What is recorded here

Reginald's Tower rises fifteen metres above Waterford's quay, a circular Anglo-Norman keep that has watched the river since the thirteenth century. It has held soldiers, imprisoned men, struck coinage and resisted Perkin Warbeck's invasion, proving that a small stone cylinder can carry the weight of an entire city's survival. The upper floors were rebuilt in the sixteenth century, yet the spiral stairs still climb through layers of violence, commerce and fear, inviting anyone brave enough to touch the ancient mortar and imagine the hands that shaped it.

This is a circular keep known as Reginald's Tower (ext. diam. 13.4m; int. diam. 7.4m; H 15.5m to rebuilt parapet), but previously called 'Dundory', of four storeys with a slight base-batter. It was possibly built after 1200 on the site of an earlier structure, possibly a motte. However, the upper two floors were built, or rebuilt, in the 16th century. In the 13th century it served as a stronghold and later as a prison. After 1463 the keep was used as a mint and it played a central part in the defence of the city when it was attacked by Perkin Warbeck in 1495. A blockhouse (WA009-005049-) was added on the river side in the mid-16th century. The original entrance on the W (city-side) is at first-floor level, but there are two inserted doorways on the ground floor which has four window embrasures (one with a stirrup loop) and a mural chamber at N. The secondary doorway with a yett at NE led to the blockhouse, and spiral stairs at W lead to the upper floors. The first floor, entered through a lintelled doorway, has four window embrasures and a fireplace, with a garderobe at N. The second floor has an external doorway, which may have lead to the wall-walk of the town wall, four window embrasures, a mural chamber and a 16th-century fireplace. The third floor has three window embrasures. The spiral stairs continue to the parapet which has a lookout over the stairs-housing. Excavation (97E0246) within the ground-floor area of the tower in 1997 revealed material relating to ten phases of activity associated with use of the tower from the 12th to the 20th centuries (Murtagh 1998, 186-7). The tower was conserved by the National Monuments Section of the Office of Public Works on behalf of Waterford Corporation, now the City Council, in the 1990s. (Bradley et al. 1989, vol. 2, 194-200; Harbison 1992b, 328) Bradley, J., Halpin, A. and King, H. (1989) Urban archaeology Survey of Waterford City and County, 2 vols. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works. Harbison, P. (1992b) Guide to the national and historic monuments of Ireland. Gill and Macmillan Ltd., Dublin. Murtagh, B. (1998) Reginald's Tower, the Quay, Waterford: medieval tower of city wall, in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 1997: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, 186-7, No. 580. Wordwell. Bray The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 23 December 2008

Reginald's Tower in Waterford City was built in the early 12th century, likely by the Anglo-Norman knight Reginald de Clairvaux, as a key defensive structure during the Norman invasion of Ireland. It is important as one of the earliest surviving examples of Norman military architecture in Ireland and marks the foundation of Waterford City.

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