Waterford City - The Only Plus is the Crystal
Written: Jul 05 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Waterford Crystal Gallery
Cons: Waterford City itself
The Bottom Line: If you've got a love for Waterford Crystal, make a trip to Waterford City - otherwise, leave it off your schedule.
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| vein's Full Review: Waterford City |
My mother is a Waterford Crystal nut. While the majority of pieces are too expensive to purchase in the US, she demanded that we go to Waterford, home of the Waterford Crystal Factory, on our way from Limerick to Dublin. Considering we’d been blasted by the “Visit Waterford” radio ad campaign our entire trip, I decided it would not be so bad to check out the oldest town in Ireland that proudly advertised having the newest city centre.
Ahhh the Vikings. Just when can you mention any area in the British Isles that has not been conquered and looted by those lovely people? The Vikings remind me of “Bubba” – the guy in prison who no straight guy without the strength to fight off a 300-pound killer would dare take a shower with. They seemed to make sure their name would never be forgotten at least, helping to build settlements throughout the British Isles – Waterford City was no exemption.
The cheery Viking invaders first stepped foot inside Ireland in the 8th century. Their settlement was known as Port Láirge – Irish for “Waterford”. (The old Gaelic name is most commonly seen on license plates from Waterford County although with the resurgence in the Irish language, all signs say the city name in both Irish Gaelic and English.) Years after the first name of the town, a more typical Viking name was decided upon – Vadrafjord. Due to the prime location of the settlement on the River Suir and inland from Waterford Bay, the future Waterford City grew into the largest and most important Viking port in Ireland.
While numerous churches and forts were built in the thousand years that Waterford had existed, most of the city was destroyed by the oh-so-bright and nice Oliver Cromwell in 1650, on his second attack. Like most really nice military men in history, he wasn’t about to let some Irish town resist high and mighty him – the bruise on his ego was just too much to bear. Most of the Catholics in the city were sent to western Ireland or sold off in the Caribbean as slaves.
Despite the horrid history of the city, it managed to thrive.
Because I didn’t make a trip to Waterford when I lived in Dublin, I didn’t know what to expect. When coming into Waterford from the west or north, I began thinking our detour was a mistake.
The first view we had of this grand old city was construction – and lots of it. Roads into the town from the west and north were being re-constructed, bridgework was being done, and all around I could see industrial construction. Once past the construction, we were in the city center – only having really left the countryside less than half a mile back. One good thing about Waterford City – parking downtown was easy. A large outdoor lot lined the city side of the River Suir, allowing all day parking for a scant £2.
While still a major port, only a handful of small to medium sized boats were docked along the river. Further along towards the sea, I could see freighters docked, although I was quite disappointed at the decision to make what could have been the most beautiful section of town into a parking lot.
Reginalds Tower, the oldest surviving structure in Waterford, was built in the late 12th century. Located on Waterford Quay, the tower was recently redone to appear as it would have when it was first built. The tower now houses a museum of medieval artifacts and “civic art”. Admission was £1.50 for each adult and £.60 for each child or student. The admission cost also included a guided tour – because no tours were starting, we opted not to pay for admission into the tower. From the looks of boredom of most of the faces exiting the tower, I don’t think we missed much.
The streets of the city centre were typical Georgian streets – many were made of brick, with most being only wide enough to be one-way. Thankfully, as with most Georgian cities, sidewalks lined both sides of the street. Waterford drivers were bad - most would not stop for pedestrians and made liberal use of their horns, a complete turnaround from the good and calm drivers in Dublin. (One would think it would be the other way around.)
The City Square Shopping Centre was apparently the “new city centre” the ads spoke of. Looking brand new, the shopping center was two blocks of enclosed shops – typical of the selection of shops in any American mall. My mother and I both cringed at the Burger King and quickly left the mall. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else in the city centre of interest. Adding to our dismay, the Bewley’s Café we spotted in an older enclosed shopping area was closed for good – something we didn’t expect on a Monday around noon.
While there was much more of the city centre we didn’t see as we walked around, the hills throughout the city made walking bad enough – our exhaustion only compounded by the intense sun and heat that the whole country was experiencing. As it had been almost a week since I’d been online, my main goal was the find a cybercafe. The search turned up futile; several people we asked having no idea even if there was one in the city.
