The city is the seat of a diocese, founded originally about the close of the 11th century by the Ostmen of Waterford, soon after their conversion to Christianity ; for which purpose they chose Malchus, who had been a Benedictine monk of Win-chester, and sent him to England to be consecrated by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. Malchus entered upon his episcopal office in 1096, and died in 1110 ; of his two immediate successors, nothing worthy of notice occurs ; after the distribution of the four palls by Cardinal Paparo, Augustine, the third in succession, was appointed bishop in a council at Windsor, in 1175, and sent by the king to Ireland, to be consecrated by his proper metropolitan, Donat, Archbishop of Cashel. David, the second in succession to Augustine, was con-secrated in 1204, and, in addition to his own, seized the temporalities of the adjoining see of’ Lismore, but was assassinated in 1209 ; and Robert, who succeeded to the prelacy in 1210, pursuing the same policy as his prede-cessor, laid the foundation of continual feuds between the two sees, which were carried on with fierce and rancorous hostility.

Stephen of Fulburn, who was consecrated in 1273, was, in the following year, made treasurer and afterwards Lord Justice of Ireland, during which time he caused a new kind of money to be coined ; and during the prelacy of Thomas Le Reve, who succeeded in 1363, the sees of Lismore and Water-ford were consolidated by Pope Urban V., and this union, which had been long contemplated and fre- quently attempted without success, was confirmed by Edw. III. Hugh Gore, who was consecrated Bishop of the united sees in 1666, expended large sums in repair-ing and beautifying the cathedral, and bequeathed £300 for bells for the churches of Lismore and Clonmel, and £1200 for the erection and endowment of an almshouse for ten clergymen’s widows, to each of whom he assigned £10 per annum.

Nathaniel Foy, who was made bishop in 1691, greatly improved the episcopal palace, and be-queathed funds for the erection and endowment of a school for 50 children, afterwards extended to 75, and for the improvement of the estates, the surplus funds to be applied to clothing and apprenticing the scholars. The two sees continued to be held together till the pass-ing of the Church Temporalities Act in the 3rd and 4th of Wm. IV., when, on the decease of Dr. Bourke, both were annexed to the archiepiscopal see of Cashel, and the temporalities became vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

The diocese is one of the eleven that constitute the ecclesiastical province of Cashel , and comprehends the eastern portion of the county of Waterford ; it is 13 miles in length and 9 in breadth, comprising an estimated superficies of 31,300 acres. The lands belonging to the see comprise 8000 acres ; and the gross revenue of the united sees, on an average of three years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to £4323. 7. 1. The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and archdeacon, who has no vote. Formerly there were the prebendaries of Kilcornan, Rossduffe, Corbally, and St. Patrick’s, Waterford, and four chaplains ; and about the beginning of the 13th century, King John endowed the cathedral with lands to the value of 400 marks, for the support of 12 canons and 12 vicars ; but the estates were so wasted in the different wars, that the four great dignitaries had not suffcient to maintain them in comparative decency ; and Edw. IV., on their petition to that effect, granted them a mortmain licence to purchase lands of the yearly value of 100 marks.

The Economy Fund, in 1616, amounted to 100 marks ; at present it is £144 per annum, a sum very insufficient for the repairs of the cathedral and the payment of the salaries of the choir and other officers of the cathedral. The consistorial court con-sists of a vicar-general, surrogate, registrar and deputy-registrar, apparitor, a proctor of office, and two other proctors. The diocese contains 34 parishes, comprised in 13 benefices, of which 11 are unions of two or more parishes, and two single parishes ; of these, 4 are in the patronage of the Crown, 8 in that of the Bishop, aind the remaining one wholly impropriate ; the total num-ber of churches is 8, and of glebe-houses,

The Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity and commonly called Christ-Church, was originally built by the Ostmen of Waterford, in 1096, and the ancient edifice was standing till 1773. It was a venerable structure, with the parish church of the Holy Trinity and the chapel of St. Nicholas, which was used as a vestry, at the east end, and having also two other chapels, one on the south and the other on the north side, the former of which was used for a consistory court.

