WATERFORD, a maritime co. of the province of Munster, Ireland, is hounded on the n. by the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny, on the e. by Wexford, on the s. by the Atlantic, and on the w. by the county of Cork. Its greatest length from e. to w. is 52 m., and its breadth, n. to s., 28; the total area sq.m., or 461,563 acres, of which 325,345 are arable, 103,496 waste, 23,468 in plantations, 526 in towns, and 5,579 under water. The pop. in '51 was 164,051; in '61, 134,232; and in /1, 123,310, of whom 116,839 were Roman Catholics. and 5,090 Protestant Episcopalians. In 1878, there were about 12,000 pupils on the rolls of the national _schools. The number of acres under crops of all kinds in 1878 was 90,581, oats being the principal crop. The live stock in 1878 comprised 13,948 horses, 93,732 Cattle, 56,724 sheep, and 53,325 pigs. The fishing•grounds on the coast, once thought inexhaustible, are now be unproduc tive. The coast line extends from the estuary of the Suir, Waterford harbor, to that of the Blackwater at Yonghal, and is partly flat, partly rocky, but in general very danger ous for shipping. The rocky district contains some remarkable caverns. The surface is in general mountainous: the principal ranges being Knockmeledown, the Cummeragh, Monevolagh, and Drum. The Cummeragh mountains are the loftiest, and abound in wild and picturesque scenery. The Suir (q.v.) and the Blackwater (q.v.) are the chief rivers. There are no lakes worthy of note. The climate is moist, and the soil, over a considerable part of the county, is marshy; but the upland districts are well suited for ,tillage, and the lower pasture-lands, although inferior in fattening properties to those of the great central plain, produce excellent butter, which is exported iu large quantities. In geological structure, the mountains present the old and new slate, separated by red and gray quartz rock and quartzose slate. Of slate, there are two principal varieties, which are raised extensively for local use. The valleys belong to the lime
stone series, being an prolongation of the great bed of the central plain. Lead, iron, and copper are found. The former two have proved unprofitable, but the copper works at Bonmahon and Knockinalion have for many years been very productive. Marble of several colors and of considerable beauty is quarried near Cappoquin and Whitechurch, and potter's clay of good quality is found at Kildrum, near Dungarvan. The chief occupations of the population are pasturage and dairy farming; but a consid erable manufacture both of cotton and linen has been recently introduced at Portlaw, and the shipping-trade has of late years become active and profitable.
Waterford is divided into eight baronies. The most considerable towns besides Wat erford city (q.v.) are Duugarvan, Carrick-beg—properly a suburb of Carrick-on-Suir, Which Is in Tipperary—Lismore, Cappoquin, Tallow, and Tramore. Clonmel, although chiefly in Tipperary, lies partly within this county. Waterford returns five members to parliament—two for the county, two for Waterford city, and one for the borough of Dungarvan. The county constituency in 1878-79 was 3,223. The net annual value of property in the county, with the city, is E316,685. This district, in common with the adjoiuing county of Wexford, is believed to have been anciently peopled by a Belgic The Danes also formed a settlement at the mouth of the Suir. From the date of the invasion, Waterford became a stronghold of the English, large grants having been made by Henry II. to the family of Le Poer; and in all the alternations of the subse quent struggle with the Irish population, it continued for the most part a firm center of English influence, The county abounds with antiquities, ecclesiastical and military, and of the Celtic and Danish, as well as the Anglo-Norman period.