Waterford
| Waterford Port Láirge Waterford |
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| Coordinates | 52 ° 15 '42 " N , 7 ° 6' 43" W | ||
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| Basic data | |||
| Country | Ireland | ||
| Muenster | |||
| county | Waterford | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | IE-WD | ||
| height | 6 m | ||
| surface | 41.6 km² | ||
| Residents | 48,369 (2016) | ||
| density | 1,163.3 Ew. / km² | ||
| Telephone code | +353/051 | ||
| Website | www.waterfordcity.ie (English) | ||
 Waterford - Reginald's Tower ; Part of the Viking fortifications
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Waterford ( Irish Port Láirge [ ˌpoɾt ˈɫɑːɾʲəgʲə ]) was originally the capital of Waterford County in Ireland . Today it is administered separately and County Waterford is headquartered in Dungarvan . The city in the south east of Ireland has an area of 42 km². In 2016, around 48,000 people lived in the city and 80,000 within a 15 km radius of the center. The city was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century and was Ireland's first city to earn this name. Today it is the fifth largest city in the Republic of Ireland.
history
The Tomb by Ballindud portal and the Ballygunnertemple -Megalith date from prehistoric times .
From 795 onwards, the Vikings repeatedly plundered settlements on the Irish coast. Soon they also started to hibernate in Longphorts . Such a longphort was established in Waterford in 853. Reginald's Tower is the oldest municipal building in Ireland and the oldest monument to keep its name. To this day it is Waterford's distinctive landmark. In 902 the Vikings were driven out by the Irish, leaving their settlements and wintering facilities behind. According to the Irish Chronicle, the Vikings came back in 914 and founded Waterford.
In 1137 Diarmaid MacMurchada, king of Leinster, tried in vain to conquer Waterford. His plan was to bring the great centers of Ireland under his control in order to reinforce his claim to become Great King. In 1170 MacMurchada allied itself with the English crown, sent by Richard de Clare (called Strongbow), the Earl of Pembroke and besieged Waterford. After heavy resistance, the city fell. In 1171 King Henry II of England was the first English king to set foot on Irish soil. He came to Waterford with a large fleet to prevent Ireland from creating a Norman kingdom in competition with England. Instead, he wanted Ireland to become an English colony. Dublin and Waterford were declared royal cities, directly subordinate to the king.
In the Middle Ages, Waterford was the second most important city in Ireland after Dublin. The Great Parchment Book (1361–1649) embodied the earliest use of English as an official language in Ireland. In the 15th century, Waterford resisted two rebels and aspirants to the English throne, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck . After that, King Henry VII gave the city its motto Urbs Intacta Manet Waterfordia ("Waterford remains the city not conquered ").
Despite the division of the English Church , Waterford remained a Catholic city and operated in the Kilkenny Confederation to break away from English rule. These efforts were ended by Oliver Cromwell , who brought all of Ireland back firmly under English rule. His son-in-law Henry Ireton captured Waterford in 1651.
The 18th century was a heyday in Waterford. Most of the most important buildings date from this period. Trade, especially with Newfoundland, brought wealth to the city. The glass and shipbuilding industries established themselves in the 19th century.
politics
The Mayor of Waterford is elected annually in June by the City Council. Since June 2009 the non-party John Halligan has been the head of the city. The City Council is elected for five years. The last election took place on June 5, 2009.
| Political party | Fine Gael | Labor Party | Fianna Fáil | Sinn Féin | Workers Party | Non-party |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | 4th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Infrastructure
economy
The city's best-known product is the Waterford Crystal from the glass factory that was founded in Waterford in 1783. Since then - apart from a short break in 2009/2010 - the glass factory has been producing lead glass , among other things . Because of the deep water port, Waterford is of great importance for the European economy. In the years 2002–2012, 12% of Ireland's foreign trade was handled here. Globally operating companies have their offices in the industrial area in the east of the city. This includes Sanofi-Aventis until the end of 2007 and still today for example AOL , Bausch & Lomb and Honeywell International . However, the Irish gross domestic product is artificially inflated by the economic performance of such corporations, as sometimes the sales are booked here for tax reasons, but not actually generated to this extent. In addition, international companies rely on the flexible deployment of workers, so that there are always short-time working and layoffs. By 2013, had here hedge funds the Citibank located.