Waterford City did have quite a few banks located throughout the city centre – a plus for tourists wishing to change money or head to the ATM before heading over to the Waterford Factory. We both found it rather sad that the highlight of our walking “tour” of the city was finding a bank with the best money-changing rate.
Trying to find a place to eat (that did not say Burger King or McDonald’s on the front) was a chore. Most restaurants were either closed for lunch or didn’t look decent. We finally found The Granville Hotel on the road that lined the Suir, near our parking spot. The hotel, typical of Dublin hotels and pubs, offered a carvery lunch for a reasonable fare. For under £10 pounds, we split a plate of fish and chips (which would have been impossible for one person to finish it alone) with my mother having a scone and tea, and me having orange juice to drink. Aside from the fish at the fishing port of Howth where we had no more than hour old fish, the fish at this hotel was some of the best we’d ever had.
Bored with Waterford City, we drove to the Waterford Crystal Factory- about a mile from the city centre on Cork Road, the main purpose of the majority of visits to Waterford.
Waterford Crystal was first made in 1783 with brothers William and George Penrose found the Waterford Glass Company. The crystal was known as some of the best in the world, thanks to minerals melted with the glass before formation of the piece. Despite the high value placed on the crystal, the company was closed in 1851 – due in part to the excess duties placed on the crystal by the British. Thankfully, the company came back to life in 1947 when workers began to learn how to make crystal. The first Waterford Crystal in 101 years was sent out for sale in 1951.
The first tours of the Waterford factory were given in 1990, which allowed for an up close viewing of the crystal being made. In 1997, the company upgraded again – not in the process used to make the crystal, but to draw more visitors each year; the visitors center was expanded, greatly increasing the size of their retail center, adding in their other brands (Wedgewood, Marquis, etc), and expanding the café. Even better was the free parking on premises – better than having to spend a few pounds in order to get a spot somewhere close to the factory.
Tours of the factory are available year round – March through October tours are from 8.30am to 4.00pm seven days a week and November through March tours are given Monday through Friday between 9.00am and 3.15pm. Admission for two was about £6 for a tour lasting slightly over an hour.
After the short film about the Millennium Ball dropped in Times Square (in other words, a public relations dream), from the visitor’s center we boarded a bus, which took us on the short drive to the actual factory. From the actual factory, we toured each section that is responsible for the ultimate outcome of the beautiful (expensive) crystal.
If you’ve ever been to Ireland, it’ll be a shock – while they aren’t careless, the Waterford Crystal factory does not have the safety precautions that would be in place were the factory in the US. From our viewpoint in the blowing room (where the glass is melted and blown to make the initial piece formation) the heat was unbearable – I can only imagine what the glass blowers themselves felt. Despite working with melted glass and heat, not one worker was wearing safety goggles. Few were wearing gloves. A bit of a shocker. The sculptors and engravers, both working with flying crystal pieces being cut with a rotating stone had neither a mask for breathing nor a mask over their eyes – with the minerals in crystal being known to cause danger over time in people, I don’t think that the prestigious jobs at the factory would be quite worth the risks.
Because the bulk of the tour was watching artists create their art, teenage children would probably not enjoy the tour – young children are not allowed on the tour at all, due to any risks that may be present.
The end of the tour ends up in, you guessed it, the visitors center. After the tour, even for someone who just had a marginal like in Waterford Crystal, I ended up loving it – seeing the whole process was more than amazing. The tour will give you an appreciation or the art – and an understanding of the cost.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not cheaper to purchase Waterford Crystal at the factory – while they do offer more pieces that are not available elsewhere, it’s not a crime to buy the crystal in other gift shops throughout the country. Prices are all almost the same, no matter where you shop.
Despite the history of Waterford, their strong Irish ad campaign, and my want to like the city, Waterford is one of those places that you can leave off your itinerary in Ireland – unless, of course, you love or like crystal. The Waterford Crystal Factory Tour alone will be worth the visit to Waterford.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Seniors
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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Epinions.com ID:
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Member: Courtney
Location: Detroit, MI
Reviews written: 88
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