The present church, which is also parochial, was erected under the authority of a committee appointed by the corporation, and superin-tended by the dean and chapter, at the expense of £5397, defrayed by a grant from the corporation, the tithes of Cahir bequeathed by Bishop Gore for the repairs of churches in this diocese and in that of Lismore, the produce of the sale of pews, and private subscription. It is a handsome structure, partly built with the materials of the old church, in the modern style of architecture, with a lofty aind much ornamented steeple rising from the west end ; the whole length is 170 feet, and its breadth 58 feet ; the western entrance has on one side the consistorial court, and on the other the vestry, and above these are apartments for a library ; between the entrance and the body of the church is a spacious vestibule, in which are preserved some of the monuments that were erected in the old cathedral ; that portion of the building which may be called the church is 90 feet long and 40 feet high, and consists of a nave and aisles, separated by ranges of columns sup-porting galleries.

In 1815, an accidental fire materially injured the building and destroyed the organ, but it was restored in 1818 at a very great expense, towards which £2000 was granted by the Board of First Fruits. Among the monuments in the vestibule are one to the Fitzgerald family, erected in 1770 ; a very neat monu-ment to Mrs. Susannah Mason, erected in 1752 ; and one to Bishop Foy: among those of more modern erection is a tablet to the memory of Bishop Stock, who died in 1813. In the churchyard are two remark-ably ancient monuments, one to James Rice, mayor in 1469 ; the other bearing the figure of a man in armour, but without date or inscription. James Rice, about the year 1482, built a chapel 22 feet square against the north side of the cathedral, and dedicated it to St. James the Elder and St. Catherine ; this, with another chapel to the east of it, and the chapter-house, was taken down about 50 years since, in order to enlarge the churchyard.

The Bishop’s palace is situated on the south side of the open space that surrounds the cathedral, and is a handsome building of hewn stone ; the front towards the Mall is ornamented with a fine Doric portico and enriched cornice ; the other, facing the churchyard, has the doorway, window cases, and quoins in rustic work. The Deanery-house, and also a building for the accommodation of clergymen’s widows, called the Widows’ Apartments, are situated in the same space.

In the R. C. divisions the united sees form one of the seven bishopricks suifragan to the archiepiscopal see of Cashel ; they comprise 35 parochial benefices or unions, and contain 78 chapels, served by 89 clergy-men, of whom, including the bishop, 35 are parish priests, and 54 coadjutors or curates. The parochial benefices of the bishop are Trinity Within and St. John’s , in the former of which are the cathedral and the bishop’s residence.

The county of the city, from the peculiar situation of the town on the northern confines of the county of Waterford, is made to include a portion of land on the north of the river Suir, which formerly belonged to the county of Kilkenny ; and by the charter of Chas. I. comprises the great port and river up to Carrick, that part of the county of Kilkenny which is contained in the parish of Kilculliheen, all the lands on the opposite bank of the river in the parishes of Kilbar- ry and Killoteran, and the town of’ Passage ; compre-hending together, according to the Ordnance survey, 9683 statute acres, of which about 882 acres are occupied by the city and suburbs ; the amount of Grand Jury cess, in 1835, was £4928. 9. 7½ .

The rural districts present no peculiarity of character ; the northern part chiefly consists of high grounds, commanding fine views of the city ; and on the opposite side, especially on the banks of the river above the city, are some elevated lands, except near the course of John’s river, where there is an extensive level of marshy land. The pre-vailing substratum is argillaceous schistus, with silicious breccia near the summits of the hills, overwhich red sand-stone frequently occurs ; sienite and hornblende are found at Kilronan, talcous slate near Knockhouse, lydian stone on the road to Annestown ; horustone and jasper, alternating with flinty slate, in the same neigh-bourhood ; and serpentine, resting on a blueish black quartzose rock, at Knockhouse.

