2024 Ireland Adventures-Great Southern Tour Part 3

Waterford deserves its own post, but I'm going to share it with a day trip we took with Waterford as our base. When asked about our favorite place we visited at the end of the tour, Waterford was unanimously chosen. There was just something about it. The history, the beauty, the pubs! The Walking Tour of Viking Triangle gave us a quick history of the town although Denise (our "Vagaguide") did a great job of giving us the history while we drove.

The "Murder Hole" in the City Wall. I think it's self-explanatory.

The City Wall

The building where the current Irish Flag was first flown.

The City Wall is marked throughout the town

Wooden sword in Viking Triangle. The sword is in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Strongbow and Aoife. Strongbow attacked Waterford in 1170; he and Aoife were married shortly after. The marriage changed the course of Irish history with the invasion of the Normans.

Waterford was the only place where we stayed two nights in the same hotel. We had large rooms and nice bathrooms, and the location was perfect: right on the water with Reginald's Tower across the street. It was very centrally located. While we didn't have a good view from the room, the view from breakfast made up for it. One of my sisters & I managed to snag the perfect table for the perfect view on both mornings.

Breakfast view from The Tower Hotel overlooking the water

Breakfast view from The Tower Hotel looking at Reginald's Tower and Viking Triangle

A few facts about Reginald's Tower: While it is now a museum, it has been in continuous use for over 800 years and has never fallen into ruin. It was the strongest part of the defense wall of a Viking Fortress and was used as a mint as well as ammunition storage. It is now a museum. Unfortunately, we were not informed of its current purpose so we didn't visit. (Next time.) 

The first night we were there, the 6 of us ate at The Reg. In the picture above you can see it behind the Tower and building to the left. The city wall is part of the building, which was pretty cool. We didn't walk around and explore, but apparently, there are 6 bars. 

The City Wall inside of The Reg

The second night, one of the ladies picked out Geoff's, which was a short walk from the hotel. It is a large restaurant; it seemed like it just kept going and going. Service was slow, but we had nowhere to be so we just sat, talked, and enjoyed each other's company. 

Geoff's

Geoff's

Great atmosphere...even on the ceiling!

A festive walk back to the hotel from Geoff's

Earlier in the afternoon (following our excursion to Hook Peninsula---it's in this post!), one of my sisters & I went to the mall in search of contact solution and cough drops. Of course, we were in need of a toilet and I knew we'd be able to find one in a pub. The first one we came to just happened to be the oldest operating pub in Waterford. J&K Walsh isn't the oldest one, but the oldest was undergoing renovations. It was definitely a find! The charm, the history, the snug! We enjoyed the ambiance and the conversation with the barmaid and a local. The pubs you just stumble upon are the absolute best. This brings me to a tip about finding the best pubs: Get off the main road and look for pubs on the side streets or off the busy roads. I'd say that's where the locals go and you'll get a better feel for the Irish people that way.

Original bottles. The clay ones that are on its sides (straight on) were used to mix the spirits.

The backroom used to be a barber shop.

Great conversation with a local and the barmaid.

The Snug

Inside the snug. A friendly Irishman told us to get in there so he could take our picture.

The pass through in the Snug

View of the pub from the front door

J&K Walsh was established as a "Men's only" bar. The original taps are from the 1960's when draught was first introduced.

One of my sisters spotted a pub off the main road as we were walking around, so on the way back to the hotel from Geoff's we popped into Katty Barry's. Everyone else went back to the hotel, so we grabbed a table (after talking with some flirty Irishmen), drank our Guinness, and waited for some "Trad" music. Once the music started, the pub got crowded so we didn't stay long. We decided we'd leave after one more song. That song happened to be "Wagon Wheel". I mentioned in this post from 2022 that CH & I explained to the couple we sat with in a pub in Killarney that we met in Johnson City, TN, so they'd remember us when they heard that song. We thought that was a great way to end the night, so we left after that song.

We found authentic "Trad" music

The day after we arrived in Waterford we were scheduled to go to Hook Peninsula. I was looking forward to visiting Tintern Abbey since that was CH's favorite place of our visit in 2022, but it turned out that the Hook Lighthouse really brought back memories. Neither place was crowded; I'm not sure if it was because we were there during the shoulder season or if it's just that not too many people realize what an amazing place that Peninsula is.

Tintern Abbey's story is amazing. A quick recap: William Marshal sailed from England in 1200. He ran into a horrible storm and feared for his life. He promised God that he would build an abbey wherever he landed. He married Isabella de Clare (Strongbow & Aoife's daughter). The Abbey was converted to a residence in 1575, as it remained until 1959.

Tintern Abbey through the Battlement Bridge

Wall leading from the Bridge to the Church

Gravestones in the church cemetery

The wall and Battlement Bridge

The Abbey

The Ceiling

The details can still be seen

Detail on the arch

Inside the Abbey. You can see where the three additional floors were

Gargoyles on the outside of the Abbey

I found the Hook Lighthouse to be just as spectacular as it was last time. Maybe even more so because it was an extremely windy day. The waves were crashing and our guide told us that just a couple of days before, there was water all the way to the lighthouse. The cafe is a great place to get seafood chowder to warm up and the views!

The Graveyard of 1000 ships

The lighthouse is the oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world. In the 5th century, monks used lanterns on the shore to warn ships of the land. William Marshal built the first lighthouse in the 13th century. Both of these are definitely worth the time to go out of your way while traveling on the Wild Atlantic Way to see both of these places.

Waterford Proper has a lot of museums. 2 of my sisters visited the House of Waterford Crystal and highly recommended it. It didn't interest me, but The Irish Wake Museum did. Unfortunately, it was closed on the day we were there. Maybe another time!

Waterford definitely did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed everything we did, especially the pubs. I was disappointed that the Wake Museum wasn't open. It was a new museum when we were there & Denise said she was looking forward to going as well. It's definitely something to put on my list for a future visit.

Watch for 1 more post on the Great Southern Tour. We're nearing the end!