Editing County Waterford

{{Short description|County in Ireland}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = County Waterford
|native_name            = {{lang|ga|Contae Phort Láirge}}
|settlement_type        = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
|native_name_lang       = ga
|image_shield           = County Waterford Coat of Arms.png
|shield_size            = 100px
|nickname               = The Déise
|motto                  = ''Déisi oc Declán co Bráth''{{spaces|2}}<small>(Old Irish)</small><br />"May the [[Déise]] remain with [[Declán of Ardmore|Declan]] forever"
|image_map              = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Waterford.svg
|image_flag             = 
|area_footnotes         = <ref name=WDC>{{cite web | title = County Profiles – Waterford | url = https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2011/Soils-of-Co-Waterford-WEB.pdf | publisher = [[Teagasc]] | access-date = 24 November 2023 }}</ref>
|area_total_km2         = 1858
|area_rank              = [[List of Irish counties by area|20th]]
|seat_type              = [[County town]]
|seat                   = [[Waterford]]
|blank_name_sec1        = [[Vehicle registration plates of Ireland|Vehicle index<br />mark code]]
|blank_info_sec1        = W <small>(since 2014)</small><br />WD <small>(1987–2013)</small>
|population_total       = 127363
|population_rank        = [[List of Irish counties by population|20th]]
|population_as_of       = [[2022 census of Ireland|2022]]
|population_footnotes   = <ref name=cso2022_county>{{cite web | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C03789V04537&guid=2ae19629-149a-13a3-e055-000000000001 | title = Interactive Data Visualisations: Local Authorities (County Councils): WATERFORD CITY AND COUNTY COUNCIL | work = Census 2022 | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]]| access-date = 26 September 2023}}</ref>
|population_density_km2 = auto
|leader_title1          = [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|Local authority]]  
|leader_name1           = [[Waterford City and County Council]]
|leader_title2          = [[Dáil constituency]]
|leader_name2           = [[Waterford (Dáil constituency)|Waterford]]
|leader_title3          = [[European Parliament constituencies in the Republic of Ireland|EP constituency]]
|leader_name3           = [[South (European Parliament constituency)|South]]
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = Ireland
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Munster]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[Regions of Ireland|Region]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[Southern Region, Ireland|Southern]]
|website                = {{official website}}
|timezone               = [[Western European Time|WET]]
|utc_offset             = ±0
|timezone_DST           = [[Irish Standard Time|IST]]
|utc_offset_DST         = +1
|established_title      = Established
|established_date       = 1207<ref>{{cite web |url= http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/95153/95153.pdf |publisher= Waterford County Council |website= waterfordcoco.ie |title= A Short History of County Waterford |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171118164007/http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/95153/95153.pdf |archive-date= 18 November 2017 |access-date= 7 August 2021 |url-status= live }}</ref>
|area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in the Republic of Ireland|Telephone area codes]]
|area_code = 051, 058 <small>(primarily)</small>
|postal_code_type       = [[Eircode]] routing keys
|postal_code            = E32, E91, X35, X42, X91 <small>(primarily)</small>
|elevation_max_m        = 792
|elevation_max_point    = [[Knockmealdown]]
|module                 = {{infobox mapframe|zoom=7}}
|iso_code               = IE-WD
}}

'''County Waterford''' ({{langx|ga|Contae Phort Láirge}}) is a [[Counties of Ireland|county]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. It is in the [[Provinces of Ireland|province]] of [[Munster]] and is part of the [[Southern Region, Ireland|Southern Region]]. It is named after the city of [[Waterford]]. [[Waterford City and County Council]] is the [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|local authority]] for the county. The population of the county at large, including the city, was 127,363 according to the 2022 census.<ref name=cso2022_county/> The county is based on the historic [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic]] territory of the ''[[Déisi|Déise]]''. There is an [[Gaeltacht|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 {{convert|794|m|abbr=on}}. It also has many rivers, including Ireland's third-longest river, the [[River Suir]] ({{convert|184|km|abbr=on}}); and Ireland's fourth-longest river, the [[Munster Blackwater]] ({{convert|168|km|abbr=on}}). There are over 30{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} beaches along Waterford's volcanic coastline.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://coppercoastgeopark.com/geology-copper-coast/|title=Geology of the Copper Coast – Copper Coast Geopark|work=Copper Coast Geopark|access-date=2018-01-31|language=en-US|archive-date=1 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201133728/https://coppercoastgeopark.com/geology-copper-coast/|url-status=live}}</ref> A large stretch of this coastline, known as the [[Copper Coast Geopark|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]] is the county seat; prior to the merger of the 2 Waterford authorities in June 2014 Dungarvan was the [[county seat]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waterfordcoco.ie/en/localauthorities/waterfordcountycouncil/|title=Waterford County Council website|access-date=9 April 2011|archive-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411150647/http://www.waterfordcoco.ie/en/localauthorities/waterfordcountycouncil/|url-status=live}}</ref> for Waterford County Council.

