County Waterford, Ireland Genealogy

Ireland County Waterford

County Waterford’’’ is located on the southeastern coast of Ireland and is part of the province of Munster''. ''Its area is about 710 square miles (1838 sq km) and is the 21st largest county in Ireland. The county was named for Waterford City whose name comes from the Old Norse name of Vadrarfjord. It is also referred to as “The Déise” or Decie. The Déise is the name of a major tribe that migrated southward from Meath and settled in Waterford County. Waterford City, however, was settled by the Danes in the ninth century and became one of their raiding settlements.

The Normans invaded Waterford in the twelfth century and Waterford City became their stronghold, second only to Dublin in importance. Part of the county was confiscated from its owners and given to English settlers in 1583 after the insurrection of the Earl of Desmond. King John granted the territory a charter in 1206. Due to a war with Hugh O’Neill many English settlers left in 1598. Waterford was part of the insurrection of the Catholic confederacy which fought Cromwell’s army in 1641 and lost. This led another small settlement in 1650.

The population was 261,865 in 1821 and grew to 312,956 in 1841. Its population decreased to 312,956 in 1851; an 18% decrease primarily due to the potato famine. The population continued to decrease until it was only 127,586 in 1926. In 2006, the population was 107,961 in 2006. The predominant religion in the county is Roman Catholic. In 1861, 93.8% of the population were Roman Catholic followed by the Church of Ireland at 5.4% with 0.3% each being Presbyterian and Methodists. Overtime there has been a slight increase in the percentage of Roman Catholic to 96.9% in 1926. In 1926, the Church of Ireland decreased to 2.6% with 0.16% and 0.121% being Presbyterian and Methodist, respectively.

General County Research Information
Further information about County Waterford is available at the GenUKI site.

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information
A map of the Civil Parishes of County Waterford is available at Irish Times site.