Nice print titled The Quay Waterford (with Reginald's Tower), from steel engraving with fine detail and clear impression. Overall size is 27 x 21 cm, image size is 12 x 18 cm. Print was published in: The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland. Illustrated in one hundred and twenty engravings, from drawings by W.H. Bartlett, London, James S. Virtue, 1840-1842.

Waterford

Irish Port Láirge

city and port, eastern County Waterford, and the major town of southeastern  Ireland. It is Ireland's oldest city.

Waterford city, administratively independent of the county, is situated on the  south bank of the River Suir, 4 miles (6 km) above its junction with the Barrow  and at the head of Waterford Harbour. The harbour is a winding and  well-sheltered bay formed by the estuary of the Suir and the joint estuary of  the Nore and Barrow. The Suir is navigable to Waterford for vessels drawing 22  feet (6.7 metres).

The Vikings established Waterford as a walled city in the 9th century—the  Norsemen enclosed some 15 acres (6 hectares) of the city with walls and  fortifications that were rebuilt by the Normans—and it became a cathedral city  in 1096. Richard FitzGilbert, the 2nd earl of Pembroke, known as Strongbow,  captured Waterford in 1170, and Henry II landed there in 1171. In 1205 the city  of Waterford received its first charter from King John, who also defined the  shire (county). In the later Middle Ages the city was virtually an independent  commune. In 1603 it took a prominent part in opposition to the government and  the Anglican church but submitted on the approach of the forces of Baron Charles  Blount, the 8th lord of Mountjoy, lord deputy of Ireland. It resisted Oliver  Cromwell in 1649 but surrendered to his son-in-law Henry Ireton in 1650. The  city sent two members to Parliament from 1374 to 1885, when the number was  reduced to one. In 1898 it became a county borough.

On Waterford Quay is Reginald's Tower, thought to be Europe's oldest mortared  stone tower, which dates from about the 12th century and is now a civic museum.  Waterford's Roman Catholic cathedral was completed in 1796, and its Church of  Ireland (Anglican) cathedral was built in 1773–79 on the site of a church  founded about 1050. Other significant buildings include the remains of a  Dominican friary and Reginald's Tower.

Waterford is an important export centre for fruit and meat, notably for  containerized goods. The main industries are food processing, brewing,  papermaking, and glassmaking; Waterford Crystal is world-famous. There are also  chemical, pharmaceutical, and light manufacturing plants. The city is the  headquarters of extensive salmon and sea fisheries and is the most important  port on the south coast after Cork. Waterford has a vibrant cultural life. Its  Theatre Royal hosts the annual Waterford International Festival of Light Opera.  The city is also the home of Waterford Institute of Technology (established  1970). Pop. (2002) 44,594; (2011) 46,732.