Reginald's Tower

PricingFree with English Heritage membershipEH memberFree entryNon-member€5

EH members go freeInfo

Free entry for English Heritage members

This place is cared for by the Office of Public Works, which runs Ireland's national heritage sites as Heritage Ireland. English Heritage members are entitled to free entry to all OPW sites from the first year of membership. Show your current membership card at admissions.

Bring the card itself: joint and family memberships admit the named holders only.
Guided sites may run tours at set times; unguided sites are free to everyone.
Prices here are in euro.

More information

Entry

Non-member prices

Adult€5.00

Child or student€3.00

Senior or group€4.00

Family€13.00

Pricing details

Standard price, sold at the door only; no online booking, EH card shown there. OPW's general rule gives free admission to children under 12 and to visitors with disabilities and their carers. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

OPW's Child/Student rate; no age band given on the page, and OPW says children under 12 visit free. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

OPW's Group/Senior rate; no age given on the page. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

OPW's family ticket; the page does not define the family. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

ParkingPay to park

No car park at the tower: Waterford City and County Council's Bolton Street pay-and-display car park, named by Waterford Treasures as the nearest, is less than three minutes' walk away at €1 an hour, with metered street parking on the Quay and the Mall at €1.80 an hour. Not a Trust car park, so membership does not cover it.

Parking details

The tower stands on the Quay in the city centre with no car park of its own. The nearest public car park, named by Waterford Treasures, is the council's Bolton Street car park about 220 m south, pay and display at €1 an hour for up to 13 hours, charged Monday to Thursday and Saturday 8.30am to 6.30pm and Friday to 9.30pm, with free coach parking; metered street parking on the Quay, the Mall and Parnell Street costs €1.80 an hour for up to two hours in the same hours, and Sundays and public holidays are outside the charged hours. Blue-badge bays are on Greyfriars Street and the Mall. OPW gives no bus or train directions.

Driving pin: OPW's own pin on the tower at the Quay and the Mall, since OPW names no car park; the Bolton Street car park is a few streets away.

About

Reginald's Tower is Ireland's oldest civic building, a round stone tower on the quay at the apex of Waterford's Viking Triangle that has been in continuous use for over 800 years and has never fallen into ruin; it was once described as a massive hinge of stone connecting the two outstretched wings of the city. A wooden Viking fort stood here first, and the Anglo-Normans built the stone tower as the strongest point of the medieval walls. It later served as a mint under King John, was used by many English monarchs and stored weapons, gunpowder and cannon. Up the spiral stairs are the remains of a nineteenth-century prison cell, the sword of the Chief Constable whose family were the tower's last residents, and two floors of the Waterford Museum of Treasures devoted to the town's thrilling Viking heritage, with coins minted here under King John among the finds. Reviewers suggest starting at the top with the introductory film and allow about an hour.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Until 30 Nov: Daily 09:30–17:00, last admission 16:15
1 Dec–4 Apr: Wed–Sun 09:30–17:00, last admission 16:15
From 5 Apr: Daily 09:30–17:00, last admission 16:15

Today, Saturday 24 October

Reginald's Tower09:30 – 17:00last admission 16:15

Prices, non-members

Adult€5.00
Child€3.00
Family€13.00

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open all year, 9.30am to 5pm with last admission 4.15pm: daily from April to November, and Wednesday to Sunday only from December to March, closed Mondays and Tuesdays in winter; OPW prints no Christmas closure. No booking for individuals; group bookings and information by email. Free admission for everyone on the first Wednesday of each month.

The tower has no toilet facilities, no cafe and no shop, and the three floors are reached only by a narrow, steep spiral staircase with a handrail, so it is not suitable for visitors with limited mobility; staff will mind bags for the climb and appropriate footwear is advised. The other Waterford Treasures museums nearby are run separately and not covered by the ticket.

Photo: Reginald's Tower at dusk, its round stone drum and conical cap lit at the junction of The Quay and The Mall, with the empty quayside road curving away to the right. Vadrefjord, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reginald%27s_Tower%2C_The_Quay%2C_Waterford_City%2C_Ireland.JPG. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.