===Baronies===
There are eight historic [[Barony (Ireland)|baronies]] in the county: [[Coshmore and Coshbride]], [[Decies-within-Drum]], [[Decies-without-Drum]], [[Gaultier (barony)|Gaultiere]], [[Glenahiry]], Middlethird, [[Upperthird]] and Waterford City.

===Largest towns===
{{See also|List of towns and villages in County Waterford}}
{{Historical populations
|state=collapsed
|1600|14456
|1610|9887
|1653|13136
|1659|13286
|1821|76103
|1831|85217
|1841|196187
|1851|164035
|1861|134252
|1871|123310
|1881|112768
|1891|98251
|1901|87187
|1911|83966
|1926|78562
|1936|77614
|1946|76108
|1951|75061
|1956|74031
|1961|71439
|1966|73080
|1971|77315
|1979|87278
|1981|88591
|1986|91151
|1991|91624
|1996|94680
|2002|101546
|2006|107961
|2011|113795
|2016|116176
|2022|127363
||footnote=<ref name=cso2022_county/><ref name=cso2016>{{cite web | url = http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=CTY31&Geog_Code=2AE19629149A13A3E055000000000001 | title = Census 2016 Sapmap Area: County Waterford City And County | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)]] | access-date = 18 November 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181118205603/http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=CTY31&Geog_Code=2AE19629149A13A3E055000000000001 | archive-date = 18 November 2018 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cso.ie/census |title=Census for post 1821 figures. |publisher=CSO|access-date=2014-08-08 |archive-date=9 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309005718/http://www.cso.ie/census/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.histpop.org histpop.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/ |date=7 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |title=NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (c) 2013 |publisher=Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk |date=27 September 2010 |access-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |archive-date=17 February 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Lee|first=J. J.| author-link =J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last=Goldstrom|editor-first=J. M.|editor2-last=Clarkson
|editor2-first=L. A.|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell
|year=1981|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England
|chapter=On the accuracy of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Pre-famine]] Irish censuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal  | last1 = Mokyr  | first1 = Joel  | author-link = Joel Mokyr  | last2 = Ó Gráda  | first2 = Cormac  | author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda  | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850  | journal = The Economic History Review  | volume = 37  | issue = 4  | pages = 473–488  | date = November 1984  | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | url-status = dead  | archive-date = 4 December 2012  | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x  | hdl = 10197/1406  | hdl-access = free  | access-date = 3 September 2009  }}</ref>
}}

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Town
!Population<br /><small>(2022 census)<ref name="cso2022">{{cite web|title=Census 2022 - F1015 Population|work=Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports |publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office Ireland]] |date=August 2023 |url=https://data.cso.ie/table/F1015 |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref></small>
|-
| align=left | 1
| [[Waterford]]
| align=right | 60,079
|-
| align=left | 2
| [[Tramore]]
| align=right | 11,277
|-
| align=left | 3
| [[Dungarvan]]
| align=right | 10,081
|-
| align=left | 4
| [[Portlaw]]
| align=right | 1,881
|-
| align=left | 5
| [[Dunmore East]]
| align=right | 1,731
|-
| align=left | 6
| [[Ballinroad]]
| align=right | 1,389
|-
| align=left | 7
| [[Lismore, County Waterford|Lismore]]
| align=right | 1,347
|-
| align=left | 8
| [[Tallow, County Waterford|Tallow]]
| align=right | 1,022
|}

