The Granville Hotel in Waterford
The Granville Hotel in Waterford is an ideal place to stay when you are exploring Ireland’s Ancient East. It is situated in the Waterford city center overlooking the Siur (shur) River. This means it is only minutes away from the Viking Triangle, where Waterford’s 1,000-year-old medieval buildings are located.
Birthplace of Thomas Francis Meagher
The Granville began its life in the 1700s as a comfortable family home. In fact, it was the birthplace of Thomas Francis Meagher (mahr), a fascinating man who played important roles in both Irish and American history in the middle of the 19th century.
I think Meagher’s life reads like something out of a swashbuckling novel. Major chapters include: one of the leaders of the Young Ireland movement, exile in Australia, lawyer and journalist in New York, brigadier general during the American Civil War and acting governor of the Montana Territory!
Our Trip to the Granville Hotel in Waterford
Gerhard and I recently spent three nights at The Granville during our first trip to Waterford, and we found it beautiful and elegant. It was also spotlessly clean–in fact, it gleamed–and the staff were warm and welcoming.
The Bianconi Restaurant
Breakfasts and dinners at the Granville Hotel are served in the beautiful, light-filled Bianconi Restaurant. The restaurant is named in honor of Charles Bianconi, an Italian immigrant from Lombardy, who immigrated to Ireland in 1802 at the age of 16. In 1815, he started Ireland’s first commercial horse-drawn carriage service, with Clonmel, Co. Tipperary as its hub.
According to Our Irish Heritage, the carriage service became so successful that it eventually encompassed 100 vehicles, 1300 horses, 120 towns, and 40 stations for the change of horses. Bianconi set up the Waterford service in 1831, locating it in the Commin’s Family and Commercial Hotel. This hotel–which had earlier been the private home of the Meagher family–eventually turned into the Granville.
The Bianconi Restaurant Today
Today the restaurant is a warm and welcoming place, with pale green walls and leaded glass windows that let the light shine in.
Breakfast was delicious, with a buffet that included fresh juices, little dishes of fruit salad, yoghurt, home-made croissants, Irish porridge and more. A server brought us tea or coffee and took our order for a hot breakfast. Choices included a full Irish breakfast, scrambled eggs with cured salmon, a ham and cheese plate, and much more.
The Thomas Francis Meagher Bar
The Granville Hotel also has an absolutely wonderful bar, filled with warm wood, old pictures, books, open fireplaces and numerous nooks and crannies. The bar serves delicious drinks as well as lunch and dinner to guests and outside visitors alike. In addition, it has a carvery menu that serves hand-carved meats, fish, seasonal vegetables and home-made desserts.
The bar has a lovely, warm feeling, with plenty of comfortable chairs, and it became our favorite place to relax at the end of a busy day.
For all of these reasons, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Granville Hotel and look forward to returning to it soon.
