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WAT
is now the property of the Duke of Devonshire. In the
war of 1641, it experienced its full share of the cala-
mities of that period: the towns were chiefly in the
Catholic interest, and their inhabitants ravaged the
lands of the English settlers and put many of them to
death: the Earl of Cork was scarcely able to defend
his settlements in the west; and finally the whole was
overrun and reduced by Cromwell’s forces. Few events
connected with the war of 1688 occurred here; but
subsequently, in the middle of the last century, the
county was much disturbed by agrarian associations
and outrages committed by bands of the peasantry,
styling themselves Whiteboys, Levellers, and Right-
boys. In the insurrection of 1798, the people of this
county, notwithstanding the fury of the hostilities in
the adjacent counties of Wexford and Kilkenny, suffered
but little; the amount claimed for compensation of
losses within its limits, during this period, being only
£1322. 18. 11. Early in the present century, however,
considerable disturbance was occasioned by the hosti-
lities of the rural factions called “Caravats” and “Sha-
navests.”
The county comprises the whole of the diocese of
Waterford and the greater part of that of Lismore, in
the province of Cashel. For civil purposes it is divided
into the baronies of Coshbride and Coshmore, Decies-
without-Drum, Decies-within-Drum, Gaultier, Glena-
hiery, Middlethird, and Upperthird. Exclusively of
the city of Waterford, which forms a county of itself,
it contains the borough, market, and sea-port town of
Dungarvan; the sea-port, market and post-town of
Dunmore; the sea-port and market-town of Tramore,
and the sea-port town of Passage East, each of which
has a penny post; the market and post-towns of Lis-
more and Tallow, formerly parliamentary boroughs;
the post towns of Cappoquin, Clashmore, Portlaw, and
Kilmacthomas; and the maritime village of Bonmahon,
which has a penny post. It sent eight representatives
to the Irish parliament, two for the county, and two for
each of the boroughs of Dungarvan, Lismore, and Tal-
low; but since the Union its only representatives in
the Imperial parliament have been two for the county
and one for the borough of Dungarvan: the county
members are elected at Waterford. The county con-
stituency, up to Jan. 1st, 1837, consisted of 261 free-
holders of £50, 170 of £20, and 926 of £10; and 13
leaseholders of £20, and 140 of £10; making a total
of 1510 registered electors. The county is included
in the Leinster circuit: the assizes and four general
sessions of the peace are held at Waterford, in which
city the court-house, county prison, and house of
correction are situated; but efforts are now being
made to transfer the assizes and sessions to Dungarvan,
where it is in contemplation to build a county court-
house and prison, pursuant to a resolution of the Grand
Jury at the summer assize of 1836. General sessions
of the peace are also held twice in the year at Dungar-
van and twice at Lismore. The local government is
vested in a lieutenant, 20 deputy-lieutenants, and 49
other magistrates. The number of constabulary police
stations is 33, having unitedly a force of 5 officers,
20 constables, 112 men, and 6 horses. The district
lunatic asylum, which is confined to the county and
city, is in the city of Waterford: there are fever hos-
pitals at Waterford, Dungarvan, Lismore, and Tallow;
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WAT
and dispensaries at Cappoquin, Clashmore, Dunmore,
Kilmacthomas, Kilbarrymeaden, Tramore, Dungarvan,
Tallow, Lismore, Ballyduff, Bonmahon, and Drum can-
non, supported by Grand Jury presentments and private
subscriptions in equal proportions. The Grand Jury
presentments for 1835 amounted to £23,806. 15. 10.;
of which £6794. 0. 1. was for roads, bridges, &c., for
the county at large; £3499.0. 1½. for roads and bridges,
&c., being the baronial charge; £7171. 8. 7¼. for pub-
lic buildings, charities, officers’ salaries, and incidents;
£2696. 4. 5. for the police; and £3646. 2. 7¼. for repay-
ment of advances made by Government. In military
arrangements the county is in the southern district, and
within its limits are barracks for infantry at Balli-
namult and Dungarvan, capable of accommodating 13
officers and 247 men.
The surface is for the most part of a mountainous
character; and the valleys watered by its various rivers
are generally picturesque and beautiful. It is divided
into two nearly equal portions by the Cummeragh or
Monevullagh mountains, which extend from Cappa,
three miles west of Dungarvan. The general range of
these mountains is from west to east: their sides are
wild and precipitous, their lofty rocks and deep ravines
exhibiting extraordinary masses of light and shade.
On the summits of most of them are irregular piles of
stones, many of them of great size, which, from their
extraordinary situation, are thought to have been placed
there by the hand of man. Among these mountains
are four lakes, two called Cummeloughs, and the others
Stilloughs, the largest of which covers only five or six
acres: they contain several inferior kinds of trout, and
in the Cummeloughs are found also char: around
these lakes are some very fine echoes. Connected
with the northern extremity of this mountain range is
the sterile district called the Commons of Clonmel,
which extends to the vicinity of that town; proceeding
from which, however, down the course of the river Suir,
is found a gradually expanding vale of the greatest
beauty, particularly in the vicinity of Curraghmore, the
seat of the Marquess of Waterford. From this vale,
however, to the sea-coast, in a southern direction, the
face of the country is wild and almost entirely destitute
of trees, and, except near the village of Bonmahon, un-
improved by any respectable residence. A considerable
range of high land extends from this part of the coast
through the parishes of Dunhill and Reisk, in which
latter it divides into two branches; the low land inter-
vening is partially covered with water during the winter
season, which in summer is confined to the small lake
of Ballyscanlan. In this low land, trunks and roots of
trees, chiefly of oak and pine, of considerable size, are
found imbedded. Hence the hills extend to the vicinity
of Waterford; and the entire range is overspread
with rocks, forming in some places very curious groups,
especially on the precipitous heights about Pembrokes-
town. The barony of Gaultier, which exhibits a varied
though not very elevated surface, is a peninsular tract,
appealing to have been at one period completely insu-
lated in the direction of the line of marshy land which
extends from Tramore bay to Kilbarry, near Waterford.
To the south of the Cummeragh mountains, from the
parish of Clonea, the land declines in approaching the
sea, and presents a large alluvial tract, highly cultivated
and fertile, which entirely encircles the bay of Dungar-
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