Waterford — Waterford City,trinity Without

Ballybricken Hill lies to the W overlooking the city, and the walled suburbs occupy its E-facing slope. The Viking town is on a spur extending E from the base of Ballybricken Hill, between the W-E River Suir to the N and St John's Pill to the S. The spur decreases in height towards the E where the Pill joins the River Suir. Traditionally the town is thought to have been founded in the 9th century by Sitric (Smith 1746, 113), but a more enduring settlement, possibly a longphort, developed after the arrival of a Viking fleet in AD 914. This was probably located on the bank of the River Suir between Reginald's Tower (WA009-005001-) and Barronstrand St. By the time of its capture in 1170 by the Anglo-Normans under Richard de Clare (Strongbow) and Dermot MacMurrough, the city was a walled town of c. 8ha extending from Arundel Square at the W to Reginald's Tower. The Anglo-Normans expelled the Ostmen from the city in 1174 which may have initiated the development of the W suburbs. By the end of the medieval period both the city and the W suburbs extended over an area of 14ha, which was enclosed by a circuit of walls with 15 gates and 23 mural towers (Bradley et al. 1989, vol. 2, 129-265). Waterford was loyal to the English Crown throughout the medieval period and prospered as a Royal city, although economic decline and the withdrawal of central authority in the 14th century led to a series of attacks by Anglo-Norman, Gaelic and even Continental factions. The fabric and fortunes of the city continued to decline throughout the 15th century and they only began to recover in 1495 after the city successfully repulsed a siege by Perkin Warbeck, a Pretender to the English throne. A blockhouse (WA009-005049-) was built outside Reginald's Tower after 1560 and a star-shaped fort (WA009-005050-) was built, or at least planned, in the 1580s around St Catherine's abbey (WA009-005029-). A second star-shaped fort (WA009-050048-) was built outside St Patrick's Gate in the early 17th century, completing the defences. During the Confederate Wars Waterford was occupied by Catholic rebels early in the struggle but was re-captured for the King by Sir Christopher Loftus in April 1642 (Buckley 1897). It was captured by Ireton in 1650 (Smith 1746, 151-5). Surveys by Phillips (c. 1680) and Goubet (c. 1695), and other 17th-century maps, including that published in Ryland (1824, 106ff.), have enabled the medieval topography and defences of the town to be reconstructed. The Corporation began to remove obtrusive parts of the defences in the 18th century, but from c. 1990 some of the surviving sections of the town walls have been conserved and made accessible by the Corporation or the Civic Trust. The defences are complex and considerable portions remain. Around the Viking city, Reginald's Tower, St Martin's Gate (WA009-005003-) and the site of Turgesius' Tower (WA009-005004-) are linked by portions of the town wall (WA009-005002-), parts of which are destroyed, although sections were recorded during excavations on the river front in the 1980s (WA009-005006-). A portion of the Viking defences (see WA009-005006-) extending parallel to the 13th-century wall (see WA009-005004-) were recorded in excavations on the W side of the city. The wall (WA009-005007-, WA009-005009-, WA009-005011-, WA009-005013-, WA009-005015-) around the W suburbs extends from the Beach Tower (WA009-005008-) near the River Suir, SW to Patrick St., and from the site of St Patrick's Gate S to the Semi-Lunate Tower (WA009-005010-) and the site of New Gate. From here the wall (WA009-005011-) continues S to the French Tower (WA009-005012-) at the SW corner of the suburbs, where it turns SE (WA009-005013-) towards the Double Tower (WA009-005014-). Continuing in a SE direction and crossing Manor St. (WA009-005015-) the defences link the Watch Tower (WA009-005016-) and St John's Pill, where the medieval bridge (WA009-005017-) and the Watergate (WA009-005018-) survive. Interrupted sections of the town wall (WA009-005019-) can be traced hence N to St Martin's Gate, thus completing the defences. Waterford received its first bishop, consecrated at Canterbury, in 1096 and became the centre of a diocese consisting of the city and liberties, and the barony of Gaultiere. It was united with Lismore diocese in 1363, although separate cathedrals and chapters were maintained at both centres. Apart from the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, called Christ Church (WA009-005070-), the city had seven parish churches: St Mary's or Our Lady's (WA009-005021-), St Olave's (WA009-005022-) and St Peter's (WA009-005023-) in the Viking city; St Patrick's (WA009-005029-), St Michael's (WA009-005025-), St Stephen's (WA009-005026-) and St John's (WA009-005030-) in the W suburbs. Outside the walls were the churches of St Bridgid (WA009-005027-) and St Thomas (WA009-005028-). By the mid-13th century there was an Augustinian abbey on Catherine St. (WA009-005029-), a Benedictine abbey of St. John (WA009-005030-), a Dominican priory (WA009-005031-) inside the walls at Arundel Sq., and a Franciscan priory (WA009-005032-) between Reginalds Tower and the Cathedral. By the end of the medieval period there hospitals including St John's (WA009-005034-), St Mary Magdalen's (WA009-005036-), the Holy Ghost (WA009-005033-) and a leper hospital (WA009-005035-) had been established. Almost every church would have a graveyard attached, and apart from that of St. Peter's church (WA009-005023-) that has been almost completely excavated, burials from Grubb Lane (WA009-005120-) may have been associated with St. Cathernine's Abbey (WA009-005029-). There was a Quaker community in the city by the end of the 17th century, and they had established their own burial ground (WA009-005123-) in St. John's Lane by 1689. The remains or records of stone houses survive from Patrick St. (WA009-005037-), New St. (WA009-005038-), St Michael's Lane (WA009-005039-), Exchange St. (WA009-005041-), High St. (WA009-005042-), Coffee House Lane (WA009-005043-) and Conduit St. (WA009-005051-). There is a surviving undercroft at Cathedral Square (WA009-005040-), and excavations at Peter St. have recorded the remains of three others (WA009-005047-; WA009-005057-; WA009-005058-). An active policy of excavation by Waterford Corporation in the 1980s resulted in seven major excavations including those at St Martin's Gate, the Watergate, St Peter's church and graveyard and at High St./Exchange St. (WA009-005044-). The largest excavations were those conducted at St Peter's church and graveyard, which included part of the Viking defences, and the two central blocks between Peter St. and High St. The last three excavations were undertaken in advance of the City Square shopping development and were partly funded by the developer. Several separately licensed excavations were conducted by A. Gittins (1987; 1988; 1989; 1994), A. Hayden (1988; 1989), M. Hurley and B. Murtagh (1990a; 1990b), M. Hurley (1988; 1991), M. Reid (1990; 1994), O.M.B. Scully (1993; 1997c; 1997d) and C. Walsh (1988; 1989) under the general supervision of M. Hurley. There have also been several smaller excavations, including the site of the Savoy Cinema (WA009-005061-) and around parts of the standing remains of the town walls. Over a tenth of the medieval walled city has been investigated, recording Viking and early medieval housing as well as parts of the defences. The results of the Corporation's own intensive excavations for the City Square development from 1986-1992 have been published (Hurley et al. 1997). Apart from the three undercrofts on Peter St., seven principal areas of stratified Viking and medieval settlement are described — Peter St. (WA009-005045-), Olaf St. (WA009-005046-), High St. (WA009-005052-), Arundel Square (WA009-005003-), Insula North (WA009-005046-), Bakehouse Lane (WA009-005055-) and Insula South (WA009-005056-). Fourteen levels of activity have been identified and co-related across the different excav