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Waterford
Institute Of Technology |
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About The City |
Waterford City has a long and
fascinating history as one of the most important ports in
Ireland.
It provides a wide and varied range of amenities for
citizens and visitors and is continuing to develop as a
major city into the new millennium.
Click on the links above to find out more details or why not
take a Virtual Tour of some of our interesting locations
The name Waterford is derived from an old Norse word
'Vedrarfjiordr' that can be traced back to the late 9th
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'Vedrarfjiordr' is believed to be derived from either 'Fjord of
the Rams', probably a reference to the export of sheep from the
area, or more prosaically, from 'windy fjord'.
This latter meaning probably refers to Waterford as being a safe
haven for Viking ships sheltering from a windy Irish Sea.
The Vikings, realising the strategic and trading importance of
the three rivers which empty into Waterford Harbour, built a
longphort or dock at the confluence of the St. John's River and
the River Suir.
Waterford City was founded in 914 AD and developed into a
significant urban area during the 10th century. Waterford is
arguably the oldest area of continuos urban settlement in
Ireland. Reginald's Tower marks the site of the first defensive
structure built by the Viking settlers. The Tower is mentioned
in the Irish Annals as early as 1088 thus making it the oldest
civic building structure on this island. In the 1080s, a Viking
fleet at Waterford had become a major force in the tangled web
of Irish and Welsh political intrigue when Diarmuid O'Brien,
King of Munster, negotiated that the fleet go to Wales to assist
Gruffydd ap Cynan to recover the Kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales.
A hundred years later it was the turn of a dispossessed Irish
king to seek help from beyond the sea in order to regain his
lost kingdom. Thus it was, that in 1169 a group of Anglo-Norman
mercenaries landed in Wexford at the invitation of Dermot
McMurrough and by 1170 they were at the walls of Waterford.
After a bloody battle the city fell to Strongbow and his armour
clad Anglo-Norman supporters. Strongbow was made heir to the
McMurrough lands in Leinster and as previously agreed married
Dermot's daughter Aoife.
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