XAW018978 IRELAND (1948). General View, Waterford, Kilkenny, Ireland, 1948. Oblique aerial photograph taken facing West.

A fascinating Post-Emergency shot of Waterford City, which had undergone relatively few changes in townscape or population since the 1930s. In 1936, 28,000 inhabitants were recorded in the Census, compared to 28,300 a decade later and 28,900 in '56. In 1947, the famous old Waterford Glass industry was re-established at an extensive site on the Cork Road. Postwar changes accelerated from the mid-1960s, with the development of new housing, both private and corporation, and large industrial estates to the south and west of the city, mostly between the Cork and Cleaboy roads. By the turn of the century, Waterford's population had expanded to nearly 45,000.