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Waterford City & County Council

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By Waterford City & County Council

The Beauty of Maps … What’s in your 2km zone (Part 1)

If you are finding yourself with some spare time, and bored of cat videos, why not try some detective work about the built heritage in your own locality?

The National Monuments website has a link to a “Historic Environment Viewer” which is an online digital service provided by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

On this site you can access to the databases of the National Monuments Service Sites and Monuments Record (SMR), and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH). Six maps on the site include :

  • The First Edition 6 inch OS maps, which were printed between 1837 and 1842 and the Historic 25 inch maps printed from 1888- 1913.
  • An additional layer has the archaeological sites indicated as red dots and structures included in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, indicated by blue dots, which link you to data about the individual structures.

It is very interesting to see the expansion of Tramore, for example, from a fishing village on the First Edition 6 Inch OS Map to the Victorian seaside resort of the Historic 25 inch Maps.

On the earlier map, the then village is located along present day Main Street, Stand Street, Patrick Street and Queen Street and is mainly surrounded by fields.   The later maps show the development of the town as it began to expand rapidly both as a seaside resort and a dormitory town for Waterford City, with opening of the Waterford and Tramore Railway Line in 1853.

Anyone building a house in the town had the building material carried at a reduced rate by the Railway Company.  As a result of this incentive, imposing terraces of houses such as Bellevue and Gurteen Terrace were constructed.  The street pattern of development was determined by the topography.  The building of Harney’s seawall in 1893 further increased the tourism potential for Tramore. To the east, the maps indicate the changes due to the reclamation works at Lisselan and the Backstrand.

Our next article will look at archaeology and maps, but in the meantime why not check out the links about and see what is within your 2km zone to explore.

By Waterford City & County Council

Fanlights of Waterford

The history of fanlights available on the Buildings of Ireland Facebook page posted a photograph of the lovely double fanlight at 31 The Mall Waterford city recently.

Here are a few more examples from around the City and County.

 

 

By Waterford City & County Council

Stories from the Waterside – Storytelling Competition

On Tuesday the 21st April 2020, the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) in partnership with Inland Fisheries Ireland, Waterways Ireland, The Heritage Council and The Heritage Officer Programme,  launched a national Storytelling Competition ‘Stories from the Waterside’ / ‘Scéalta Ó Thaobh An Uisce’.

The competition is open to all, with €4,000 in prizes to be won. Entries are welcomed from across the island of Ireland and entries may be submitted in either in English or Irish. Stories of 600 words or less and only original and previously unpublished stories are allowed.

  • The Closing Date is 31st May 2020.

We encourage online entries on the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) website which is now live: http://watersandcommunities.ie/stories-from-the-waterside/

This website includes details of how to enter the competition and the full Terms & Conditions.

Please Find Attached:

  1. Stories from the Waterside – English language flyer (jpg file)
  2. Scéalta Ó Thaobh An Uisce – As Gaeilge (jpg file)
  3. Application Form – which must be filled by all entrants (PDF)

Please share with your families, friends and colleagues. Best of luck if you decide to enter. We would be most obliged if you could please pass this email on to anyone you feel might be interested in this storytelling competition.

By Waterford City & County Council

Fantastic Irish Fanlights

During the Covid crisis, The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) Facebook site is highlighting some of our wonderful historic buildings and features with Built Heritage puzzles. 

This week they are starting a “Fantastic Irish Fanlights: An Armchair Tour of Ireland” by Nessa Roche, Senior Architectural Advisor, which is perfect for a little lunchtime learning or a teatime tutorial.

“Fantastic Irish Fanlights” will explain why fanlights became so popular in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings. It will also explore the wide range of buildings fanlights are found, who designed the fanlights, who made them and how they were made, the main design families – circle; cobweb; floral; Gothic; peacock; petal; spoke and hub; teardrop – and will showcase examples of the bizarre and spectacular. There will also be practical tips if you know of a fanlight in need of repair.

Go on the armchair tour of “Fantastic Irish Fanlights” – First stop will be “An Introduction to Irish Fanlights”.

The link is https://www.facebook.com/www.buildingsofireland.ie/

By Waterford City & County Council

Service Update: Accounts Payable Queries

We regret that due to the restrictions in place because of Covid-19, it is not possible at the current time to deal with phone queries relating to payment of invoices.

All such queries should be emailed to accountspayable@waterfordcouncil.ie

This email address is monitored, and queries will be responded to.

By Waterford City & County Council

Housing Applications Service update

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Council offices both in Waterford City and in Dungarvan have been closed to the public.  However all essential services are still in operation with a reduced number of staff present.