==History==
[[File:County Waterford - Ballynageeragh Tomb - 20190917074738.jpg|thumb|[[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/  ({{langx|ga|Na Déise}}). Some time between the 4th and 8th centuries, an [[Gaels|Irish tribe]] called the [[Déisi]] were [[The Expulsion of the Déisi|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.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web?task=Display&art_id=184&pagenum=2 |chapter=Early Waterford History 2. The Decies |first=P.M. |last=Egan |orig-year=1893 |date=20 November 2004 |access-date=2008-02-23 |title=History of Waterford |url=http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/category/10/5/?lang=en |archive-date=26 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526104620/http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/category/10/5/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Mine workers at Knockmahon Co Waterford Ireland 1900s (6898346820).jpg|thumb|Mine workers at [[Bunmahon]], County Waterford {{circa|1906}}]]
There are many [[megalith]]ic tombs and [[ogham]] stones in the county.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prehistoricwaterford.com/sites-a-z/|title=Prehistoric Waterford tombs, dolmens and standing stones|publisher=Prehistoricwaterford.com|access-date=10 April 2011|archive-date=29 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229234900/http://www.prehistoricwaterford.com/sites-a-z/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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  {{Convert|5.5|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} 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]].<ref>{{Cite Irish legislation|name=[[Local Government Reform Act 2014]]|section=13|stitle=Establishment of local authorities for certain local government areas|year=2014|number=1|date=27 January 2014|access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> The [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|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 (Dáil constituency)|Waterford]].<ref>{{cite Irish legislation|year=2017|number=39|schedule=y|name=[[Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017]]|date=23 December 2017|access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> For [[Elections in the European Union|European elections]], the city and county are part of the 5-seat [[South (European Parliament constituency)|South]] constituency.<ref>{{cite Irish legislation|year=2019|number=7|section=7|stitle=Substitution of Third Schedule to Principal Act|name=European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019|date=12 March 2019|access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref>

== Gaeltacht ==
{{lang|ga|Gaeltacht na nDéise}} is a Gaeltacht area in County Waterford, consisting of the parish of {{lang|ga|An Rinn}} and {{lang|ga|An Sean Phobal}}. {{lang|ga|Gaeltacht na nDéise}} is located  {{Convert|10|km|mi|abbr=off}} from the town of Dungarvan, has a population of 1,816 people (Census 2016) and encompasses a geographical area of 62&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. According to Census 2016 the percentage of daily Irish speakers in {{lang|ga|Gaeltacht na nDéise}} was 45.6%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=GAEL&Geog_Code=D3539A8D-40A6-497D-8BF2-1D9804FAEAC7#SAPMAP_T3_300 |title=Archived copy |website=Central Statistics Office |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728233713/http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=GAEL&Geog_Code=D3539A8D-40A6-497D-8BF2-1D9804FAEAC7#SAPMAP_T3_300 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Culture==
*[[In the Willows]], alternative folk band from Waterford

==See also==
[[File:Counsellors strand - geograph.org.uk - 491497.jpg|thumb|Counsellors strand]]
*[[High Sheriff of County Waterford]]
*[[Lord Lieutenant of Waterford]]
*[[List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland#County Waterford|List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Waterford)]]
*[[Declán of Ardmore|Saint Declan]]
*[[Limerick–Rosslare railway line]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikivoyage}}
*{{official website|https://waterfordcouncil.ie/}}
*[http://www.visitwaterford.com/ Waterford Tourism]

{{Geographic location
|Northwest = 
|North     = [[County Tipperary]] [[File:IRL county Tipperary COA.png|24px]] [[County Kilkenny]] [[File:County Kilkenny arms.svg|27px]]
|Northeast = 
|West      = [[County Cork]] [[File: County Cork arms.png|30px]]
|Centre    = County Waterford
|East      = [[County Wexford]] [[File:IRL COA County Wexford 3D.svg|30px]]
|Southwest = 
|South     = [[Celtic Sea]]
|Southeast = 
}}

{{County Waterford}}
{{Ireland counties}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|52|15|N|7|30|W|region:IE_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki|display=title}}

[[Category:County Waterford| ]]
[[Category:Munster|Waterford]]
[[Category:Counties of the Republic of Ireland|Waterford]]
[[Category:Local government areas of the Republic of Ireland|Waterford]]