Waterford - Waterford Factory Tour and Holy Trinity Cathedral

Waterford crystal dates back to 1783, and was until recently the largest and the most respected glassworks in the world. But after the economic crisis in 2008 it shattered the market for crystal.  The huge factory outside the town closed in January 2009.  Then in 2010 the company was bought by American investors who opened a new smaller factory in the town. This factory is mainly used for special order and custom pieces, while 70% of the other crystal is made by cheaper labor in Poland, Slovakia, and Czech.

This is a grandfather clock covered in crystal.

The largest crystal champagne flute

These are the wooden molds for the crystal pieces. These can only be
used twice. They used wood because it was cheaper in the mid 1700's. They still use the
wood today especially for the custom order pieces. 

The glassblower spinning the glowing blobs of crystal into shapes. 

Blowing the crystal into the mold. Then they will allow the
crystal to cool-off and set. 

Taking the crystal out of the mold

Now the piece will go to get sanded and inspected

This guy sands the grooves and edges to make sure that they are smooth. If the
piece is not perfect he tosses it into a bin and they recycle the crystal for
another piece. While we were watching he discarded at least 6 pieces. 

There is a little room that has a sample of each piece with its
 "recipe" for making it

The room with all the samples 

T got to hold the American football on the tour. I was
praying he would not drop it. 

Glass cutter

This glass cutter holds the piece against these diamond-edge cutting wheels. They have to apply enough pressure to make sure that the grooves all match. They cut the most intricate patterns. The crystal may look light but its heavy. After the tour I definitely gained an appreciation for all the Waterford crystal in my house that has been handed down to me. The guide gave an excellent tour that lasted over an hour and he even took questions from the group. My children were the only kids on the tour and actually they were the only children I ever saw in the factory. Towards the end of the tour you can look at all pieces they have done and of course they drop you into the big gift shop! Just like rides at Disney World - they end in a gift shop! The biggest piece they have ever made is still the crystal ball in Times Square which is 12 feet wide. WOW! 

A piece they did for NYC after 9/11

The factory store

L said she wanted this for her bedroom. Ummm..no!

After the tour we found a little shopping area and popped in a few stores. We had about an hour to waste before we went to the vigil mass at Holy Trinity Cathedral. We bought some fleece pajamas for the children and socks. Its starting to get cold here at night.  Then we found a little cafe to eat dinner at before mass.

Holy Trinity Cathedral

A gift from Waterford to the Church

The main alter and again more Waterford chandeliers

In 1793, the English king granted Ireland the Irish Relief Act, which one of the things was allowing the Irish to build Catholic churches and worship publicly. The Irish built this cathedral and its Ireland's only Baroque style Church. The building was funded by wealthy Irish wine merchants from Spain. This church has 10 Waterford Crystal chandeliers. The priest said a lovely mass and read the Pope's letter re: fasting and prayers for Syria. A lady after mass came up to me and said it was so nice to see children going to mass and behaving so nicely. It definitely made me proud of them! After that we hopped in the car and then had to figure out how to pay for the parking. That is always interesting here since they usually do pay stations instead of a person at the exit. We got home around 9pm and my mother turned on the heat 30 minutes before we got home so the house would be toasty. We all had a glass of hot chocolate and went to bed! 

There are a few Catholic saints from County Wexford. St. Declan was a prince that evangelized in Ireland and even crossed paths with St. Patrick. St. Carthage founded a monastery in Lismore which became known for its learning and was visited by many people. St. Otteran was an abbot and is the patron of the Diocese of Waterford.