Overview
Reginald’s Tower is reputed to be where Strongbow married Aoife, daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, in 1170 – the wedding that tied the Norman conquest of Ireland to Waterford. It stands at the eastern end of the quay, in the heart of the city’s Viking Triangle, and has been in continuous use for more than 800 years, which is what earns it the title of Ireland’s oldest civic building. Today it is a small, dense museum tracing the city from Norse trading post to walled medieval town.
It is an hour’s visit, no more, and it rewards one if you like a single well-told object over a sprawling collection. If you can, come on the first Wednesday of the month, when entry is free.
The tower’s long history
Vikings raised the first fort on this spot after founding Waterford in 914, at the apex of their triangular settlement. The stone tower you see now, though, is Anglo-Norman: built in the 13th century, with the top two floors added in the 1400s. Until about 1700 it was the strongpoint of the medieval city walls. The name comes from Ragnall Mac Gillemaire, a Hiberno-Norse ruler held prisoner here after the Norman takeover.
The building bent to whatever the city needed. It served as a mint under King John, a munitions store, a prison, and an air-raid shelter in the Second World War. A cannonball lodged in the wall from the Cromwellian siege of 1650, along with a heavy iron door and a 19th-century cell, tracks its later military and judicial lives.
What’s inside
The rooms are packed with finds from digs across the region. The standout is a lead Viking weight from around 850, stamped with a bearded face and used to measure out silver. Nearby sit a Viking sword and scabbard from the Woodstown burial site and a silver kite brooch inlaid with gold foil and amethyst glass. There are bone and antler gaming pieces from hnefatafl, the Norse strategy game, and a 12th-century copper-alloy dog collar. Two scale models show the city’s layout in 1050 and 1200. Outside on the quay, a full-size replica Viking longship makes the point about Waterford’s seafaring start. Photography is allowed throughout.
The spiral staircase
The tower stands about 16 metres high, and the way up is a right-handed spiral stair cut into the thick walls. The steps are deliberately uneven – ‘stumble steps’, meant to trip an armed attacker climbing in a hurry. The top gives clear views over the River Suir, the quay and the rooftops of the Viking Triangle, with the line of the medieval walls still readable below.
Planning your visit
The tower opens daily 09:30–17:30 from late March to December, then Wednesday to Sunday 09:30–17:00 through January to early March – it is not, as sometimes stated, closed all winter. Last admission is 45 minutes before closing. Admission is €5 for adults, €4 for seniors and groups, €3 for children and students, and €13 for a family; the first Wednesday of each month is free. Tickets are sold at reception or online.
Wear flat, sturdy shoes for the stair. There is no lift, so the upper floors are hard going for wheelchair users, though assistance dogs are welcome. There are no toilets inside; the nearest are at the Medieval Museum. For parking, use the quays, the Mall or the Bolton Street car park, all within a few minutes’ walk.
Around the Viking Triangle
Reginald’s Tower sits at the centre of one of Ireland’s most concentrated historic quarters, and if you plan to see more than one site, the Waterford Treasures Freedom Pass covers the Medieval Museum, the Bishop’s Palace, the Irish Museum of Time, the Irish Silver Museum and Christ Church Cathedral. At Easter the quarter hosts Waterford’s annual Viking festival, with archery, weapon demonstrations and craft stalls. A stroll along the Suir promenade, with pubs and cafés close at hand, rounds off a half-day in the oldest part of the city.