I came to Waterford because it is where my dad’s family is from. I have traced the family back to about 1785. That would be my 4th great grandfather David. I have located his son Philip born 1810’s, address. Philips son John, born 1844, left Ireland in 1868 at 24 and eventually ended up in Minnesota and married Ellen, also from Ireland. They had Joseph Patrick in 1879 who married Leona and had my dad Bill in in 1922. Then came me and my brother.
And there you are.
Waterford is a charming town. It looks European. Sits on the River Suir. It is the oldest city in Ireland. It was the first place to fly the Irish flag.
It was established in 862 by Viking raiders. They were driven out by native Irish in 902, but made a comebackin 914. and stayed until 1162. Then the king of England landed and the English took over. There was a brief Catholic government from 1642-1649 but it was squashed and the British retook control of Waterford. That lasted until 1922 when Ireland gained conditional independence from the British, and then real independence in 1949. John Finn was long gone by then.
Waterford was a big shipping port. It became famous for a crystal company that started in 1783. My family were farmers. I think some of them still live along the same road that Philip did.
Waterford doesn’t feel like a tourist town. I don’t think it gets a lot of tourists from other countries unless there is some kind of connection for them. It is interesting that we have not seen one Irish tourist shop since we have been here. I think people come from surrounding small towns to the pubs and shopping.
It has a pretty long Main Street. There are no big name stores here. There are locally owned stores and pubs. It’s a city of 53,000. It’s pretty diverse for a city it’s size. The stores close at 5 pm, the pubs at 1230 am.
I like it.
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August 21, 2022 at 09:05PM
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