History of Waterford - Anglo Norman Invasion and Medieval Waterford

Anglo Norman Invasion and Medieval Waterford

The next phase in the life of Waterford began on August 25, 1170 when the city was taken by the Normans under Strongbow. The Normans had been casting eyes in this direction for some time prior, until MacMurrough’s invitation gave them cause for coming. In 1137, Diarmuid MacMorrough, king of Leinster, failed in an attempt to take Waterford. He was trying to secure the large centres in order to advance his claim for high king of Ireland. In 1170 MacMorrough allied himself with Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow); together they besieged and took Waterford after a desperate defence. This was the introduction of the Anglo-Normans into Ireland. In 1171, Henry II of England became the first English king to set foot in an Irish city, by landing with a large fleet at Waterford; he did so to ensure that Ireland became an English colony and not a rival Norman country. Waterford and Dublin were declared royal cities, and belonged to the king, not Strongbow; Dublin was declared capital of Ireland. The next royal visitor, in 1185, was prince John, who granted the city's first Charter in 1205 thus starting City Government in Waterford. He revisited the city as king in 1211. Richard II, too, visited Waterford twice, first in 1394 and again in 1399.

Throughout the medieval period, Waterford was Ireland's second city after Dublin. Waterford's great parchment book (1361–1649) represents the earliest use of the English language in Ireland for official purposes.

In 1487 the city refused to obey the direction of the Earl of Kildare to recognise Lambert Simnel as king and ten years later repulsed a second pretender, Perkin Warbeck. As a result, King Henry VII gave the city its motto: Urbs Intacta Manet Waterfordia (Waterford remains the untaken city). Printing was introduced into Waterford in 1550, the first book being printed in the city five years later. It was in 1588 that Duncannon was fortified as a precaution against Spanish attacks along the coast, which were being experienced at the time.