Waterford County Museum

Waterford County Museum Community run museum, Charity No 20064617

๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌStep into the past with ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ, a vibrant new exhibition now open at the museum. Discover ...
19/06/2026

๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ

Step into the past with ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ, a vibrant new exhibition now open at the museum. Discover a captivating collection of toys, dolls, antique 3D viewfinders, train sets, dollsโ€™ houses, posters, clothing, and moreโ€”each piece offering a glimpse into the world of childhood through the ages.
Beautifully hand-coloured picture books still shine with life (despite some of their outdated social conventionality), while classics like the little book: The House That Jack Built (almost two hundred years old) reveal the timeless nature of childhood stories.

Free to visit, this exhibition invites you to explore, reminisce, and reconnect with the enduring spirit of childhoodโ€”alive in memory, culture, and all of us.

๐’๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ โ€“ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ. Dromana House, Tour & Aftern...
18/06/2026

๐’๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ โ€“ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ

๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ.
Dromana House, Tour & Afternoon Tea - โ‚ฌ20, Date : Saturday 11th July 2026, Time : 2.30pm.

Dromana House is an 800-year-old historic manor dramatically perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the River Blackwater in Cappoquin. It stands as one of Ireland's ancient hidden wonders, remarkable for being occupied by the same ancestral family (the FitzGeralds, Lords of the Decies, and later the Villiers-Stuarts) for over 26 generations. The estate seamlessly blends architectural remnants spanning from a 13th-century medieval castle to modern-day restorations.

Address: Dromana House, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, P51 X682. Parking available in front of house
Own transport required. Car sharing recommended, please let the museum know if you can provide a lift or if you might require one.

Image: Portrait of โ€˜Henry Villiers Stuartโ€™. Find out why the gentleman in this impressive portrait became important to Irish history during the Dromana House tour.

๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ–๐ญ๐ก ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ค-๐จ๐ง-๐’๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ.
Donโ€™t miss an opportunity to visit the wonderfully restored Tudor-era ๐Ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐‚๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž and to see the impressive new Visitor Centre ๐“๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž, both within walking distance in the town. The excursion will include an option to have a self-funded lunch, between both visits. More details to follow.

Image: New Cafรฉ Tides and Time at the Visitor Centre, Carrick-on-Suir

Current membership for both events required. Places are limited. Please book the Dromana House Tour & Afternoon Tea as soon as convenient to avoid disappointment.

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ Manufactured by S. & D. Ltd. in Englandโ€”likely between the 1930s and 1950sโ€”this robust...
18/06/2026

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ

Manufactured by S. & D. Ltd. in Englandโ€”likely between the 1930s and 1950sโ€”this robust device is a far cry from today's flimsy plastic office supplies. Cast entirely from heavy-duty metal, it was built to withstand decades of continuous, punishing paperwork.

While it looks more like a miniature factory machine than a desk accessory, this British 'Climax' Desk Stapler remains a working piece of mid-century manufacturing history. Visitors may be fascinated by its sheer weight; its specialised wire staples are today incredibly rare to find. Notice the Bakelite button-press and shaft for re-loading staples in the photo. It stands as a quirky testament to a time when even the most basic office tools were engineered to last a lifetime.

Photos here show the stapler where you can see the staples loading shaft and from the opposite side, the staples dispensing mechanism with 'punch button'

๐๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Š๐ž๐จ๐ ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐…๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐€๐ญ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐•๐ข๐š๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญEdmund Keohan (photograp...
18/06/2026

๐๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Š๐ž๐จ๐ ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐…๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐€๐ญ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐•๐ข๐š๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ
Edmund Keohan (photographer) and family photographed at the foot of Ballyvoyle Viaduct. The viaduct had recently been blown up by Republicans. Photographs of the bridges at Ballyvoyle, before, during, and after destruction (and reconstruction) make up some of the most potent and memorable bridge images of the Irish Revolutionary Period. Many of these were taken by Edmund Keogh. Photographer: Keohan, Edmund. Date: 15th August 1922.

You can view the museum collection of almost 8,500 old Waterford County photographs and drawings by accessing https://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/ and clicking on the โ€˜Imagesโ€™ tab. From there you can filter by โ€˜locationโ€™, โ€˜subjectโ€™ and/or use a key word to search for a particular image or theme (remember to load the โ€˜next 15โ€™) In this case the number in our photo archive is EK169.

