Ireland’s Ancient East - Waterford ~ Where are the Jays

View from our room

It’s time to head for Ireland’s Ancient East so we pick up a rental car and start on our way. We will visit:

#3 of National Geographic’s Top Ten Gardens
The Viking Triangle
Waterford’s Copper Coast

Powerscourt Estate and Gardens

Our first stop is Powerscourt Estate and Gardens. Number 3 in National Geographic’s Top Ten Gardens. The estate is not far from Dublin. Their website is loaded with history and pictures and a very nice video with aerial footage of the estate. Fortunately the light sprinkle stopped and we had a pleasant time exploring the 47 acres.

The walled Garden is over a football field in length with plants both familiar and exotic. The Peony were some of the familiar plants, though the blooms were much larger. The Blue Eryngo was one odd flower we had never seen before.

Peony top left
Blue Eryngo top right

Unfortunately the Rhododendron Walk was a disappointment as those flowers were almost gone. Through the wood, we see some unique trees. They started planting in 1870 and now have hundreds of varieties of trees from around the world.

Chilean Myrtle has glossy leaves like a Boxwood Shrubbery

Coastal Redwood

The Japanese Garden was very intimate with its many quiet places and trails that wove down the hillside. There was also a Grotto one of many places to escape to solitude. They also had a long span of different types of Japanese Maples. We continued on through the wood and gasped at the plant with the giant leaves below.

Grotto entrance

Brazilian Giant Rhubarb

Pepper pot Tower is not an ancient ruin,
instead its modeled after a favorite Pepper pot of the Lord’s

The Italian Garden is an exquisite formal garden area. It pairs with Triton Lake to create a vast expanse from the Manor house. In 1727 a young women married the Lord who owned the remote estate. She was accustomed to the grand estates of Italy and couldn’t abide with this back water. That was the beginning of the Italian Garden and what we visited today.

From the manor house to the lake

Waterford

Waterford was founded by Vikings in 914 A.D. and still has parts of its city walls remaining. The Romans came and left. Then a Norman Lord married an Irish Princess that ultimately led to The Troubles.

The Vikings liked this place because it was defensible against the Irish with its two rivers which surround the city on three sides. Further the Rivers are very navigable due to the hills blocking the gale force winds off the Atlantic that occur about a third of the year. They built Ireland's first city which stood against all for over 200 years. The city cherishes its Viking heritage, preserving and using the Tower.

Reginald's tower with our hotel in the background

In 1170 an Irish Lord asked King Henry II for help in defending his Kingdom against other Irish Lords. Apparently, he stole the wife of another Irish Lord. King Henry II sent a Welsh Lord nicknamed Strongbow along with some mercenaries to help. Securing victory Strongbow married the Irish Lord’s daughter Aoife and the British didn’t leave this part of Ireland until the 20th Century.

Ireland was a Catholic country until the Reformation when Catholic churches were taken over. Then at the end of the 19th century the laws changed, and Waterford became the home of the first Catholic Cathedral in Ireland. Strangely enough the same Architect built that church and an Anglican Cathedral a few years earlier.

Christ Church Cathedral, Church of Ireland is a Baroque style with impressive plaster rococo ornamentation of the ceiling. It only has 1 stained glass window with the remainder clear making it very bright compared to most older medieval cathedrals. The current structure is the 3rd on the site and was built in the late 18th century.

Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity Within was the first and only Catholic Cathedral built in the late 18th century once the penal laws were relaxed. Fears of the French Revolution spreading led to the relaxation of some of the penal laws allowing the cathedral to be built. It was funded by the owners of Waterford (Crystal) and contains unique crystal chandeliers and many beautiful stained-glass windows.

Today Waterford is a busy city with a little tourism focused on its history and the company Waterford as in high quality crystal. Its featured food are Blaas, which were brought to Ireland by the Huguenots and now are a registered unique food by the EU only found in this area. They are a soft role dusted with flower that are served with items like bacon and/or eggs. Like Dublin, many building are decorated with murals.

Top Left entrance to Time Museum
Bottom Left Blaas

Notable people are:

King John II of England visited in 1210
Thomas Meagher was a local merchant, Irish Rebel, creator of the Irish tricolor flag used today, banished to Tasmania where he escapes and later becomes General of the U.S.A fighting 69th Union army of New York “Fighting Irish” and governor of Montana.
The creator of fictional Detective Philip Marlowe, Raymond T. Chandle

The best meal we have had in Ireland was at the Michelin recognized restaurant Everett’s. We were fortunate to be seated in their 15th century wine cellar which at one time interconnected with tunnels under the city.

Waterford Greenway

We love to bike at both Gulf Shores State Park and Fort Morgan trail, so when we travel we seek out paved off road bike trails. (Madison County Trails when we are visiting family). Waterford Greenway is a former railroad line that was turned into a 46K paved trail in 2017. We rented bikes at Waterford Greenway Bike Hire and road about 24 miles through the most scenic section. It’s hilly here but being a former rail line turned those hills into very long grades up and down.

Our route took us to the coast for some great views. Along the way we rode through two train tunnels, one of which was 400m long. Thankfully it had some minimal lights. In addition, Carol said the southern approach should have been in Game of Thrones as it was a very dark spooky trench dug out of the hilltop with thick vegetation all around you. We also traversed three stone viaducts where we rode above the treetops. This trail has it all as we stopped at two small food outlets catering to people biking and walking the trail.