The Housing Applications office has two staff members working in the Waterford office and are assessing new applications, dealing with queries etc.  During this time applications for social housing supports can be either posted in to Housing Applications Office, Waterford City & County Council, Bailey’s New Street, Waterford, can be popped through the letterbox at City Hall (building between the Theatre Royal and the Munster Bar on The Mall) or can be emailed to housingapplications@waterfordcouncil.ie.

Please ensure that you send in the following:

·         Housing Application Form – you need to complete this form in full and sign the declaration on the back of the form

·         Certificate of Income – you need to complete this and have it signed and stamped by Social Welfare or your employer

·         HPL1 form  (anyone over 18 years must complete one of these) due to the Covid-19 emergency and on a temporary basis during this time, you can request that Waterford City & County Council undertakes an electronic process to obtain the information on your behalf from the Revenue Commissioners.  If you wish to avail of this option please contact the Housing Applications Office on 0761 10 2477 and request that the relevant HPL1 information be obtained on your behalf by Waterford City & County Council to support your application for social housing supports.

Once you have these forms completed, refer to Page 3 of the application form and gather all supporting documentation which is relevant to your situation.  You will need the following:

  • Photographic I.D. (current passport, Irish driving licence or social services card)
  • Copy Birth certs for you and anyone who is part of your application
  • PPS numbers for you and anyone who is part of your application
  • Copy Marriage Cert (if you are married)
  • Copy Separation or Divorce Agreement (if you are separated or divorced).  If you do not have such an agreement you need to provide a letter from your solicitor that you are in the process of applying for a Separation or Divorce.
  • Proof of your current address – copy of a recent utility bill and a copy of your current tenancy agreement.  We also need proof that your tenancy is registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).  If you are living with family, we will require a letter from the person who owns the property confirming when you started living there and if you pay anything towards the running of the house.  If you don’t have a utility bill in your name, we need some sort of official correspondence in your name showing this address.
  • Proof of Citizenship or Permission to Remain in Ireland (if you are not originally from Ireland) – copy of current Stamp 4, letter from Dept of Justice and proof of stamp in your current passport.
  • Evidence of Income – along with the Certificate of Income we need 3-4 recent payslips or Social Welfare receipts.  If you are paid through your bank we need 6 months bank statements.
  • If anybody over 18 years in your household was born in the UK or any other country other than Ireland we require proof that you did not own property in that country.
  • If you have overnight access to a child or children we require a copy of the Court Order detailing overnight access arrangements and details of any maintenance payments in respect of this child or children.  If you do not have a Court Order you need to obtain a sworn Affidavit completed by both parents of the child/children.
  • If you are applying on medical grounds we require a current consultant’s report detailing the medical condition.  This will be reviewed by the Area Medical Officer.

If you have any questions in relation to this email please contact the Housing Applications Team on 0761 10 2477 or email housingapplications@waterfordcouncil.ie.

By Waterford City & County Council

The WW2 Look-Out Posts of Waterford (LOPs)

LOP at Ram Head, Ardmore
LOP at Ram Head, Ardmore

A network of 83 Look Out Posts (LOPs) was constructed at approximately 10 to 20 mile intervals around the coast of Ireland during “The Emergency”.  These single bay, single story, flat roofed mass concrete structures were built to the standardised designs of William Henry Cooke (1881-1977) of the Office of Public Works.  It is said that these look outs could be constructed in a single day, using 137 precast blocks.

The LOP were numbered and in Waterford they  were built at Brownstown Head, LOP 17, Dunbrattin, LOP 18, Helvick, LOP 19 and Ram Head, LOP 20.  These posts were manned by the Marine and Coastwatching Service, which comprised  of members of the Local Defence Force (LDF)  and it was the primary intelligence-gathering system  responsible for  reporting all incidents at sea and in the air to Military Intelligence (G2). The service was disbanded in October 1945.

If you would like to find out more, the coast and marine section on www.heritagemaps.ie  has links to the log books for each station, and a list of those who manned the stations.

Further Links

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Community Call deals with almost 500 calls since setting up

Tom Cullen from Tramore GAA making a home delivery.

Waterford’s Community Call – #TogetherWaterfordIsStronger

Following the Taoiseach’s March 12th announcement to close schools, colleges and cultural institutions, Waterford Council’s libraries closed their doors to their 21,408 customers.  These were steps we all had to take, as the people of Ireland, to protect the most vulnerable and at risk members of our communities.