The face of Bilberry rock, over the river Suir, above the city, presents a very interesting section,in which, in addition to the above-named minerals, are veins of quartz, comprising a considerable quantity of micaceous iron ore and scalygraphite, both passing into oxyde of iron and jasper, and in some places forming, with the quartz, a beautiful jaspery iron-stone ; brown crystallised quartz, with minute crystals of chlorite ; red ochre in abundance, sulphate of barytes, oxyde of titanium, bituminous shale, talcous slate, and arse-nieuratc of iron, The principal gentlemen’s seats in the vicinity are New Park, the residence of the Rt. Hon. Sir John Newport, Bart., who represented this city in parliament for a series of years ; Belmont House, of Henry Winston Barron, Esq. ; Mullinabro’, of J. Haw- trey Jones, Esq. ; May Park, of G. Meara, Esq. ; Bel-mont, of I. Roberts, Esq. ; Mount Pleasant, of S. King, Esq. ; Ballinamona, of T. Carew, Esq. ; Killaspy, of Alex. Sherlock, Esq. ; Bellevue, of P. Power, Esq. ; Bishop’s Hall, of S. Blackmore, Esq. ; Faithlegg House, of N. Power, Esq. ; Woodstown, of Lord Carew ; Woodstown, of the Earl of Huntingdon ; Summerfield, of Lord Ebrington ; Harbour View, of Capt. Morris ; Dromona, of T. Coghlan, Esq. ; Grantstown, of the Rev. Fras. Reynett ; Blenheim Lodge, of Pierce Sweetman, Esq. ; and the residences of J. Stephens and M. Dobbyn, Esqrs., at Ballycanvin.

The county of the city comprises the parishes of Trinity Within, Trinity Without, St. Michael, St. Olave, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Patrick, St. John Within, St. John Without, Killoteran, Kilbarry, and Kilculliheen ; the three last are entirely rural, and are described under their own heads.. They are all in the diocese of Water-f’ord, and province of Cashel, except the last, which is in the diocese of Ossory, and province of Dublin, The parishes of Trinity Within and Without (otherwise called the Holy and Undivided Trinity) form a curacy, which, with those of St. Michael and St. Olave, together com-prising two-thirds of the city, are united to the entire rectory of’ Kilcarragh and part. of that of Kilburne, and to part of the rectories of Kilmeaden and Reisk, together constituting the corps of t.he deanery of Waterford , in the patronage of the Crown. Trinity, St.Michael’s, and St. Ohave’s parishes pay minister’s money. The gross annual income of the deanery amounts to £1044. 8. 9., including one-third share of the corporate revenue of the dean and chapter, amounting to £145. 4. 2. There are two glebes in the union, one of 17 acres in Kilcar-ragh, and another of 317 acres in Kilburne. There are, exclusively of the cathedral church, which is also paro-chial, churches in the parishes of St. Olave and Killo-teran, which latter rectory is usually held with the deanery by a separate title. St. Olave’s church was rebuilt and consecrated by Dr. Milles, bishop of Waterford and Lismore, in 1734, a memorial of which is preserved on a brass plate in the western wall of thc building ; the pulpit, and the bishop’s throne, which is in the church, are of very beautiful oak handsomely carved ; divine service is performed here twice every day ; and a lecturer, who is also master of the endowed school, receives £100 per ann. from the corporation, as trustees of a bequest by Bishop Milles, for the endow-ment of lectureships at St. Olave’s and St. Patrick’s. The parishes of St. Patrick, St. Peter, and St. Stephen, of which the livings are curacies, are united to the vicar-ages of St. John Within and Without, together com-prising one-third of the city, and constituting the corps of the archdeaconry of Waterford, in the patronage of the Bishop: the income is derivable from minister’s money. The church of St. Patrick, the only one in the union, is a plain neat building, situated on elevated ground to the west of the city: the Ecclesiastical Com-missioners have recently granted £576 for its repair. The churches of St. John, St. Stephen, St. Peter, and St. Michael long since fell to ruins. There are four R. C. chapels, of which the principal, situated in Barron--Strand-Street, was erected in 1793, on ground given by the corporation, nearly opposite a former chapel, which had been built about a hundred years previously, and was the first ever erected in the city ; it is a very large building, and was erected at an expense of £20,000, raised chiefly by collections of pence at the chapel doors: the front, which will be of the Ionic order, is not yet completed ; the interior is remarkable for the lightness and elegance of its style ; the spacious roof is supported on ranges of columns of the Corin-thian order ; a considerable addition is at present being made to it. In this chapel are preserved and used, on the day before Easter-Sunday, some rich dresses sup-posed to have been presented by Pope Innocent III. to the cathedral of Waterford ; the plate also is of the most rich and valuable kind. There are two tablets in the interior, to the memory of Dr. Power and the late Dr. Patrick Kelly, and one on the exterior wall of the chapel to the memory of Dr. Hussey, all R. C. bishops of Waterford. There are places of worship for Bap-tists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

