Waterford Treasures celebrates a quarter of a century welcoming visitors from all over the world and to date the museums celebrate 1.5 million paying visitors - each of whom has enjoyed a visit to at least one of the museums in Ireland’s oldest City.
In 1999, Waterford City’s very first museum opened under the banner ‘Waterford Treasures’ to-date, that museum is the award-winning Medieval Museum and under the banner ‘Waterford Treasures’ there is now a collection of five museums plus a Viking Virtual Reality Experience at the Viking House and the EPIC Guided walking tour, all located in Waterford’s historic core, the Viking Triangle.
Speaking of the milestone CEO at Waterford Treasures Sara Dolan says, “Waterford Treasures has grown from being one museum celebrating our city’s impressive heritage to a global attraction welcoming visitors from Ireland and the world over and picking up a host of awards along the way. Waterford Treasures has been and continues to be a real driver for the tourism economy in Waterford and indeed the Southeast region having welcomed over 2 million visitors to date and ambition to continue to break annual visitor records year on year. We’re excited to mark this significant milestone, a silver anniversary and reflect on the journey and evolution over the past 25 years at our conference early next month.”
To celebrate its quarter-of-a-century status Waterford Treasures is set to host the international conference: ‘Waterford and the Wider World 1500–1800’ on 8th & 9th November.
The event will offer an opportunity to delegates to hear the unique and untold story of the Waterford diaspora worldwide. Nineteen scholars from USA, Spain, Italy, France, the UK and Ireland will give illustrated talks on the Waterford connection to Britain, France and Southern Europe in the 1500s and 1600s. Merchants, army men (the ‘Wild Geese’), trainee priests and economic migrants in times of hardship will all feature, even a connection to the Portuguese Inquisition. The involvement of Waterfordians with the Americas, the Caribbean and Asia will also be presented, including the slave trade.
Speaking of the conference Rosemary Ryan at Waterford Treasures says, “John Mannion, well-known to Waterford people for his lifework researching the Newfoundland connection, will give a pre-recorded talk and our own Julian Walton will give a lighthearted talk on research in Spain before computerisation and digitisation.”
“Connections with Spain are huge: 10% of Waterford’s trade was with Cadiz in the 1740s – 1760s which was the centre of Catholic Spain’s vast transatlantic trade. Half the immigrant population there was from Waterford and environs and they all inter-married, keeping business in the family. This will be a unique event looking back at the last 25 years of Waterford Treasures, but also far beyond.”
"Global connections will be detailed, including that of Laurence Carew who married a Spaniard. His Carew Langton Power company with Kilkenny son-in-law Nicholas Langton and Waterford nephew Juan Power made him a very rich man. He paid for a chapel that you can still visit today in Cadiz while in tandem at Waterford Treasures, there is a display set of magnificent silver candlesticks and crucifix that he gifted back to Waterford, part of the largest surviving collection of 1700s émigré silver.
“We also display incredibly beautiful and fragile Chinese porcelain tableware commissioned by Langton. His descendant visited us in Waterford Treasures during the summer and her son has been living in Ireland for eight years. A guided tour of the objects connected to these highly mobile and culturally adaptable people is included in the conference.” Rosemary concludes.
To enjoy a discovery of Waterford’s contribution worldwide from Seville to St John’s, Newfoundland, and from Malaga to Mazulipatam at the upcoming conference, see https://www.waterfordtreasures.com/
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