Lewis's Topographical Dictionary - Waterford City

On his return from the conquest of that city, with the lordship of which he was invested, Strongbow received a summons from HENRY II., at that time in Normandy, to attend him. Leaving his forces quartered in Dublin and Waterford, he obeyed the summons; and offering to deliver up to the king these cities and other principal towns, on condition of having the remainder of his ac-quisitions confirmed to him and to his heirs, the king agreed to his proposals, and immediately prepared to follow him to Ireland. Henry's fleet, consisting of 240 vessels having on board from 400 to 500 knights and 4000 soldiers, arrived in Waterford harbour in October, 1172; and on the festival of St. Luke, the king landed to take possession of the kingdom as its rightful sove-reign, by virtue of Pope Adrian's bull, and was joyfully received by the English, and by the Irish nobility who were in alliance with them, Strongbow immediately made a formal surrender to the king of the city of Waterford, and did homage to him for the principality of Leinster; Henry also received here the submission of the people of Wexford, and of Dermot McCarthy, King of Cork. He afterwards proceeded to Lismore, Cashel, Dublin, and other places; and on his return to England, aware of its great importance as one of the principal maritime towns, he left the city of Waterford in the custody of Humphrey de Bohun, Robert Fitz-Bernard, and Hugh de Gundeville, with a train of twenty knights. A new garrison was soon after placed in the city, which at the same time was greatly enlarged, and surrounded with new walls; the old fortifications were repaired, and strengthened with towers and gates, and the inhabitants were made freemen by royal charter. Strongbow, being subsequently invested with the sole government of Ireland, removed Robert Fitz.Bernard and his garrison to Normandy; and agreeably to the king's instructions, took upon himself the government of this city, as well as that of Dublin.

In all the predatory expeditions which the English made into the territories of the natives, this city was the centre of action in the south, the general rendezvous of the invaders, and the place in which their spoils were deposited.  Having sustained a considerable defeat in Ossory, Strongbow suddenly found himself shut up here, in equal dread of an attack from without and of an insurrection within.  From this distress, however, lie was speedily relieved by Raymond Le Gros, who arrived from England with a fleet of twenty ships, having on board 20 knights, 100 horsemen, and 300 archers and other infantry; and uniting his forces with those of Strongbow, the whole marched to Wexford, leaving Purcell governor of the city.  But Purcell at-tempting to follow them in a boat on the Suir, was intercepted and slain by the Danish inhabitants, who also put to death all the English in the city, except a few who took refuge in Reginald's Tower, which they defended with so much resolution and success that the insurgents yielded up the city to them on conditions little favourable to themselves.

In 1177, soon after the arrival of Fitz-Andelm, as chief governor, in Ireland, an assembly of the Irish clergy was held in this city, in which the brief lately granted by Pope Alexander and the bull of Pope Adrian, granting to Henry II. the sovereignty of Ireland (under the authority of which the first act of that monarch was the appointment of Augustine to the vacant bishopric of Waterford, the office of consecration being performed by the archbishop of Cashel), were solemnly promulgated, and the English sovereign's title to the dominion of Ireland was declared in form, with dreadful denunciations against any who should impeach the grant made by the pope, or resist the sovereign authority of that monarch. In 1179, Robert le Poer, governor of Waterford, was associated with Hugh de Lacy in the government of the English settlements; and subsequently received a grant of the entire county of Waterford, with the reservation of the city and the cantred of the Ostmen.

Waterford, from its situation and importance, became the centre of communication with England, as well as one of the chief places of trade in the island; and during the same year, 1179, Robert Fitzstephen, Milo de Cogati, and Philip de Braos landed here with fresh forces from England.  In the Easter of 1185, JOHN, Earl 0f Mor-ton, son of Henry II., accompanied by Ralph Glanville, justiciary of England, and other distinguished persons, and attended with a retinue of 400 or 500 knights and about 4000 men, disembarked at this port to take upon himself the office of lord chief governor of Ireland, and was received with congratulation by the different native chiefs.  The earliest coinage in Waterford of which in-dubitable evidence remains, is that of John while lord of Ireland, of which several silver halfpence, weighing from 10 to 10½ grains, are still preserved.  After his accession to the throne of England, John granted to the citizens, in 1204, a fair for nine days, and in 1206 a charter of incorporation, apparently in many respects little more than a recital and confirmation of privileges previously granted.  In 1211, that monarch landed here on his way to Dublin to arrange the affairs of the Irish government; and during his stay in the city, he ordered pence, halfpence, and farthings, to be coined there, of the same standard as in England, to be equally current in both countries. In the early part of this century arose nearly all the religious houses that anciently existed here, of which the Benedictine priory of St. John's was founded by King John and the others by the inhabitants.  In 1232, HENRY III. granted a new char-ter, in which the election of a mayor is first mentioned the citizens, by this charter, were also empowered to choose a coroner, and to have a guildhall, a prison, and a common seal in two portions. In 1252, the city was burned to the ground; and in 1280 was so much in-jured by a conflagration, that it was a long time before it recovered its prosperity. In 1292, the custody of the castle and of the county at large was granted to the heirs of Thomas FitzAnthony in the same manner as it bad been enjoyed during King EDWARD's minority by John Fitz-Thomas, and subsequently by his cousin, Thomas Fitz-Maurice, from whom it had been recovered at law. Edward I. was the next sovereign after John that coined money here, and several of his pence and halfpence are still preserved.