The Blue-Coat school was founded for the gra-tuitous instruction of boys by Bishop Foy, who died in 1707 ; after appropriating several legacies, among which was one of £20 to the poor of Waterford, and another of as much of the sum of £800 expended on the episcopal palace, as might be recovered from his successor in the see, for apprenticing Protestant children, the bishop bequeathed the remainder of his property for the establishment of a school for the gra-tuitous instruction of Protestant children in reading, writing, and the principles of the Protestant religion. He fixed the number of children at 50, and the salary of the master at £40, and that of the catechist at £10, with liberty to increase the number of children and the amount of salary in equal proportion: the appointment of the master and catechist is vested in the Bishop of Waterford ; that of the children in the mayor, three of the aldermen, and the sheriffs, subject to the approval of the bishop. The executors erected a handsome school- house at the corner of Barron-Strand-street, on land granted them by the corporation, and with the re-mainder of the funds purchased lands then of the yearly value of £191. 2. 2. ; the endowment was, on the death of the bishop’s sister, augmented with £48 per annum ; the number of boys was increased to 75, and the salary of the master to £60, and that of the catechist to £15. An act of parliament was subsequently obtained by the Rev. Nathaniel France, the only surviving executor, for perpetuating and regulating the charity, and the endow-ment was vested in him for life, arid after his decease in the bishop, dean, and mayor of Waterford for the time being ; the act also provided that the excess of income, after payment of the salaries, £5 to a collector, and the expenses of keeping the school-house in repair, should be applied to the clothing of the children, and if any surplus remained, to apprenticing the boys. In 1808 another act was obtained, by which the trustees were enabled to sell the school-house in Barron-Strand-street and to erect another on a more convenient site, and to raise the salary of the master to £100 and that of the usher to £50. The funds having increased by the determination of leases and the accumulation of savings to the amount of £4900, the trustees resolved to board and lodge the masters, children, and servants of the institution in the school-house. The school was soon afterwards established on the lands of Grantstown, in the vicinity, in a recently erected house which, by numerous additions to the original building, has been rendered sufficiently commodious for the purpose. The estates of the charity consist of 1400 acres of land, with two or three small plots of ground in the city. The Blue- Coat school for girls was erected in 1740, at an expense of £750, by Mrs. Mary Mason: it is a plain building, with the arms of the Mason family in front, and was originally designed for clothing and in-structing 30 girls till of age to be put out to service, the expense being defrayed by an annuity of £60 paid by the corporation, to whom the Mason family bequeathed £900 for that purpose. In 1784, Counsellor Alcock left £1000 to this charity, the interest of which sum is expended in apprenticing the most deserving of the children. An endowed school in the parish of St. Olave is under the patronage of the cor-poration, who give a school-house and residence for the master, who is also lecturer of St. Olave’s, and receives from the corporation for both appointments a sal- ary of £100 per annum. A school at Newtown, near the city, was established in 1798, for the education of children belonging to the Society of Friends of the pro-vince of Munster ; the average number of both sexes is about 50, and the usual course of instruction compre- hends an English education, with the Latin and French languages. The school-house is large and commodious ; there is an extensive playground, and the premises are well adapted to the purpose. The national school in St. Patrick’s contains in one establishment 150 boys, and in another from 90 to 100 girls, and is supported by subscription, aided by a grant of £12 per ann. to the boys’ and of £10 to the girls’ school ; there are also several Sunday schools in connection with the Kildare-place Society. There are numerous R. C. schools, of which the principal is the college of St. John, in Manor-street, erected by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Power, for the edu-cation of young men for the R. C. ministry ; attached to it is a lay school for boarders and day scholars. The build-ing is plain but spacious and commodious, and adjoin-ing it are extensive gardens and pleasure grounds. The greater number of the R. C. clergy of the united dioceses of Waterford and Lismore go through their courses of hu-manity and theology here, previously to entering Maynooth ; several complete the whole course of their studies in this establishment, Of the other schools, the princi-pal are those established in 1803, by the Rev. Edmund Rice, in connection with the society called the order of the Christian Brethren, and in which are generally from 600 to 700 boys, who are taught chiefly by young men who, from religious motives, have devoted themselves to the instruction of the poor without receiving any pecu-niary remuneration. The principal female school is conducted by the Sisters of the Presentation Convent, who gratuitously instruct about 400 girls. A school, also for the gratuitous instruction of poor females, has been established near the Ursuline convent on the road to Tramore.