The closing of the doors, however, did not mean that library staff headed away to dust off the stock and to catalogue back editions … Instead the library staff of Waterford City and County Council rallied to the challenge and brought much of the library’s services online.

This initiative has resulted in a 94% increase in eBooks being borrowed, a 64% increase in eMagazine use and a 124% increase in engagement with the Library Service through social media. You can access the library service online at www.waterfordlibraries.ie and even if you’re not a library member, you can join on line and use all these services for free.

Staff from a number of departments of Waterford Council, including Libraries, Community and Information Services worked over the weekend following additional restrictions being announced on Friday 27th March to establish and organize Waterford’s Community Call Helpline.

The Helpline 1800 250 185 was ready to go on Monday 30th March and since that date, a team of 32 WCCC staff and 2 HSE staff have been covering 12 hours shifts from 8am – 8pm every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and the Easter weekend.  The team has dealt with 480 calls since the Community Call Helpline started and they want to encourage people to call, call, call….. or email covidsupport@waterfordcouncil.ie

The Mayor of the City and County of Waterford, Cllr John Pratt said “I find the response to the Waterford Community Call to be heartwarming and shows us all how much we have to offer when our need is greatest. I am particularly encouraged by how much people are willing to help each other. It is by working together that we will stay stronger.”

No request is considered non-essential and there are huge numbers of community and voluntary groups and local organisations working in the background to make sure no-one is in need. 67 organisations have registered with the Community Call and these include everyone from the local GAA clubs to community organisations which came together specifically to address the needs of people in self isolation. Community Groups that haven’t yet registered can do so by going to the Council website www.waterfordcouncil.ie and clicking on “Register to Help”.

 The Community Call Helpline team is responding to calls and emails about collection and delivery of groceries, medicines and prescriptions and they have information on services and supports available for people who are self isolating. They are also taking calls and receiving emails from people who want to volunteer and be involved in responding at a local and community level. Many people are making contact as they have no other form of social contact and the helpline can refer callers to Alone or the Call to Chat group if they just want to have a chat about what’s going on. HSE staff are on site to ensure people are linked into local support networks and services where a need is evident.

The contact details for the Community Call are 1800 250 185 or email covidsupport@waterfordcouncil.ie

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Council Social Housing Projects update

The Government of Ireland, through the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government has determined that certain social housing projects are deemed essential within the meaning of the COVID-19 health regulations.

In Waterford, certain projects have been identified as meeting the criteria and these sites will re-commence construction activity immediately.

These sites are Knight’s Grange, Lacken, Waterford City (S & K Carey Construction) and  Na Fearnóga, Ballinroad, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (Nevin Construction).

Additional sites are also expected to recommence in the near future.

In each case the contractor employed by the local authority will undertake the works in accordance with HSE and Government COVID-19-related public health guidelines and recommendations.

In addition, Waterford Council continues with limited maintenance works to their own properties and also with the return to use of void/vacant properties throughout the city and county.

Waterford Council would like to thank the public for their co-operation during this time.

By Waterford City & County Council

Discover The Walled Towns of Ireland Workbook for Primary School Children

As the schools are closed and most of us are trying to stay safe at home, Abarta Heritage / Irish Walled Towns Network have created a workbook aimed at primary school children (9 – 13 yr olds) to keep them entertained and as a way to help to promote the fantastic heritage of our walled towns.

The workbook features colouring pages, a building challenge, quizzes and information about some of the features that can be found in our historic towns and  Waterford City.

One of the best places to see our city walls is at the junction on Castle Street/Manor Street, where you can see 3 of the towers as well.

Please do share this widely and we’d love it if you could send back drawings and pictures of the ‘build your own walled town’ construction projects to rryall@waterfordcouncil.ie so we can post them on the Waterford Council website and also on the IWTN social media channels.

Happy drawing ….. and  Mum and Dads  can send in their paintings  too !

By Waterford City & County Council

Use of online public library service soars during COVID-19 crisis

New membership rates almost double versus same period last year

467% increase in people taking e-learning courses

Mr Michael Ring TD, the Minister for Rural & Community Development, has called on members of the public to avail of the excellent content and services offered by the online public library service during the COVID-19 crisis.

Minister Ring, whose Department is responsible for public libraries, also highlighted the significant increase in users of the online library service since this emergency began.

There has been a near doubling of new library memberships during the COVID-19 crisis compared to the same period last year. Over 30,000 new members joined the library in March 2020 compared to just over 17,000 in March 2019.

