Waterford Templar Historical Day
Waterford: founded by Vikings, shaped by Normans and Knights Templar.
Both Waterford and Wexford, key Anglo-Norman landing points, along with the broader southeast of Ireland (Co. Kilkenny, Co. Carlow, and parts of Tipperary), held particular significance for the Knights Templar in the wake of the Anglo-Norman invasion. While the Templars did not enter Ireland as a unified military force, many of the Anglo-Norman knights who crossed the seas were themselves members of the Order, leaving a distinct spiritual and cultural imprint.
Co. Waterford, and especially the city of Waterford, with its strategic position as a vital port, became a stronghold of this presence, marked by Templar preceptories, castles, and houses that anchored their role in this region. Here, amid the blending of Norse, Irish, and Anglo-Norman traditions, the Templar legacy took deep root and became an enduring thread in Waterford’s medieval identity.
Waterford Templar Historical Day
In choosing to dedicate my dissertation for the MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage to the Knights Templar, I was drawn to the south-east of Ireland—the region where their story in this country truly began, in the aftermath of the Anglo-Norman invasion and the capture of Waterford by Strongbow, followed soon after by the entry of Henry II, the Angevin king of England and husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine, both staunch supporters of the Templars. It seemed the natural place to begin uncovering the layers of memory and meaning in Ireland’s Templar legacy.
The idea for Waterford Templar Day emerged not only due to an academic exploration of these sites, but also as a public history initiative to make Templar history more accessible to publics and as tribute to the volunteers of the Knights Templar Project, begun by Paddy Houlihan with his granddaughter Katie, whose dedication has lovingly restored the gardens of one of Ireland’s principal Templar preceptories. Their efforts embody the same spirit of remembrance and stewardship that this wider project seeks to uphold.
Building on my contribution to a UNESCO intangible heritage campaign in 2009 where my work played a pivotal role and inspired by the 2011 UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation, I initially set out to create a public event at Kilbarry Knights Templar Graveyard, celebrating its medieval heritage and cultural diversity. This project, which also formed part of my public history proposals for my MA dissertation, has since evolved into the annual Templar Historical Day and is framed not only within the above UNESCO Recommendation but also in alignment with the European 2030 Tourism Agenda and the European Year of the Normans 2027 recently approved by Irish cabinet; a transnational cultural initiative celebrating the shared history and impact of the Norman people across Europe, from northern France to England, Ireland, and the Mediterranean.
With Councillor John Hearne and Knight Commander Brendan M. Rohan, from the Irish branch of OSMTH, (an international chivalric Order emulating the core humanitarian principles of the historic Knights Templar Order with charitable status and having an NGO seat at the United Nations, advising on humanitarian issues worldwide), we are launching an annual Waterford Historical Templar Day each October around the 13th (the date of the 1307 arrests).
This year’s Waterford Templar Historical Day takes place on Saturday, 11 October, with the following programme:
At Kilbarry Knights Templar Graveyard:
Remembrance Service - Kilbarry Cemetery, 12 noon:
Interfaith memorial service at Kilbarry Cemetery
Wedding reenactment of Isabel de Clare and William Marshal
In Waterford city, after lunch:
Templar Parade - The Mall, 3:30-4 pm: With historical re-enactors led by Conchobhar Ó Súilleabháin and mounted real Knights Templar.
Afternoon Conference Session - Tower Hotel, 5 pm:
1) History of Kilbarry Templar Preceptory, past & present – by Helena B. Scott
Discover Kilbarry’s history as a Templar preceptory and church, its present role as a cemetery and “outdoor participatory museum”, as well as previously unrecorded archaeological findings identified by Helena. Her talk is based on her dissertation for her MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage, completed at the University of Limerick. Includes QA session.
2) Modern Knight Templar orders and a brief overview of OSMTH by its Irish branch
Inspired by Portugal’s “Templar Days” festivals, Waterford Templar Day remembers the arrest of the Knights Templar on 13 October 1307 and celebrates Ireland’s own forgotten Templar heritage.
Designed as an annual tradition to restore Ireland’s forgotten Templar legacy, it will engage communities while promoting sustainable, off-peak tourism through the island’s rich Templar history and sites.
Wateford Templar Historical Day
PROGRAMME
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Wedding re-enactment: Templar William Marshal & Isabel de Clare
At Kilbarry Knights Templar Graveyard, 12:05 PM
Historical re-enactment of the wedding of medieval power couple Templar William Marshal (the greatest knight that ever lived) and Isabel de Clare, daughter of Strongbow and Aoife.
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Interfaith Templar Remembrance Service
At Kilbarry Knights Templar Graveyard, 12:30 PM
The Templar remembrance service at Kilbarry is held to honor the memory of the Knights Templar arrested in France on Friday 13 October 1307, as well as all fallen Templars across the various faiths of the Order.
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Costumed Templar Parade
Reginald’s Tower 3:30-4 PM
Featuring historical re-enactors led by Conchobhar Ó Súilleabháin and mounted real Knights Templar. The parade will assemble at 15:30 on The Mall in front of the Tower Hotel, proceed along Parade Quay and Meagher’s Quay with a short detour into John Roberts Square, circle the Shaws roundabout with Garda assistance, and return along the quays to conclude at the Tower Hotel.
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History Conference Session
At the Tower Hotel, 5 PM
Helena B. Scott will present the history of Kilbarry as a Templar preceptory and church, its current role as a cemetery and participatory outdoor museum, and her recent identification of previously unrecorded site archaeology from her MA dissertation. Includes Q&A session and is followed by a brief overview of modern Templar orders and OSMTH by its Irish branch.
Kilbarry stands as one of Ireland’s earliest and most important Templar preceptories, granted by Henry II in 1180 on land already long marked as sacred. As an administrative, economic, and spiritual hub, it bound Waterford’s frontier into the wider networks of crusade and Christendom, while continuing older traditions of veneration rooted in the landscape. Even after the Templars’ suppression, Kilbarry endured under the Hospitallers, leaving behind a layered legacy that speaks of faith, power, and continuity across centuries.
—Helena B. Scott, dissertation excerpt, MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage
