Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland and has a history of continuous habitation since 914.  The imprints of the early Viking settlers can still be traced in the street patterns of the city's Viking Triangle.  The parameters of the expanded Anglo-Norman city are marked by the circuit of medieval towers and walls that still stand in many locations.  Great public buildings of finely cut limestone and warm, red-bricked merchant houses are expressions of the grandeur and elegance of the 18^th century, while today the city responds to modern demands with sophisticated shops and malls, a vibrant nightlife, a range of excellent restaurants and bars and superb sporting facilities.

A young student population injects a vitality and energy through the ancient streets that will captivate and enchant the visitor.  The principal attractions in the city are explained below in an order which roughly travels from the bridge side of the city to the east, westwards past Reginald's Tower and the Mall.

There is no better way to see and understand the history, architecture and people of the city than by taking a highly entertaining city walking tour.

Guided walking tours of the city are operated by Waterford Tourist Services. 
The walks are interactive, with the guide's "gift of the gab" and art of storytelling weaving a vibrant and colourful tapestry round the rich history of the city in a highly amusing and imaginative way.  Walks are conducted from March to September, twice daily, 12.00 and 14.00, and start at the Granville Hotel on the Quay.  Other times by arrangment.  Groups catered for.  There is a participation charge. Tel:051 873711.

Galley Cruising Restaurants operate a delightful River Suir Cruise from The Quay with afternoon tea included.  Cruises start at 15.00 each day and the cruise time is 2 hours.  Cruises operate in June, July and August; other dates and times by arrangement with groups. Admission charge. Tel: 051 421723.

The Garter Lane Arts Centre incorporates a theatre and art gallery in an 18^th century building, erected as a Meeting House for the Society of Friends. (See under Arts and Crafts in Waterford).

George's Street

The imposing Chamber of Commerce building, George's Street, was designed by John Roberts (c.1795) and is a fine example of a Georgian town house.  Its most notable feature is an oval staircase regarded by Girouard as one of the most elegant in Ireland.  Follow the graceful curve of the ballustrades upwards and to where the exquisitely decorated plasterwork blossoms with garlands, swags and eagles.  The fine stucco work is by local craftsman, Patrick Osborne.  Open daily. Tel: 051 872639.

Jenkin's Lane

Because of the Penal Law which severely restriced Roman Catholic worship, it is a great rarity in Ireland to find an 18^th century Roman Catholic church.  St. Patrick's in Jenkin's Lane is a rare and precious survivor which was already in existence in 1764.  It is vividly evocative of the period and possesses considerable charm.

The Genealogical Centre, Waterford Heritage Survey, is located next to St. Patrick's Church and is housed in the former priest's residence, believed to date from the late 17^th century.  See The Ancestral Trail, Above for details. Tel: 051 876123.

The Beach Tower, one of the towers which adorned the old city walls, can be seen in Jenkin's Lane

Patrick Street

Standing on the site of an earlier medieval church is St. Patrick's Church of Ireland church which dates from 1724.

Merchant's Quay

The quays in Waterford were confined to an area between the Clock Tower and Reginalds's Tower.  In the 18^th Century a series of extensions were undertaken, some involving the destruction of part of the old city wall in the Barronstrand Street area.

Meagher Quay

Thomas Francis Meagher was born to a wealthy and influential family in what is now the Gransville Hotel.  He roase to prominence in the Young Ireland movemnet, an organistation dedicated to the Repeal of the Act of Union, which has subsumed the Irish Parliament in Westminster in 1801.

Initially the movement supported Daniel O'Connell, but increasingly their rhetoric became more strident, leading to an abortive rising in 1848.  Three of the leaders, John Mitchel, William Smith O'Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher, were tried at different times during 1848 and all were transported to Austrailia.  Meagher escaped to America where he fought on the Union side in the Civil War.  In 1867, shortly after his appointment as Acting Governor of Montana, he was accidentally drowned.  Meagher's Union uniform and sword will be on display in the new visitor centre (see Below).  This idealist and revolutionary designed the tri-colour, now Ireland's national flag.

