In 1783, George and William Penrose opened a glass company in Ireland called Flint Glass Works. Although glassmaking had been popular throughout England and Ireland for a number of decades, the high rate of taxes and a number of parliamentary acts made it nearly impossible for one to open a productive glasshouse. The Parliamentary Act of 1780 opened free trade to the emerald isle. In Waterford County, Ireland, George and William Penrose began building a glass factory. Ironically, the brothers were not skilled in the art of blowing and cutting glass and viewed the opening of the glass works as a potentially profitable business under the new trade laws. They hired John Hill of Worcester’s Stourbridge Glass Works and brought in 50 skilled artisans from the European continent. John Hill was named the company’s managing director.

From the outset, the brothers demonstrated a keen sense of business. They began by petitioning parliament for government subsidies. By pointing out that England and Ireland would reduce its import of glass and by promising to run a business that would employ 60-70 employees, George and William was granted a 10,000 pound subsidy. After having set up their business, the brothers began to woe the aristocracy of Ireland and England. In 1788, Waterford produced a glassware service as a gift to her Majesty, Charlotte Sofia, wife to King George III. The King and Queen were so charmed by the crystal service that they ordered the set to be displayed at Cheltenham. Local newspaper reporters were thrilled by the sight of Waterford’s curious design. In 1790, George and William invited the aristocracy to tour their factory. Dignitaries such as the Countess of Westmoreland, the Marquis and Marchioness of Waterford, and the Bishop of Ossory arrived in Waterford and were delighted by the manufacturing process shown to them.

The original owners and their managing director decided to sell the old Flint Glass Works in 1799. Waterford was purchased by Jonathan Gatchell, an apprentice at the factory. Between 1800 and 1823, Waterford grew most rapidly. Jonathan Gatchell developed a plan by which his children could inherit and manage the glass works at Waterford. Also, Gatchell constructed a larger factory and hired 25 more employees. Jonathan Gatchell’s son, George inherited the factory in 1835, on his 21st birthday. The old Flint Glass Works would only survive for another 16 years. New taxes were levied on the import and export of crystal under the unction of King George IV. Unable to find a partner with a considerable amount of contributive capital, George Gatchell auctioned off the Waterford’s Flint Glass Works factory. In 1851, Flint Glass Works closed its doors and remained closed for more than a century.

To understand how and why Waterford’s Glass Works would be reopened in the 20th century, one must understand the legends that developed around the famed glass maker. Waterford had been the only successful manufacturer of crystal in Ireland. The company represented the industrial revolution to the Irish people. Flint Glass Work’s product was sought after by the aristocracies of Europe. After the company’s closing, many of the Irish people would struggle for Independence from England. The struggles and civil wars in Ireland left the agrarian peoples of isle poor and disillusioned. During the 19th century, nearly half of Ireland’s population would immigrate to the United States. With them, they brought stories of Ireland’s famed glassmaker, Waterford. Before this point, no backstamps or “signatures” were used on crystal. As a result, it became vogue for Americans to refer to their crystal as Waterford. The Irish told stories of Waterford crystal having the clearest ring of all glass. At dinner parties, people began tapping their crystal with their silver to hear what type of ring it would produce. Another myth that developed around Waterford was that “it was so clear, that it was blue.” Consequently, blue glassware in the United States began being referred to as Waterford.

During the 1930’s, Ireland set out to develop a modern industrial society. Wanting more industry and to slow the number of immigrants, Ireland began inviting wealthy prospectors into the country. A group of Belgians, lead by two Irishmen, Joseph McGrath and Joseph Griffin, invested in the nearly defunct Irish Bottle Co. The partners opened what they called a “pilot factory.” This factory, in Ballytruckle, Ireland, successfully weathered hardships resulting from the great depression as well as the Second World War. By 1950, McGrath, Griffin, and Bernard Fitzpatrick, an important shareholder in the company, decided to revive the Waterford tradition. The Irish state remained poor with an unskilled labor force. The managing partners, like the Penroses before them, went to the European continent to find a skilled labor force. Their work was not hard as displacement camps throughout Europe remained full. Displacements camps were set up following the Second World War for those whose homes were destroyed or for people who had been transported to death or labor camps by the Nazis. Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland were famed for their glassblowers and cutters. The people of Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland were hardest hit and most poor as a result of the Second World War because they were first in sight of Hitler’s conquest for Europe.

McGrath and Griffin returned to Ireland and brought with them 30 skilled glass blowers and cutters. They began an apprentice program like none other. The 30 men brought from Europe trained Irishmen in the arts of glassmaking. Although these displaced artisans stayed for many years, all but one returned to the continent. A new factory was built in Johnstown in Waterford County. In 1951, the new factory opened exactly 100 years to the day that the old Flint Glass Works closed in 1851.

Today, Waterford employs more than 3,000 people. Their business remains steeped in tradition. The apprenticeship program that was instituted in 1951 to ensure the employment of Irishmen remains. Their crystal stemware can be found on tables throughout the world. Their chandeliers hang in buildings such as Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, and the Kennedy Center. Each pattern or “suite” of crystal made by Waterford reflects the Irish spirit and the history of the emerald isle. Many of Waterford’s pattern names are those of young and beautiful girls. Alana, first produced in 1952, is a girl’s name meaning “darling.” Sheila came from Anglo-Norman Caecelia and has evolved into Cecelia. Colleen was first produced in 1968 and is the Irish word for “young girl.” The name is almost never used in Ireland as a first name but is quite common in the United States. In 1968, Waterford produced Ashling. Ashling is a girl’s name meaning “dream of beauty.”

Other patterns by Waterford have been introduced to celebrate the isle itself. The Lismore pattern was first produced in 1957 and celebrates Lismore Castle in Waterford County. Powerscourt was first produced in 1969 and was produced in celebration of the Powerscourt Gardens in County Wicklow which is famed for its collection of Asian botanicals. Kenmare was first produced in 1968 and reminisces of the seaside town Kenmare in Kerry County. As Waterford has grown, it has introduced several lines of Christmas ornaments as well as giftware.