Waterford

Waterford is Ireland's oldest city—and its name tells you who founded it. Veðrafjǫrðr is Old Norse for 'ram fjord,' and in 914 AD, the Viking Ragnall (grandson of the legendary Ivar the Boneless) established a settlement at this sheltered harbor on Ireland's southeast coast. Within decades, Waterford became the Vikings' most important Irish stronghold after Dublin. They built Reginald's Tower, still standing and still Ireland's oldest civic building.

What the Vikings started, the Normans finished. Anglo-Norman invaders took the city in the 12th century and made it a crucial port for English trade with Ireland. Waterford earned its motto—'Urbs Intacta Manet' ('The Untaken City')—by repelling a 15th-century siege, one of several it survived. The city's defensive success attracted investment; by the 18th century, glassmaking had become its signature industry. George and William Penrose founded Waterford Crystal in 1783, and for two centuries, the city's name became synonymous with cut glass.

That monoculture proved fragile. Competition from cheaper production abroad forced Waterford Crystal through multiple ownership changes; Fiskars Corporation acquired it in 2015, and most manufacturing moved to Eastern Europe. The crystal factory remains as a tourist attraction and small-scale workshop, but the economic anchor is gone. Waterford now competes on livability—winning Ireland's 'Best Place to Live' in 2021—and its Viking heritage, with the 'Viking Triangle' district drawing tourists to Reginald's Tower.

By 2026, Waterford must find something to replace crystal. The harbor that sheltered Viking longships now lacks commercial flights from its airport. Ireland's oldest city risks becoming a heritage museum unless it can reinvent its economy the way it once reinvented Norse raiders into glassmakers.