County Waterford

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County Waterford
Contae Phort Láirge
County
Coat of arms of County Waterford
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The Déise
Motto: Déisi oc Declán co Bráth  (Old Irish)
"May the Déise remain with Declan forever"
Location of County Waterford
Country Ireland
Province Munster
Region Southern
Established 1207[1]
County town Waterford
Government
 • Local authority Waterford City and County Council
 • Dáil constituency Waterford
 • EP constituency South
Area[2]
 • Total 1,858 km2 (717 sq mi)
Area rank 20th
Highest elevation (Knockmealdown) 792 m (2,598 ft)
Population (2022)[3]
 • Total 127,363
 • Rank 20th
 • Density 69/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone WET (UTC±0)
 • Summer (DST) IST (UTC+1)
Eircode routing keys E32, E91, X35, X42, X91 (primarily)
Telephone area codes 051, 058 (primarily)
Vehicle index
mark code		 W (since 2014)
WD (1987–2013)
Website No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

County Waterford (Irish: Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the Southern Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county at large, including the city, was 127,363 according to the 2022 census.[3] The county is based on the historic Gaelic territory of the Déise. There is an Irish-speaking area, Gaeltacht na nDéise, in the southwest of the county.

Geography and subdivisions

County Waterford has two mountain ranges, the Knockmealdown Mountains and the Comeragh Mountains. The highest point in the county is Knockmealdown, at 794 m (2,605 ft). It also has many rivers, including Ireland's third-longest river, the River Suir (184 km (114 mi)); and Ireland's fourth-longest river, the Munster Blackwater (168 km (104 mi)). There are over 30[citation needed] beaches along Waterford's volcanic coastline.[4] A large stretch of this coastline, known as the Copper Coast, has been designated as a UNESCO Geopark, a place of great geological importance. To the west of Dungarvan is the Déise Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking region comprising the areas of Ring, County Waterford and Old Parish.

Waterford City is the county seat; prior to the merger of the 2 Waterford authorities in June 2014 Dungarvan was the county seat[5] for Waterford County Council.

Baronies

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

Largest towns

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See also: List of towns and villages in County Waterford
Rank Town Population
(2022 census)[13]
1 Waterford 60,079
2 Tramore 11,277
3 Dungarvan 10,081
4 Portlaw 1,881
5 Dunmore East 1,731
6 Ballinroad 1,389
7 Lismore 1,347
8 Tallow 1,022

History

File:County Waterford - Ballynageeragh Tomb - 20190917074738.jpg
Ballynageeragh Portal Tomb was built in the 4th millennium BC

County Waterford is colloquially known as "The Déise", pronounced "day-shah" or, in Irish, /dʲe:ʃʲɪ/ (Irish: Na Déise). Some time between the 4th and 8th centuries, an Irish tribe called the Déisi were driven from southern county Meath/north Kildare and moved into the Waterford region, conquering and settling there. The ancient principality of the Déise is today roughly coterminous with the current Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore thus including part of south County Tipperary.

The westernmost of the baronies are Decies-within-Drum and Decies-without-Drum, separated by the Drum-Fineen hills.[14]

File:Mine workers at Knockmahon Co Waterford Ireland 1900s (6898346820).jpg
Mine workers at Bunmahon, County Waterford c. 1906

There are many megalithic tombs and ogham stones in the county.[15] The Viking influence can still be seen with Reginald's Tower, one of the first buildings to use a brick and mortar construction method in Ireland. Woodstown, a settlement dating to the 9th century, was discovered 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) west of Waterford city. It was the largest settlement outside 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 the local government area of Waterford City and County. The authority was formed following the merger of the local government areas of the county of Waterford and the city of Waterford under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, and succeeded the functions of Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council.[16] The local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and real-estate development, libraries, the collection of automobile taxation, local roads and social housing.

For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is represented by the 4-seat constituency of Waterford.[17] For European elections, the city and county are part of the 5-seat South constituency.[18]

Gaeltacht

Gaeltacht na nDéise is a Gaeltacht area in County Waterford, consisting of the parish of An Rinn and An Sean Phobal. Gaeltacht na nDéise is located 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the town of Dungarvan, has a population of 1,816 people (Census 2016) and encompasses a geographical area of 62 km2. According to Census 2016 the percentage of daily Irish speakers in Gaeltacht na nDéise was 45.6%.[19]

Culture

See also

Counsellors strand

References

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  7. ↑ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ histpop.org Archived 7 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Section 13 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014 (Public Act No. 1 of 2014). Act of the Irish Parliament.
  17. ↑ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 (Public Act No. 39 of 2017). Act of the Irish Parliament.
  18. ↑ Section 7 of the European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019 (Public Act No. 7 of 2019). Act of the Irish Parliament.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

 County Tipperary IRL county Tipperary COA.png County Kilkenny 27px
County Cork County Cork arms.png County Wexford IRL COA County Wexford 3D.svg
  County Waterford  
Celtic Sea

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