Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Waterford

Waterford, city, parl. bor., seaport, seat of a diocese, and co. of itself, locally in bar. Gualtiere, NE. co. Waterford, on river Suir, 77 miles SE. of Limerick, 82 NE. of Cork, and 110 SW. of Dublin by rail - parl. bor., 9937 ac., pop. 29,181; mun. bor., 533 ac., pop. 22,457; 3 Banks, 8 newspapers. Market-days, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Waterford, situated at the confluence of St John's river with the Suir, and 15 miles from the sea, was founded by the Danes in the 9th century; was the place where Henry II. landed in 1172; was unsuccessfully besieged by Cromwell, but was taken by Ireton in 1650; and was the place where James II. embarked for France in 1690. The city is connected with the small suburb of Ferrybank, in co. Kilkenny, by a wooden bridge of 39 arches. It contains several fine public buildings, including literary, scientific, and charitable institutions. Vessels of 2000 tons can reach the quays, which possess convenient floating stages. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.) The exports consist chiefly of agricultural produce, including bacon, pork, butter, grain, flour, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Steamers sail regularly between Waterford and the ports of Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Plymouth. The railway traffic passing through Waterford is very extensive, there being direct communication with Limerick, Cork, and Dublin. Waterford returns 1 member to Parliament; it returned 2 members until 1885.


(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "city, parliamentary borough, seaport, seat of a diocese, and county of itself"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Waterford IrlC
Place: Waterford

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