A Walk Around Waterford City

First of all, I want to apologise for not posting anything for almost a week now. I have good days and I have bad days. I have mostly good days, but when I have a bad day, it can take a couple of days to recover from it. It also doesn’t help if I stay up too late at night. When I get working in something that I am interested in, I have a tendency to give it my full concentration. Sometimes, I even forget some of the daily housekeeping that I need to do in order for things not to back up on me. Anyway, please be patient with me. I am still a work in process.

After visiting New Ross in Wexford, our trip took us to Waterford City, in County Waterford. It is situated on the River Suir not far where the River Suir and the River Barrow join before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The River Suir and the River Barrow are two of the Three Sisters, with the third sister being the River Nore. The River Nore joins with the River Barrow before meeting with the River Suir. This all takes place on the southeast coast of Ireland.

Waterford has a very long history. Waterford was one of the first communities established by the Vikings in 853 AD. It wasn’t 50 years before the Irish forced the Vikings out. Because of this settlement, Waterford had the distinction of being Ireland’s first city.

Approximately 250 years later, Diarmait Mac Murchada, the deposed King of Leinster, tried to take Waterford and failed. Three years later, he came back with mercenaries and Richard de Clare, the 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, and took the city after some desperate defense. King Henry II came in 1171 and declared that Waterford and Dublin were royal cities and Dublin the capital of Ireland.

Waterford went through the English political problems with two pretenders wanting to base themselves there. They also went through the Protestant Reformation but afterward remained Catholic. There were other events throughout history, but I will let you look some of it up yourselves.

Originally, we were supposed to have our walking tour after we had dinner in Wexford, but something caused it to be changed. We were hungry and tired, and would have appreciated having some time to eat and relax before going on the tour. As it was, we were waiting for quite a period of time for our guide to arrive, and, I think that all of us were getting to the point that we wanted to forego the tour.

Our guide was Jack Burtchaell and he was running late when we arrived in Waterford. He finally arrived and took us around the harbour area for an hour’s tour. This area of Wexford had a nice blend of history and modern conveniences. The oldest building was a short tour not far from the harbour. I have included a few pictures that I took while on the tour. There is even a replica of a Viking longboat in the tourist area.

One thing that I would like to mention is that one of my ancestors came to Canada and probably came either through New Ross or through Waterford to board the ship. I would like to go back to Waterford and spend some time there, a few days anyway, to get to know the city better. Maybe by that time, I will know which ports my ancestors travelled through.

The National Archives of Ireland

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity of visiting The National Archives of Ireland in Dublin. As I didn’t know my way around Dublin, Shirley, one of the members of the tour group that I was with, came with me. She also had planned to do some research there and wanted to consult with the professional genealogist.

The professional genealogist that we met was a very helpful lady. Shirley had met with her on another trip and had consequently recognized her when she saw her on an episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” I can’t remember what her name was but she was a soft spoken professional who knew her stuff.

This kind lady was friendly and was able to give me direction on two different matters within half an hour. The first was for a friend in Pembroke who wanted to know where to look for a marriage. The second was for me in locating exactly where my third great-grandfather came from in Wexford County. She suggested that I use the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffiths Evaluation to determine the parishes most likely to be his home parish before he sailed to Canada in 1820. I am able to do this as I know what his mother’s name was along with her maiden name and also his father’s name.

After determining which parishes would be the most likely, I met with this lady again and asked about my third great-grandparents who settled in Huron County in Ontario. There is a connection with Galway, but after meeting with her, I believe that this connection may just be the port that they sailed from in 1831 or 1832. This lady suggested that I do the same thing for this couple as I did for my other third great-grandfather, only, if I did not find anything in County Galway, I should expand the search to County Cavan as my third great-grandmother’s headstone says that she was from County Cavan.

Before going to Ireland, I thought that maybe she was from County Cavan and her family had moved to County Galway and that she had married there. I could find no record of there marriage there and very few records of either of the family names.

I then started to look at Griffith’s Evaluation and the Tithe Applotment Books for County Cavan. I found a number of parishes that the family names appear in, both together and by themselves. I think that I may have found where my third great-grandparents came from.

I now need to follow through with this work and take it to its conclusion.

I am so thankful that I decided to spend time at the National Archives of Ireland and consult with their genealogist. I know that I will gain more information about my family from this experience. I thank my Father in Heaven for sending the guidance to me so that I will find the correct information.