Of Vikings, Irishmen, Normans, and the US Civil War

The penultimate* night of our trip was spent in Waterford, County Kilkenny. Although Waterford sounds like a proper English name for a proper English town, it's actually the Anglicized version of 'windy fjord' (or so we were told). It could very well be as Waterford was settled by Vikings in 914 and is the oldest city in Ireland. The Vikings gave way to the Irish (intermarried, really, and so became Irish themselves) who didn't run the place very long until the Normans showed up.

*Big words = big thoughts, doncha know?

The picture above is of Reginald's Tower and, in the foreground, a statue of Thomas Francis Meagher (more on him later). Reginald's tower is the oldest civic building continually in use in Ireland. It was built around 1000 AD and has served as a keep, a fort, an armory, a mint, an official residence, and a prison. Waterford is where the invasion of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans began in 1170 and the capture of Reginald's Tower marked the beginning of the Norman conquest. At the time the area was being contested by three Irish kings and their internal squabbles and maneuverings opened the way for their British neighbors.

Thomas Francis Meagher was a young Irishman and native of Waterford, who in the 1840s, was convicted of treason for advocating the separtion of Ireland from England. His death sentence was commuted to imprisonment in Tasmania where he had free run after giving his parole he would not escape. Eventually he tired of life down under and informed the authorities he was taking his parole back and would escape. This he did and ended up in the New York. By the time the Civil War rolled around he had enlisted on the side of the Union and eventually became a major general commanding Irish troops and was engaged in several bloody battles, including Antietam. After the war he became Lt. Governor of Montana Territory and drowned in the Missouri at the age of 43. Quite a history for a short life! There is an identical statue to this one in Helena.

Sidetrail: Of course there is a huge Irish presence in the United States and at the time of the Civil War many refugees from the great potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s came to America. The Irish fought on both sides in the Civil War, although most were on the Union side, due mainly to the fact that most settled in the Northeast and Chicago areas and most were anti-slavery. I'm no expert, but in my mind the most capable of them was probably Patrick Cleburne who married a southern belle and fought for the South. Despite his talents and suggestions being misued by rebel commanders, he proved a capable and fearless leader of his men up until his death at Franklin.

Another sidetrail: Besides sending out a lot of missionaries and priests for the Catholic faith, the Irish were a prolific source of fighting men for many nations.

Well, enough of that. This is a view of a church and abby built in the 1400's, a relative newcome compared to the tower!

We enjoyed a visit to a 300 year-old pub where we listened to some Irish songs. Many of them were written by Irish-Americans and the most Irish song of them all, "Danny Boy" was actually written by an Englishman!

A quiet lane on our way to Avoca, a little tourist trap between Waterford and Dublin.

Churches are everywhere, kind of like LDS chapels along the Jello belt!

We visited a woolen mill in Avoca, probably kept afloat by the tour buses that pass through.

Peg did pick up a wonderful scarf here. In case you can't tell, I'm running a little low right now, so I'll end this post. Next up is Glendalough, more of medieval Ireland. Or maybe another Photo Quiz.