Cultural Quarter Films

 

 

Cultural Quarter Films are a series of short videos and stories that celebrates the rich heritage of O’Connell Street and its surrounding areas.

 

CQ Films are both a historical and social history insight into this section of the city. The Medieval city Wall was broken through in the early 18th Century at T & H Doolans Pub in Georges Street to expand the city and this area that was created is now called the Cultural Quarter.

These short films aims to show visitors and locals alike some stories from this area’s past told by people who grew up, worked or played in the area. We hope you enjoy them and we would welcome any feedback as we see it as an organic series that will develop in the years to come. Created and produced by Waterford Youth Arts in 2021 with support from Waterford Council Arts Office, Waterford Cultural Quarter and Creative Waterford. This is a long term project that will be rolled out over the coming years, phase 1 which has 16 videos in total was released in March 2022, phase 2,3 & 4 will be added to this series as they are produced.

You can view all of the short films on our Story Map by clicking HERE or by clicking anywhere on the image of the map below. Alternatively, you can navigate through our 16 short films by using the film index located below this map image.

 

 

Cultural Quarter Films Story Map

Cultural Quarter Films Story Map

CQ Film Index

1	T &H Doolans	2	St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and it’s links to Newfoundland
3	The Jacobs Family	4	Friend’s Meeting House and the Quakers in Waterford
5	O’Connell Street	6	Murphy Engineering
7	Waterford Newspapers	8	Bell’s Shop & Chemist
9	Mary Street, the Strangmans and the Old Motor Car Trade in Waterford	10	Peter O’Connor
11	Royal Oak Tavern and John Moore & Charles Bianconi	12	The Toll Bridge, Trains & Shipping – Memories of the 1st World War and its impact on Waterford
13	Tenements and Poverty in Waterford	14	Whites – Shipping, Chemist and Chandlers
15	Neighbours on Bridge Street	16	Willy Watt – Waterford Sack & Bag Company.

 

 

“By knocking through the City Wall(s) in the 18th century this district (O’Connell Street & surrounding areas) was created for commercial development.”

In this video local Historian Des Griffin explains how the area which is now called ‘The Cultural Quarter’ was created in the early 18th Century. Before that it was a walled Medieval City and the City ‘Fathers’ at this time in 1705 took the decision to break open the Walls at whats now called Georges Street and expand the business, the marine trading and cultural community in this new direction.

 

 

The Story Of Waterford: From The Foundation Of The City To The Middle Of The Eighteenth Century (published in 1915) by Edmund Downey (1856-1937) is a history of Waterford City, established by the Vikings in the 9th century until a period of huge prosperity in the late 18th century..
Downey was an author and also a local newspaper editor and his book is worth reading but first have a look at his first chapter which gives a good insight into the multi-cultural origins of the City – called ‘The Psychology of Waterford’

Find out more about Waterford’s colourful and vibrant history by clicking here to read this excerpt from  “The Psychology of Waterford by Edmund Downey”

And here is a link to the full book 

https://www.askaboutireland.ie/aai-files/assets/ebooks/62%20The%20Story%20of%20Waterford/62%20The%20Story%20of%20Waterford.pdf