County Waterford.

County Waterford from Samuel Lewis' Topographical Directory 1837 Waterford is one of the six counties in the province of Munster. It is a coastal county in the southeast of the country. The name waterford is derived from the Danish Vadrefjord (the sea inlet of the god Vadre or Odin), the Irish name is Port Lairge, the county has an area of 1,838 sq. Km. The Atlantic Ocean forms the county's southern boundary. Wexford lies to the east, Kilkenny and Limerick to the north, and Kerry to the west. The greatest distances from east to west are 80 kilometers, and 40 kilometers from north to south. The largest towns are Waterford, Dungarvan, Tramore, Portlaw, Lismore and Dunmore East. Nearly half of the population lives in and around Waterford city, which is the fifth largest city in the Irish Republic. The northwestern part of the county lying on sandstone is is mountainous rising to more than 700 metres (2296 Ft) and. The Comeragh and Monavullagh mountains are entirely within waterford but the Knockmealdown Mountains are partly in Tipperary. The northern flanks of the Comeraghs drop to the valley of the River Suir. The Suir forms much of the northern boundary of the county before entering the long inlet of Waterford Harbour, which is the eastern boundary. The lowland of the east lie mostly on volcanic rocks, sandstone, shale, , and slate. The west of the county is mainly sandstone, while the valley which runs from Dungarvan, between the Knockmealdowns to the north and the Drum Hills to the south, lies on limestone. The River Blackwater enters the county from the west along this valley but turns south at Cappoquin. It is joined by the River Bride before discharging into Youghal Bay. English is the everyday language of almost all people. People in the Gaeltacht area of Ring speak Irish. Ring is a small coastal district near Dungarvan with a population of about 1,400. Children visit the district to learn Irish. The city of waterford has a strong musical tradition, which is continued in its annual world famous Opera Festival.

Only a seventh of its working people are employed in agriculture. The land is fertile, and farms are amongst the largest in Ireland, averaging 30 hectares. Dairying and cattle production are the two leading types of farming. About one sixth of the land is under arable crops, these are mainly feeding barley, potatoes, sugar beet, and wheat. As is the norm in the rest of the country sheep are reared on the higher ground. Manufacturing is very important, it accounts for about 30% of employment. The county is famous for the manufacture of the crystal which bears its name, waterford crystal is exported across the world and employs about 2,000 people.

Half the population work in various service industries. The most important service industry is retail and wholesale distribution. Others include Tourism, catering, education, finance, health, public administration, and transport,. There is a regional technical college city. Tramore, which has a fine beach and recreation facilities, is one of the major Irish seaside resorts.

Dunmore East is one of the major fishing ports in Ireland and has fish-processing industries. There has been much development of forestry in the upland areas of the county.

Waterford city is the center for transport, from which railways and major roads radiate to Wexford, Dublin, and Limerick. But these do not pass through the rest of the county, and the only national primary road is the N25 from waterford to Cork. Lying on the deep and sheltered waterford Harbour and Suir estuary, waterford city is one of the major seaports of the Irish Republic. It is particularly important for container traffic but has no passenger services, the county has a small airport.

The annual rainfall is 100 centimetres. Being in the southeast, the coastal lowlands have fewer wet days and more sunshine than most of Ireland. The average monthly temperatures are 6 °C in January and 16 °C in July.