Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [161]
To save on grave diggers and gallows, prisoners of the 1798 Rebellion were hung from a lifting bridge, then cut down into the river once they were dead.
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LAUNDRY
Snow White Laundrette ( 051-858 905; Mayor’s Walk; 9.15am-1.30pm & 2.30-6pm Mon-Sat)
LEFT LUGGAGE
The sweet shop (candy counter) inside the bus station ( 8am-7pm) stores luggage for €2.40 per item, per day (€4.80 overnight).
MEDICAL SERVICES
Waterford Regional Hospital ( 051-848 000; Dunmore Rd)
MONEY
There’s a branch of the AIB bank by the clock tower on the quayfront, and ATMs throughout the town.
POST
The main post office is on Parade Quay.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Waterford city tourist office ( 051-875 823; www.discoverireland.ie/southeast; Merchants Quay; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun Jul & Aug, 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat May & Jun, 9.15am-5pm Mon-Sat Sep-Apr)
Sights & Activities
WATERFORD MUSEUM OF TREASURES
The dazzling Waterford Museum of Treasures ( 051-304 500; www.waterfordtreasures.com; Hanover St; adult/child €7/3.20; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun Sep-May) is one of Ireland’s widest-ranging and most high-tech museums. An audio-guide leads you through exhibitions navigating the town’s 1000-year history. A highlight is the ‘Viking longship’, a rocking ride narrated by Waterford’s Nordic forebears, who call themselves ‘children of the raven’ but sound more like comedic Scotsmen. You can also attend the marriage of Strongbow and local princess Aiofe, who promises to teach her Anglo-Norman lord how the Irish feast.
Though they can feel a little lost under the weight of 21st-century technology, there are some beautiful ‘real’ exhibits. Golden Viking brooches, jewel-encrusted Norman crosses, the magnificent 1372 Great Charter Roll and 18th-century church silver are among the booty.
REGINALD’S TOWER
The oldest complete building in Ireland and the first to use mortar, 12th-century Reginald’s Tower ( 051-304 220; The Quay; adult/child €2.10/1.10; 10am-6pm Easter-Oct, 10am-5pm Wed-Sun Oct-Easter) is an outstanding example of medieval defences, and was the city’s key fortification. The Normans built its 3m- to 4m-thick walls on the site of a Viking wooden tower. Over the years, the building served as an arsenal, a prison and a mint. The exhibits relating to the latter role are interesting: medieval silver coins, a wooden ‘tally stick’ with notches indicating the amount owed, a 12th-century piggy bank (smashed), and a coin balance used to determine weight and bullion value. Architectural oddities include the toilet that drained halfway up the building.
Behind the tower, a section of the old wall is incorporated into the Bowery bar. The two arches were sally ports, to let boats ‘sally forth’ into the inlet.
WATERFORD CRYSTAL VISITOR CENTRE
The city’s famed Waterford Crystal was not immune to Ireland’s economic woes. In 2009 the nation was shocked when this civic icon went into receivership. (The factory has previously ridden out hard times: the first Waterford glass factory was established at the western end of the riverside quays in 1783 but closed 68 years later because of punitive taxes imposed by the British before its revival last century.) Despite a sit-in by workers, who symbolically kept the furnaces burning, the future of manufacturing here remained uncertain when this book went to press. However, you can still stop by the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre ( 051-332 500; www.waterfordvisitorcentre.com; Cork Rd; 9am-5pm), 2km south of the centre. In lieu of its previous factory tours, it’s due to house a new multimedia ‘visitor experience’ by the time you’re reading this, including live demonstrations. Buses 1C and 3C run to the visitor centre from opposite the Clock Tower every 15 minutes (€1.60).
CHURCHES
Christ Church Cathedral ( 051-874 757; www.waterford-cathedral.com, Cathedral Sq; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat) is Europe’s only neoclassical Georgian cathedral. Designed by local architect John Roberts, it was built on the site of an 11th-century Viking church,