Waterford Templar Historical Day
Saturday, 11 October 2025
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.
Together with 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 offered FREE OF CHARGE to citizens of Waterford and all attendees:
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
Public acknowledgement and awarding of certificates of recognition by OSMTH to Kilbarry Knights Templar Graveyard Project and to historian Helena B. Scott
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.
MY VOW TO THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
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; a marriage that shaped not only the fortunes of England, but also the future of Ireland It was a union that brought peace to Leinster, strengthened ties between peoples, and laid the foundations of prosperity in Ireland’s south-east
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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 honour 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, past and present, which has been incorrectly perceived as a Catholic order, but was actually interfaith with Christians (Gnostics and Catholics) but also Muslims and Jews as part of the citizen class, as evidenced by the Templar Rule and records but also recent scholarship and my own MA dissertation research.
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Costumed Templar Parade
Reginald’s Tower 3:30-4 PM
Featuring historical re-enactors led by Conchobhar Ó Súilleabháin and Knights Templar on horseback. The parade will assemble at 15:30 on The Mall in front of the Tower Hotel and begin around or just before 4 pm, proceeding along Parade Quay and Meagher’s Quay with a short detour into John Roberts Square, circling the Shaws roundabout, and returning along the quay and The Mall to conclude at the Tower Hotel where a conference session will take place.
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History Conference Session
Tower Hotel, Dunmore Room, 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.
Organising Team
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Helena B. Scott
FOUNDER: historian, Linguist & published author, Master of Arts (MA) in Public History & Cultural Heritage
Helena B. Scott’s early public history work was pivotal in a UNESCO campaign to declare Falconry as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. Specialising in historical revisionism with a focus on medieval history (especially the Knights Templar), her unique approach blends archaeology, esoteric tradition, oral history, linguistics, mythopoetics/archetypal psychology, symbolism, and psychospiritual insight—bridging scholarship with mystery and restoring forgotten stories to life.
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Brendan M. Rohan
CO-FOUNDER: Commandant (retd), Knight Commander of the Temple of Jerusalem (KCTJ), OSMTH Ireland
His military career began in the FCA and progressed rapidly in the Irish Defence Forces, where he excelled as a marksman, instructor, and innovator—designing the Defence Forces Parachute Wings at just 19 and developing survival and military pentathlon programs. Brendan has extensive experience in initiating and leading major historical projects, from creating monuments and publications to inspiring international commemorations and festivals that attract global recognition.
With the participation and support of professional heritage re-enactor Conchobhar Ó Súilleabháin and his celebrated re-enactment group:
Eóganachta:
Our Living History group is dedicated to bringing the past to life through authentic demonstrations, historical interpretation, and hands-on experiences. Each of our members research and recreate the everyday lives, skills, and stories of people from Medieval Ireland, helping the public connect with history in an engaging and memorable way.
Whether at schools, museums, or public events, we make history something you can see, touch, and experience.
“Trí stair a mhíniú, tuigimid ár bhféiniúlacht”
(Through explaining history, we understand our identity)
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, Master of Arts (MA) in Public History and Cultural Heritage
© 2025 Helena B. Scott. All rights reserved.
