'Hanged on Ballybricken Hill' - by Pat McCarthy

On Friday 25th October a large audience gathered to hear Dr Pat McCarthy deliver his lecture on capital punishment in Waterford in the 19th century.

We learned that originally it was the custom to hang the convict at -or near- the scene of the crime, then later near the jail, and eventually within the walls of the jail. One had little chance of appeal, with the execution taking place within 24 or 48 hours after the judgement. It was a very hit-and-miss affair, since the executioner was usually a fellow convict.

No details-as gruesome as they might have been- were spared, and reactions from the public as Pat talked, proved that everybody was very much 'hanging onto his every word'...

Upcoming lecture on Capital Punishment in Waterford

Our next lecture will be on Friday 25th October

Speaker: Dr Pat Mc Carthy

Topic: 'Hanged on Ballybricken Hill' - A look at capital crime in Waterford in the 19th century

Venue: Edmund Rice Heritage Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford

Time: 8 pm

Entry: € 5.00 non members (members free)

John Aylward, A Waterford-born Merchant of the 17th Century - the Lecture

Lecturer Jimmy McCrohan meets present-day John Aylward (right)

On Thursday 5th September, on the second day of the Aylward Gathering, Mr Jimmy McCrohan gave a talk on a 17th century merchant, John Aylward, born c 1650 in Waterford. He emigrated very young, arriving in Málaga in the 1660s where he became an apprentice to the Wyse family. Málaga was then a military, not a commercial port, and Spain dominated the American trade. John Aylward proved to have shrewd business sense, good judgement, and the ability to built strong relationships with business partners in many cities. He moved to Saint-Malo, in France, where he married the widowed daughter of Matthew Porter, another Irish expatriate. His wife was as astute in business as he was, and he left matters to her while he was away. He became an aristocrat in France, yet later relocated to London in 1698. He had three daughters, one of them, Mary Alsen Aylward, married Charles Howard, of he Dukes of Norfolk family. John Aylward died in 1705.

A view of the attendance - many of them Aylwards! 

Kieran Walsh, editor, Munster Express, and Jimmy McCrohan
 have a chat after the lecture

(l. to r.)Eddie Sinnott, Donnchadh Ó Ceallacháin,
Jimmy McCrohan, John Aylward

Mrs Gemma McCrohan & Mr Jimmy McCrohan (lecturer)
at the Aylward gathering

Fist Lecture of the Season: John Aylward, a Waterford-born Merchant.

Our lecture season will start earlier than usual, this is to coincide with the Aylward gathering which will take place in Waterford from 4th to 6th of September 2013.

On Thursday 5th September Mr Jimmy McCrohan will give a lecture on Waterford born merchant John Alyward (c.1650 - 1705)

Venue: Dooleys Hotel, The Quay,Waterford

Time: 8pm.

In Pictures: WAHS Last Summer Outing of 2013 - The Quaker Burial Ground, Newtown Rd, Waterford.

The present-day Quaker Burial Ground is situated at the junction of Lower Newtown and Wilkins Street. On the evening of Thursday 22 august, we met Joan & Roger Johnston, who told us about the Society of Friends- or Quakers, as they are better known. 

They arrived in Ireland in the 17th century, and the settlement in Waterford was probably the first outside Dublin. The first burial ground in Waterford was in John's Lane, dating from 1689. After that a new plot was acquired in Parliament Street, in what is now Wyse Park. All those buried there would have been merchants of the city.

In 1798 Newtown school was established, and in 1826 the Quakers acquired the grounds where the present day burial ground is situated. 

The burial ground is very plain, with very neat rows of headstones, following a precise grid pattern. All headstones are the same, and carry the minimum information: the person's name, date of birth, and date of death.

We followed Mr & Mrs Johnston as they told us anecdotes about some of the more famous names of the city, Strangman, White, Jacob, Hill, Grubb, Bell.... We learned about the Friends relief efforts during the Great Famine, (soup kitchens, workhouses, straw beds...) and during WWII. 

   

Events for Heritage Week 2013

Heritage week is nearly upon us... No matter where you are there will be something to do, to see, to visit, near you. Plenty to do here in Waterford City, check out Waterford Treasures or for County Waterford Heritage Week in County Waterford.

Our own event will be a visit to the Quaker Burial Grounds, Newtown, Waterford City, led by Mrs Joan Johnston on Thursday 22nd August at 7.30 pm.

In Pictures: WAHS Outing To Inistioge

It was a beautiful day in Inistioge for our visit of the village and nearby Woodstock Estate, led by Mr Ben Murtagh and Mr John Kirwan. We learned so much about the area from medieval times to this day...

Now a private house, the building with the three high windows
 was the former Methodist Church. 

The Alms House, built in the 18th century for the care
of the widows of the area. 

The 'Armillary Sphere' used to explain the seasons,
was in Woodstock gardens, and now stands on the site of the old R.I.C barracks

Plaque on the wall of the C of I Church.

Detail of the statue in Mary Tighe's mausoleum.

The end of the tour: members and friends
 in the walled gardens of Woodstock Estate.