A neat range of houses with two returns, facing the grand entrance of the cathedral church, and called the Widows’ Apartments, was, according to the inscription on a marble tablet over the central house, founded by the Right Rev. Dr. Hugh Gore, for the use of clergymen’s widows, and erected, in 1702, by Sir John Mason, Knt., surviving executor of his lordship. By this will £1200 was bequeathed for building an asylum and purchasing lands for the maintenance of ten poor clergymen’s widows, to each of whom he assigned £10 per annum. Connected with the meeting-house of the Society of Friends is a house of refuge for aged and reduced mem-bers of that body. The leper hospital was founded about the year 1211 or 1212, by King John, who incor-porated it under the designation of the master, brethren and sisters of the leper-house of St. Stephen, and granted the society a common seal ; he also endowed it with the house and several other buildings in St. Stephen’s parish, and with the oblations and offerings of that parish, with lands at Poleberry without St. John’s gate, and with the lands of Leperstown, in the barony of Gualtier, containing 500 plantation acres ; also with the tithes of Carrigbrahan.

The Poers, Lords of Carraghmore, endowed an hospital adjoining the leper-house, which circumstance has led to an erroneous opinion that the Poers were either the original founders of the leper-house of St. Stephen, or that they endowed at least one ward in that establishment. In the middle of the last century, when leprosy had become of very rare occurrence, the corporation shut up the house ; but legal proceedings being instituted against them by the Rev. Dr. Downes, a decree was obtained for appropriat-ing the funds of the charity to the relief of the sick and maimed poor.

Under this decree an infirmary was built for the reception of 50 indigent patients, and the funds af’terwards increasing, a magnificent hos-pital was erected in the suburbs, capable of receiving more than 400 patients, but the average number sel-dom exceeds 40. The government is vested in a mas-ter, appointed by the corporation ; and the medical attendants, housekeeper, and inferior servants are ap-pointed by the master, subject to the approval of the cor-poration. The rent-roll of the estates is about £1300, but the actual receipts are only about £1000 per annum ; and the annual expenditure, including the salaries of physician, surgeon, and others, nearly approaches that sum. The Holy Ghost hospital was originally a monastery of Friars Minor, founded in 1240 by Sir Hugh Pur-cell ; after the settlement of the French Huguenots in this city, a part of the building was appropriated to their use as a place of worship, and still bears the name of the French Church ; the steeple is yet entire ; and in the vaults beneath are several curious monuments, but the inscriptions are now illegible ; among these is the tombstone of Sir Patrick O’Neill, a colonel in the army of Jas. II., who served in the battle of the Boyne, and dying of his wounds, was buried in this church.

At the Reformation, Henry Walsh purchased the site and all the possessions of this dissolved monastery, for the sum of £150. 13. 4., and founded the present hospital for a master, brethren, and the poor, to whom he gave it in trust at a rent of only 8s. The brethren were incorporated by an act of the 36th of Hen. VIII., providing that the master and his successors should be appointed by the heirs of Patrick Walsh, Esq., who should nominate three or four secular priests to celebrate divine service in the hospital, and have the nomination of at least 60 of the sick, infirm and impotent folk of -both sexes ; that all persons thus nominated should be a corporation for ever, with power to possess lands of the value of £100.

This patent was confirmed by Elizabeth, in the 24th of her reign ; over the entrance of the hospital is a tablet re-cording its foundation in 1545, and its repair and enlargement in 1741 and 1743. The master has for several years been appointed by the corporation, in concurrence with the descendants of the Walsh family, who reside at Cratava, one of the Canary islands ; the inmates are at present all women and of the R. C. religion. The building has a modern front erected against the ancient monas-tery, and on each side of the entrance is a flight of steps leading to the apartments, which are over the cemetery, and consist of a long narrow room or gallery lighted from above, and partitioned off for beds on one side throughout the whole length ; and an inner chamber, forming the whole of one wing: these rooms are terminated by the upper portions of two pointed arches, and contain some curious ancient sculpture and a font.