The Meagher home on Merchant Quay passed to Carlo Bianconi, who from humble beginnings, rose to a position of great wealth through his initiation of an organised coach transport system in Ireland.  (see Clonmel, Suir Valley Drive).  His house eventually became the Commercial Hotel and the Granville Hotel.

The Clock Tower

This Victorian -Gothic structure was built in 1861 and the clock was added in 1864.  Its original purpose was to provide water for horses and it was first known as the Fountain Clock.

Barronstrand Street

The old city wall, demolished when the quays were extended in the 18^th century, marked the western limit of medieval Waterford.  The Strand in the name of the street comes from the fact that it was a sandy inlet before the quay walls were built.  A tower once stood where the Allied Irish Bank builing now stands.  This was one of three defensive towers along the river.

The Cathedral of The Most Holy Trinity has distinction of being the earliest post-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedral in Britain or Ireland and the only one built in the 18^th cetury.  Designed by John Roberts in 1792, who also designed the Protestant, Christchurch (see below), it has a totallydistinct character from its Protestant contemporary.  Quoting Mark Girouard, an authority on the period, "the Protestant cathedral is cool and northern; the Catholic cathedral with it forest of huge Corinthian columns, is warm, luscious and Mediterranean".  The interior also features a fine carved oak pulpit and magnificent Waterford cut glass chandeliers.

High Street

A medieval focal point for the city traders, High Street was the main thoroughfare from Viking times.  The names of the lanes running off it and down to the river evocative of the past.

Conduit Lane

Near the City Square Shopping Centre are the ruins of Black Friars, the city's medieval Dominican Friary.  It was founded in 1226 on lands granted by Henry III of England.  During the 13^th century Geoffrey of Waterford lived here.  He was, arguably, 13^th century Ireland's most distinguished linguist and scholar.  The friary was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1541.  The 15^th century church tower still stands.  Dominican Blackfriars worked with the wealthy merchant class of the city, primarily as educators to their sons.

Keyser Street

St. Olave's Church, originally a Viking foundation' was rebuilt in 1734.  The remains of its medieval doorway are incorporated into the structure, which apart from the addition of a victorian window, has remained unaltered since the 18^th century.

Cathedral Square

Christchurch Cathedral together with the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity (see above under Barronstand Street), offer two remarkably different styles from the hand of the same designer, Jonh Roberts.

There has been a cathedral on this site since 1096 when the first Bishop of Waterford was consecrated.  It was here that the Anglo-Norman lord known as Strongbow, married Aoife, the daughter of Diarmiud MacMurrough.  The Anglo-Normans build the cathedral in the early 13th ^century and the present structure was erected in the 18^th century.

Many of the medieval monuments were rehoused in the new cathedral, including the tomb of James Rice, a 15^th century mayor of Waterford.  The cadavar tomb ranks amoung the finest of its kind in Europe.  Roberts both designed and built the present cathedral which is in harmony with its surroundings and the prime example of an 18^th century ecclesiastical building in Ireland.

An audio show "Hear The Pillars Speak", is a sound tapestry spanning 1,000years of the cathedral's history.  There are several performances a day in the cathedral during the summer months and other times by arrangement.  Tel.: 051 396270.

Greyfriars

This impressive ecclesiastical medieval monument was founded by Sir Hugh Purcell for the Franciscans in 1240.  In 1394 King Richard II of England stayed here and received the submission of Irish chiefs.  A nave, chancel and north aisle remain as does the impressive bell tower, which like its counterpart in Blackfriarss, dates from the 15^th century.  King Henry VIII dissolved the friary in 1536 and granted the building to a local merchant who converted it into an alms house.  The inmates of what was called Holy Ghost Hospital were obliged to pray each night for the sould of King Henry, a tradition that continued until the 1960s.  French Huguenot refugees used part of the building as a place of worship from 1693, and it became popularly known as the French Church.  The term Greyfriars derives from the fact that the