Reginald's Tower

Reginald's Tower
Reginald's Tower in Waterford, Ireland
Location of Reginald's Tower in Ireland
General information
Type	Fortified tower
Town or city	Waterford
Country	Ireland
Coordinates	52°15′37.5″N 7°6′19.5″W / 52.260417°N 7.105417°W / 52.260417; -7.105417Coordinates: 52°15′37.5″N 7°6′19.5″W / 52.260417°N 7.105417°W / 52.260417; -7.105417
Construction started	1003
Renovated	13th–14th century
Height	54 ft
Dimensions
Diameter	42½ ft
Technical details
Material	Stone

Reginald’s Tower is a historic tower in Waterford, Munster, Ireland. It is located at the eastern end of the city quay. The tower has been in usage for different purposes for many centuries and is an important landmark in Waterford and an important remnant of its medieval urban defence system. It is the oldest civic building in Ireland and it is the only urban monument in Ireland to retain a Norse or Viking name.

Reginald's Tower was built by the Anglo-Normans after their conquest of Waterford. It was built upon the site of a Viking fort. The tower's name is derived from an Anglicised form of the Irish name Raghnall, which is in turn a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Røgnvaldr. The tower's name seems to refer to one of the many Viking rulers of the town that bore the name. One possibility is that it refers to Ragnall mac Gillemaire, the last Hiberno-Norse ruler of the town. The present tower is likely to have been built in the 13th or 14th century; it may have been constructed between 1253 and 1280. In 1185 Prince John of England landed in Waterford and organised the rebuilding of the city's defences, including the tower.

The tower is 54 feet high; its horizontal cross section is circular. It is 42½ feet in diameter and is surmounted by a conical roof. A spiral staircase ascends within the thick walls - these are 10 feet wide at the base, tapering down to 7 feet at the top. It was part of the ancient city walls of Waterford and could be considered the apex of a triangle formed by three structures – Turgesius Tower on Barronstrand Street, St. Martins Castle on Lady Lane, and Reginald’s Tower at the quay and the mall. It was strategically located on the high ground between a branch of St. John's River on the southeast (since drained, and now known as the Mall) and the River Suir to the north. It is also very close to the historic French Church. The site is sometimes called Dundory (an Irish word which means "fort of oak"), and hence the tower is occasionally called the Dundory Tower. It is also known as the Ring Tower. It was one of seventeen towers which encircled the city of Waterford in medieval times. Today it is the largest of the six surviving towers, which are considered the finest examples of medieval urban defence in Ireland. The other surviving towers are the Watch Tower, Double Tower, French Tower, Semi-Lunar Tower and Beach Tower.