government authority for Waterford. The authority was formed following the merger of Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council. The merger occurred following the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Each local authority ranks equally as first level local administrative units of the NUTS 3 South-East Region for Eurostat purposes. There are 31 LAU 1 entities in the Republic of Ireland. The local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing.

The county is part of the South constituency for the purposes of European elections. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is part of two constituencies: Waterford and Tipperary South. Together they return 7 deputies (TDs) to the Dáil. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 defines the Waterford constituency as "The county of Waterford, except the part thereof which is comprised in the constituency of Tipperary South; and the city of Waterford."."^[10]

References

↑ "Waterford County Council website".
↑ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy March 14, 1865.
↑ "Census for post 1821 figures.". Cso.ie. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
↑ histpop.org
↑ "NISRA - Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (c) 2013". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
↑ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
↑ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
↑ Egan, P.M. (20 November 2004) [1893]. "Early Waterford History 2. The Decies". History of Waterford. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
↑ "Prehistoric Waterford tombs, dolmens and standing stones". Prehistoricwaterford.com.
↑ "Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009: Schedule". Irish Statute Book database. Retrieved 29 September 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Waterford.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for County Waterford.

County Waterford

Celtic Sea

Places in County Waterford

County town: Dungarvan

Towns	Dungarvan Lismore Tramore Waterford

Villages and Townlands	Abbeyside Affane Aglish Annestown Ardmore Ballinacourty Ballynagaul Ballinameela Ballinamult Ballinroad Ballybeg Ballylaneen Ballysaggart Bunmahon Cappoquin Carrickbeg Clashmore Dunmore East Fenor Ferrybank Grange Kill Kilmacthomas Kilmeadan Kilrossanty Knockanore Lemybrien Mahon Bridge Mothel Old Parish Passage East Portlaw Rathgormack Ring Sliabh gCua Tallow Tooraneena Villierstown Woodstown

List of townlands of County Waterford Category:Mountains and hills of County Waterford Category:Rivers of County Waterford Category:Geography of County Waterford

Counties of Ireland

The counties are listed per province

Connacht	Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo

Leinster	Carlow Dublin Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Fingal South Dublin Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow

Munster	Clare Cork Kerry Limerick Tipperary Waterford

Ulster	Antrim^† Armagh^† Cavan Donegal Down^† Fermanagh^† Londonderry^† Monaghan Tyrone^†

Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote non-traditional counties. ^†denotes non-administrative counties of Northern Ireland

Coordinates: 52°15′N 7°30′W / 52.250°N 7.500°W / 52.250; -7.500