The other wing of the hospital contains the chapel, a long gallery like the former, with an altar decorated with some curious ancient sculptured figures: divine service is regularly performed here, in compliance with the direction of the founder : there are at present 50 females in the institution. The property of the hospital consists of several houses and plots of ground in Fac-tory-lane, the Mall, Colebeck-street, the Quay, and Lombard-street ; the lands of Priors Knock, in the liberties of Waterford, containing 31 acres ; certain tithes of the parish of Kilmocahill, in the county of Kil-kenny ; the tithes of Kilmaguage, in the county of Wa-terford ; and a house and garden in Broad-street, Bristol, now the White Lion Inn, which, though a valuable pro-perty, produces only a rent of £6. 10., having been let on lease in the reign of Elizabeth, renewable for ever, and for the renewal of which it does not appear that any fine has been exacted. The present income from all these sources does not exceed £385.

The Fever Hospital was established in 1799 and was the first institution of the kind in Ireland, and the second in the united empire : it arose from very small beginnings, but progressively increased, and the present building is capable of admitting 150 patients, for whose accommodation it possesses every requisite convenience : there are two attending physicians, with salaries of £40 each, and one resident apothecary, with a salary of £84 ; it is supported by subscription and local assessments.

A Dispensary, established in 1786, is supported by subscription and city and Grand Jury presentments ; about 5500 patients are annually relieved at the trifling expense of about £250. A Lying-in Charity has been established, but its funds are not extensive and its usefulness is consequently limit-ed. There are almshouses for Roman Catholics. A Charitable Loan Fund was established by Archdeacon Fleury and Mr. Hobbs, in 1768, since which period more than £33,000 has been lent to more than 14,000 persons, free of interest ; but its funds are at present very limited. The House of Industry, with which is connected a Lunatic Asylum, was erected in 1779, at an expense of £1500, and is under the direction of a general board of governors, incorporated by acts of the 11th and 12th of Geo. III., under the title of “the President and Assistants instituted for the relief of the poor, and for punishing vagabonds and sturdy beggars for the county and county of the city of Waterford.” A general meeting of the governors is held on the first Thursday in every month, and oftener if necessary ; subordinate to which is a regulating committee of ten governors, or members of the corporation, ap-pointed for one year, who meet weekly, and to whom is confided the whole management.

Two physicians and a Protestant and a R. C. clergyman attend gratuitously, and there are a stipendiary apothecary, a superintendent, and two housekeepers. On an average, from 200 to 300 persons are annually received into the house ; they are generally employed in domestic offices and in various trades ; there is a school for the instruction of females. The income of the institution, amounting on an average to £3000 per ann., is derived from local assessments, donations, and subscription. There are two associations for the relief of destitute orphan chil-dren, one for Protestants, and one for Roman Catho-lics. The Protestant orphan house was established in 1818, and a school-house for 40 children was subse-quently erected ; it is situated within a quarter of a mile of the city, at a place called Gaul’s Rock, on ground presented by John Fitzgerald, Esq. ; the late Sir Fran-cis Hassard gave £100 towards its support ; there are at present only 28 children in the house. A Mendicity Society was established in 1820, since which period the number of beggars with which the streets of the city were infested has been very much reduced.

Of the ancient walls of the city, which appear to have enclosed a triangular area of about 15 acres, with a tower at each angle, there are still some interesting remains ; they were extended in the reign of Hen. II. by a considerable sweep towards the west, and their circuit was farther enlarged in that of Hen. VII., when they were repaired.

Of the original towers, the only one perfect is Reginald’s tower, in old documents frequently called Reynold’s tower and the King’s tower : it was rebuilt in its original style in 1819, and is now appropriated by the corporation as a barrack for the police establishment. St. Martin’s Castle, which was situated at the western angle of the city walls, has been partly preserved by its connection with a private dwell-ing-house, long called “the Castle.” On the land side the city had five gates, of which St. John’s was for a long ‘time used as a county prison. There were also, in addition to the regular fortifications of the city, several private fortresses, called by the names of their respective proprietors, and supposed to have been not less than 20 in number.