11/06/2026

๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ

Museum membership is available for an annual fee of โ‚ฌ20 if you would like to support the work of the museum. The museum relies heavily on membership fees, donations and fund raising activities, so we would be delighted if you would join us as a member.

11/06/2026

๐ƒ๐จ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Ž๐›๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Ž๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฉ๐ก๐ฌ

The museum relies on donations of objects from members of the public. We do not have funds to purchase objects, so we would be very grateful for any objects of local historic interest which you would kindly be willing to donate to us. Also if you have any old photographs of people, places, ships, sports events etc. with a County Waterford connection we are very happy to accept them.๐Ÿ™

๐”๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐ฎ๐ง๐ž, ๐Ÿ๐ฉ๐ฆ (๐€๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐)Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens, Tramore...
11/06/2026

๐”๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ

๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐ฎ๐ง๐ž, ๐Ÿ๐ฉ๐ฆ (๐€๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐)
Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens, Tramore. A discounted guided Tour of the gardens for โ‚ฌ7. Own transport required. We would appreciate if the group can gather by 1:45PM as the tour starts at 2PM. Comfortable footwear recommended. Cafรฉ refreshments at own expense. Please feel free to call us at the museum if you still hope to attend, we may have some last minute cancellations making one or two extra spots available.

๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ.
Dromana House, Cappoquin; a beautiful historic homestead tour with afternoon tea provided afterwards. More details to follow.

Current membership for both events required.

Pictured here, the hallway of Dromana House

๐๐ž๐ฐ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐š ๐‚๐š๐›๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ฒWe are delighted to have our sporting material back on show once agai...
11/06/2026

๐๐ž๐ฐ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐š ๐‚๐š๐›๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ

We are delighted to have our sporting material back on show once again. The display case contains material relating to Dan Fraher, Dungarvan boxer Peter Crotty, handball, and recent donations such as sporting trophies from Dec and Billy Goode, match programmes, and an early medal for the Erin's Hope team.

๐๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž A view of Ballyvoyle Bridge with some cottages in ...
11/06/2026

๐๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘

๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž

A view of Ballyvoyle Bridge with some cottages in the background. Photographer: Brenan, Edward, Date: Circa 1910.

You can view the museum collection of almost 8,500 old Waterford County photographs and drawings by accessing https://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/ and clicking on the โ€˜Imagesโ€™ tab. From there you can filter by โ€˜locationโ€™, โ€˜subjectโ€™ and/or use a key word to search for a particular image or theme (remember to load the โ€˜next 15โ€™) In this case the number in our photo archive is EB21.

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ The Portlaw โ€œleather moneyโ€ tokens are a unique part of Irish industrial history and a...
11/06/2026

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ

The Portlaw โ€œleather moneyโ€ tokens are a unique part of Irish industrial history and are held in the collections of the Waterford County Museum, Dungarvan. Issued by the Malcomson Brothers, the Quaker family who operated the large cotton mill at Mayfield Factory in Portlaw, the tokens were used to pay workersโ€™ wages from around 1834. Although known as โ€œleather money,โ€ many were actually made from cardboard or compressed card.

The system was introduced partly because transporting large amounts of cash to the growing industrial village was difficult and risky. Workers received tokens in various denominations, which could be spent in local shops, especially the Mayfield Stores. While critics accused the Malcomsonโ€™s of forcing workers to use company-issued currency, the family maintained that the tokens were widely accepted and that goods were sold at fair prices.

Over time, the tokens gained the trust of local traders and circulated throughout the wider Waterford area, remaining in use until at least the 1870s. Surviving examples bear details such as โ€œMayfield Factory,โ€ โ€œM. Bros.โ€ (Malcomson Brothers), the denomination, and the year of issue.

Today, these rare Portlaw trade tokens are valued as important examples of employer-issued currency and provide insight into life in a planned industrial village during pre-Famine and Victorian Ireland. Despite many being made from cardboard, the name โ€œleather moneyโ€ continued to be used locally for generations.

Address

Saint Augustine Street
Dungarvan
X35NW63

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4:45pm
Tuesday 10am - 4:45pm
Wednesday 10am - 4:45pm
Thursday 10am - 4:45pm
Friday 10am - 4:45pm

Telephone

+3535845960

Website

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