Furthermore, there has been a considerable rise in usage of specific library services in the week commencing March 29th compared to the week commencing March 1st, including in the following areas:

  • 313% increase in new users of eBooks and eAudiobooks service
  • 467% increase in e-learning courses being taken
  • 227% increase in language courses being taken
  • 246% increase in usage of the online newspapers/e-magazines

Minister Ring said:

“This increase in usage of our online library services shows the benefits that people are getting from our libraries during this crisis. While the doors of our public libraries are temporarily closed, it’s great to see that people are availing of the vast array of reading and educational material online.

“During this challenging period, the online library service provides excellent ways to entertain and educate children as well as opportunities for adults to learn a language or skill or enhance their well-being.

“I am really heartened by the increase in membership and usage of our online libraries and I urge more people to sign up and avail of the wonderful content and services available. This is your library service, it is completely free and there is so much to be gained from it.”

If you are not a member already you can become an online library member by completing the online registration at www.librariesireland.ie/join-your-library

Our online public library service offers:

  • over 33,300 eBooks and 25,200 eAudiobooks
  • 4,000 magazines
  • 2,500 online newspapers from over 100 countries
  • over 500 e-learning courses
  • over 100 online language courses

In response to the increased demand, Minister Ring recently allocated €200,000 to purchase over 5,000 new eBooks and eAudiobooks.

Minister Ring concluded:

“We have invested significantly in our online library service in recent years and it has really come into its own in recent weeks. This has been made possible by our library staff and management who in a very short time period have re-purposed the library service so as to enable the public to get the best out of our libraries during this time.

“Library staff are continuing to innovate in order to keep people entertained and educated online, including through online STEAM Workshops, Virtual Coding Workshops, online photography courses, virtual bookclubs, and writing competitions.

“The national Spring into Storytime reading programme is also underway in co-operation with Irish publishers and authors, with lots of online story times and author readings for children of all ages throughout April and May. A large number of the libraries have also collaborated with Engineers Ireland to manufacture 3D facial shields for health workers.”

ENDS

By Waterford City & County Council

Christchurch Cathedral

The Neo-Classical style Christ Church Cathedral was designed by John Roberts, the architect of Georgian Waterford, who is also remembered for his work on the Roman Catholic Cathedral on Barronstrand St. The present Cathedral was begun in 1773 and was completed in 1779 at a total cost of £5,397.

The site is of notable historic interest as it was here in 1170, that Strongbow  married Aoife, daughter of Diarmuid Mac Murrough, King of Leinster. There is a long –standing ecclesiastical presence  on the site dating from as early as 1096.  The Cathedral incorporates fragments of the earlier church including the remains of a Norman clustered pillar.

During the demolition of the earlier  church, the famous Waterford Vestments were discovered. Dating from late medieval times, they are the only complete set of either British or Irish High Mass vestments to survive the Reformation. Part of the set has been restored and is on display at Waterford Museum of Treasures.

The present Cathedral is particularly noteworthy for the quality of the interior, with  wonderful examples of intricate 18th Century Rococo style stucco plaster-work and impressive vaulted ceilings.

Other interesting features include The Macabre Tomb of James Rice, who was Mayor of Waterford eleven times in the 15th Century, the ‘arts and crafts’ 1930s stained glass window attributed to A E Childs from the famous Dublin based Glass Studio of the 1920s and 1930s  An Túr Gloine (The Glass Tower), the Hebrew inscription behind the Altar, the  tomb of a 16th century warrior, the impressive Waterford Crystal chandeliers, the remarkable Elliot Jones Organ – one of the finest in Ireland and the collection of memorial plaques.

By Waterford City & County Council

COVID-19 Mortgage Payment Break for Local Authority borrowers

Local Authority home loan borrowers may now apply for a Mortgage Payment Break of up to three months on their home loan if they have experienced a reduction (or anticipate suffering a reduction) in their income, arising from the Covid-19 emergency, and they are unable to make repayments on their home loan.

A mortgage payment break means that the borrower will make no mortgage payments for up to three months.  Additional interest will NOT accrue to the borrowers account during the period of the payment break ensuring that no increased cost will arise.  The monthly repayment following the break will increase to facilitate the repayment of the loan over the remainder of the existing term of the loan.  This facility applies to all local authority home loan products.

ENDS

By Waterford City & County Council

CLOSED FOR NOW campaign

CLOSED FOR NOW
This Easter weekend, please leave all journeys to those who are providing essential services. If you need to travel, please make sure it is for essential purposes only.

Access to all of our stunning outdoor amenities is sadly but necessarily Closed For Now.

#StayAtHome #FlattenTheCurve #ClosedForNow

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