In Colbeck castle, from which that street took its name, was the Chamber of Green Cloth, or Chamber of Waterford, sometimes used by the mayor as a place of confinement for refractory citizens ; and a few years since there were several Danish semilunar towers on the walls, of which only one is now remaining at the extremity of what are called the ramparts. The palace in which King John resided. during his stay at Waterford, occupied the site on which the Widows’ Apartments were built, and on the erection of which the vaults and foundations of that ancient structure were discovered. The most ancient of the religious houses was the priory of St. Catherine, founded by the Ostmen for canons of the order of St. Augustine and of the congregation of St. Victor : its endowment and possessions were confirmed by Pope Innocent III., in 1211 ; from the terms of that confirmation it appears to have been insulated at that time ; in the 31st of Elizabeth, its revenues were granted on lease to Elizabeth Butler, otherwise Sherlock.

The ancient abbey was situated to the south-west of the city, adjoining Lombard’s marsh, and a great part of the building remained in tolerable preservation till a few years since, when it was levelled to open a way to the bridge then built over John’s river ; a vaulted room and a small portion of the foundations are all that now remain. The priory of St. John the Evangelist was founded in the suburbs, in 1183, by John, Earl of Morton, afterwards King of England, for monks of the order of St. Benedict, and made a cell to the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the city of Bath.

This establishment received many grants and charters from successive English monarchs, and at the close of the 15th century had vast possessions and enjoyed ample privileges, among which was the right of holding a court baron within the parish of St. John. The manor of St. John, now the property of Thomas Wyse, Esq., was for a long period held under the priors of that house by his ancestors : at the dissolution, in 1537, it continued in the possession of the family, and was subsequently confirmed in capite at two knights’ fees, with all tithes, privileges, royalties, and immunities, by royal charter, to Sir William Wyse, then chamberlain to Hen. VIII., which grant was more fully confirmed by patent in the 15th of Elizabeth.

A monastery for Dominican or Black Friars, called also Friars Preachers, who were introduced into Ireland in 1226, was founded by the citizens, who for that purpose applied to Hen. III. for liberty to erect their house on a piece of ground adjoining Arundel’s castle, and on which stood the ruins of an ancient tower. This establishment continued to flourish under the patronage of several monarchs, and at the dissolution the buildings, which were very extensive, but in a ruinous condition, were granted in capite, with some parcels of land, to James White, at an annual rent of 4s. The only existing remains are the chancel of the church and the belfry : the entrance to the former is through an arched door-way, highly ornamented with rope mouldings and sur-mounted by a spacious window ; the interior consists of two apartments, which are low and gloomy, with vaulted roofs supported on groined arches ; the belfry is a lofty square tower of massive thickness, having a staircase leading to the summit, from which is obtained an inte-resting view, especially over the old portion of the city.

A monastery for Franciscan Friars, or Friars minor, was founded in 1240 by Sir Hugh Purcell ; at the dissolution it was purchased by Henry Walsh, who established on its site the hospital of the Holy Ghost, before noticed. There are remains of two houses of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, situated respectively at Killure and Kilbarry, near which last is also a cromlech. In Arun-del-square was anciently a college of Jesuits, of which there are still some small remains, Of the old parish churches, the only one of which any part remains is that of St. Thomas, supposed to have been erected by Hen. II., or by his son and successor, King John, and which was dedicated to St. Thomas a Beckett : part of the entrance is still entire, and displays a beautiful specimen of Norman architecture.

In Her Majesty’s State Paper Office is lodged a curious manuscript history, in verse, of the municipality of Waterford, supposed to have been written in the time of Hen. VIII., and of which a printed version is given in Ryland’s History of Waterford. Among eminent natives may be noticed Gotofield, a learned Dominican friar of the 13th century; William of Waterford, author of a polemical work, pub-lished in 1433 ; Peter White, a celebrated classical teacher, and author of several publications, in the reign of Elizabeth ; Nicholas Quemerford, D. D., cotemporary with the above, and author of “Answers to certain Questions pro-pounded by the citizens of Waterford,” and other works; Peter Lumbard, R. C. Archbishop of Armagh, and a learned writer, who died in 1625 or 1626 ; Peter Wadding, a learned Jesuit, highly esteemed for his piety, who died in 1644 ; John Hartrey, a Cistertian monk, who wrote the history of his order in Ireland ; and Luke Wadding, a Franciscan friar, born in 1588, who also compiled the annals of his own order. Waterford gives the title of Marquess to the family of De la Poer Beresford.