education
In the west of the city is the Waterford Institute of Technology , which is one of the largest in a network of 13 other universities.
traffic
Waterford can be reached by two national roads, the N24 and the N25 / E30. The N25 runs from Rosslare Harbor in the east, which is important for goods traffic, via Wexford and Waterford in the direction of Cork . The N24 runs northwest from Waterford to Clonmel and Tipperary . You can get to Dublin via the N9 branching off from it . A new bypass road will be completed for the trunk roads in 2009. The River Suir Bridge in the west of the city is the most elaborate bridge structure with a length of 465 meters.
For tourists, Waterford can be reached from Dublin either by train or with Ireland's well-developed bus network. In addition to the state bus company Bus Éireann z. B. the private provider JJ Kavanagh & Sons Ltd. direct connections between the two cities. Sailors can reach Waterford via the mouth of the River Suir and moor in Waterford Harbor .
The Waterford & Suir Valley Heritage Railway , a five-mile museum , narrow-gauge railway with a 3- foot gauge, begins at Old Kilmeadan Station .
Surroundings and attractions
There are three rivers in the area called The Three Sisters : the Barrow , Nore and Suir . They make a major contribution to the landscape and unite in the east of Waterford to form a stream that flows a few kilometers further into the Atlantic. Seaside resorts in the vicinity of Waterford are Tramore in the south, which is very well developed for tourism, and Dunmore East, a little further to the east . If you want to explore the area beyond the natural border created by the River Nore in the east, you can cross it on the national road N25 at New Ross or shorten the route via a ferry at Passage East . Here you can visit the John F. Kennedy Park (an arboretum ) or take a trip to the Hook Head Peninsula . Other attractions in the Waterford area include the towns of Kilkenny and New Ross and the Rock of Cashel , a medieval castle.
Waterford has an excellently designed, modern and child-friendly contemporary history museum for the vivid presentation of the city's history. In various parts of the city you can also find the remains of the old city fortifications that protected Waterford from attacks from the harbor in the Middle Ages.
Downtown Waterford combines traditional Irish architecture with modern elements and is a great place to shop and have fun. In addition to the classic pubs, a number of night clubs have established themselves in recent years.
The John Condon Memorial was inaugurated on May 18, 2014 . The memorial, officially named after the youngest Allied fallen in World War I, honors the 4,800 men and women from Waterford and the surrounding area who died in World War I, 1,100 of whom have no known grave.
Twin cities
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St. John's , Newfoundland , Canada -
Rochester , New York , USA -
Saint-Herblain near Nantes , France (since 1982)
sons and daughters of the town
- John Charles Ardagh (1840–1907), officer, fortress builder, lawyer and colonial administrator
- Cecil Quentin (1852-1926), British regatta sailor
- John J. Hearne (1893–1969), diplomat and constitutional lawyer
- John Condon († 1915), youngest soldier in the Allied Forces, who died in World War I.
- Noel Browne (1915–1997), several party politician
- Val Doonican (1927–2015), singer and entertainer
- Louis Stewart (1944-2016), jazz guitarist
- Gilbert O'Sullivan (born 1946), singer and songwriter
- Sean Kelly (born 1956), racing cyclist
- Eugene Byrne (born 1959), British writer
- Declan de Barra (* 1971), singer-songwriter
- Ciarán Power (* 1976), racing cyclist
- Seán Paul Breslin (* 1979), racing car driver and motorsport official
- John O'Shea (born 1981), football player
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert C. Feenstra, Alan M. Taylor: International Economics. 3. Edition. Worth, New York 2014, ISBN 978-1-4292-7842-3 , p. 576
- ↑ 74 jobs lost at Honeywell Turbo in Waterford , report from October 8, 2013
- ↑ 50 jobs lost as Citi Bank announce Waterford office closure report of May 15, 2013
- ^ Waterford & Suir Valley Heritage Railway: A Guide To Track Construction.
- ^ Memorial to WW1′s youngest Allied soldier unveiled The Iris Post, May 23, 2014, accessed June 22, 2014
- ↑ Memorial to the "Boy Soldier" unveiled in Waterford ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from Waterfordart.com
