the former

Waterford Jewish Community

& Hebrew Congregation

Waterford, Ireland

JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and Gibraltar, both past and present.

56 Manor Street, Waterford, in September 2014
(last address of the community's former synagogue)
© David Shulman 2014

City of Waterford

The city of Waterford (Irish: Port Lairge), in Southeast Ireland, lies a few miles inland from the coast. Although geographically part of County Waterford, the city of Waterford has a separate administration, and was officially referred to as a "County Borough" until 2001, when the term was formally replaced by "City". Waterford has a population of about 45,000.

Waterford Jewish Community

Individual Jews are known to have settled in Waterford from as early as 1701/2, when one Jacob Nunes, was admitted to the freedom of the city.⁽ⁱ⁾ However it was not until towards the end of the nineteenth century that there were sufficient numbers to establish an organised community and synagogue. The community never numbered much in excess of 60, probably reaching its peak just prior to World War I, and went into gradual decline during the interwar years.

The following is the only Jewish congregation known to have existed in Waterford.

Congregation Data
Name:	Waterford Hebrew Congregation
Synagogue Address:	88 The Manor, Waterford, about 1894⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ 56 Manor Street, Waterford, from at least 1913⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾
Date Founded:	Founded in September 1893^(iv)
Current Status:	Closed in about 1947^(v)
Ritual:	Orthodox - Ashkenazi
Ministers & Readers (Chazanim): *(To view a short profile of a minister or reader whose name appears in blue - hold the cursor over his name.)*	Rev. Simon Aarons - minister about 1894^(vii) Rev. Harry Jonas - minister about 1896^(viii) Rev. James Littman - minister about 1896/7^(ix) Rev. S. King (1st term) - reader from about 1911 until 1912^(x) Rev. Salem Turtledove - reader from at least 1913 until about 1914^(xi) Rev. S. King (2nd term) - reader from about 1914 until about 1917^(x) Rev. Isaiah Ticktin - minister from about 1919 until about 1927^(xii) Rev. A. Wilkow - minister from about 1927 until about 1932^(xiii) Rev. B. Moher - minister from about 1932 until about 1938^(xiv)
Lay Officers:	Raphael Smullian - founder and initial president (1893-1894), later again president (from at least 1912) and treasurer (from at least 1913) probably until demise of congregation.^(xviii) J. William Goldring - president (1894 until 1898).^(xix) L. Robinson - treasurer (about 1894) and vice president (1896).^(xx) J. Levy - hon. secretary (about 1894).^(xxi) L. Levi - hon. secretary and treasurer (about 1896).^(xxii) Joseph Garber - hon. secretary from about 1932 until demise of congregation.^(xxiii)
Cemetery:	There was no Jewish cemetery in Waterford.
Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above) (i) Louis Hyman, The Jews of Ireland (1972), p. 22. ↵ (ii) Referred to in a Jewish Chronicle press report of 23 November 1894. ↵ (iii) This was the address given for the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1914 until the demise of the congregation. ↵ (iv) Jewish Chronicle press report of 22 September 1893. ↵ (v) Based upon the community's last appearance in the Jewish Year Book 1947, although the congregation could well have become defunct some years earlier. ↵ (vi) Reserved. (vii) Referred to in a Jewish Chronicle press report of 23 November 1894. ↵ (viii) Referred to in Jewish Chronicle press reports of 13 March 1896 and 23 October 1896. ↵ (ix) There is reference to Rev. Littman in a Jewish Chronicle press report of 6 November 1896. In his Jewish Chronicle obituary of 12 March 1937 he is stated to have served the Waterford congregation forty years earlier. ↵ (x) Although Rev. King was listed as the congregation's reader, shochet and teacher in Jewish Year Books 1915 through 1917, there is a Jewish Chronicle press report of 16 February 1912 reporting Rev. King's move from Waterford to Dundee. Accordingly it is assumed that he served the Waterford community for two separate periods. (There were neither readers or ministers listed for the congregation in the 1918 and 1919 editions) ↵ (xi) Based upon Rev. Turtledove's listing as the congregation's reader, shochet and teacher in the Jewish Year Book 1914 and Jewish Chronicle press report of 18 July 1913. ↵ (xii) Based upon Rev. Ticktin's listing as minister for the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1920 through 1927. ↵ (xiii) Based upon Rev. Wilkow's listing as minister for the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1928 through 1932. ↵ (xiv) Based upon Rev. Moher's listing as minister for the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1933 through 1938. There were no further listings of any minister or reader for the congregation. ↵ (xv) to (xvii) Reserved (xviii) Mr. Smullian appears as president of the congregation in Jewish Chronicle reports of 22 September 1893 and 20 October 1894. He is also listed as president in the Jewish Year Book 1913 and as president and treasurer in the editions from 1914 until the last appearance of the congregation (1947). ↵ (xix) Mr. Goldring is first named as president of the congregation in a Jewish Chronicle report of 23 November 1894 and his death is reported the Jewish Chronicle of 15 September 1898. (Nevertheless, he continues to be erroneously listed as president in Jewish Year Books until 1912.) ↵ (xx) Mr. Robinson is named as treasurer of the congregation in a Jewish Chronicle report of 23 November 1894 and as vice president in a Jewish Chronicle of 23 October 1896. ↵ (xxi) Mr. Levy is named as hon. secretary of the congregation in a Jewish Chronicle report of 23 November 1894. ↵ (xxii) Mr. Levi is named as hon. secretary and treasurer of the congregation in a Jewish Chronicle report of 23 October 1896. ↵ (xxiii) Mr. Garber is listed as hon. secretary of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1933 until the last appearance of the congregation (the 1947 edition). ↵

Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Waterford include:

UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database - Waterford records (as of the March 2024 update):
- JCR-UK Listings (records of 13 individuals).

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Waterford Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

Press Reports relating to the Waterford Jewish Community 1893 - 1998.

on third parties' websites

Jewish Waterford, 1893-1940 - article by David Toms, dated 12 February 2014, appearing on The Dustbin of History website.
In search of a lost community and the former synagogue in Waterford - blog by Patrick Comerford, 15 March 2019.

Waterford Jewish Population Data
1861 and 1871	1	1861 & !871 Census of Ireland (Louis Hyman The Jews of Ireland, 1972, p. 156)
1914	40	Jewish Year Book 1915
1917	37	Jewish Year Book 1918
1939	6 families	Jewish Year Book 1940
1945	15	Jewish Year Book 1945/46
1985	6	Jewish Chronicle report of 13 September 1985
1991	9	1991 Census of Ireland

List of all JCR-UK Articles and Press Extracts by Harold Pollins

JCR-UK Ireland Home Page

Page created: 12 June 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 16 October 2020
Page most recently amended: 27 March 2024

Research by David Shulman and Harold Pollins

Formatting by David Shulman

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