Waterford (wô'tēr-fērd) n.
A short, affirming, verse of four usually iambic lines with the rhyme scheme abba, in which the first and fourth lines are of eight syllables, and the second and third lines are of four. A waterford can be biographic (about a person, or group of people), geographic (about a place), or ekphrastic (about an artwork or art form). [est. 2024, named after Co. Waterford in south-east Ireland, founded by Kevin MacAlan]
Click the 'EXAMPLES' button to learn more about this poetry format, with a selection of examples and an FAQ section.Click the 'ABOUT' button for details of the next annual waterford competition. Open to anyone, from anywhere, and free to enter!Click the 'ENTER' button to enter the competition.
Congratulations!
This is a list of the ten winners from the inaugural waterford competition (2024). Some of these winning waterfords can be found on this site's archive section, but they were all published in a special edition of Poetry Corner in The Dungarvan Leader on December 6th, 2024.In alphabetical order of poet, the winners were:Colm Barry with Féileacán
Flex Browne with In Comeragh's Shadows, Peaks Arise
Paul Bullman with Waterford
John Byrne with Michael 'Brick' Walsh
Joshua Dyson with A Coumshingaun Waterford
Neil Hallinan with Eulogy for an Irishman
Hilary Healy with The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife
Joe Kelly with Ireland
Alan Murphy with The Bell Epoch
David Ryan with Flow on Lovely River
Eight of the ten winning poets accepted an invitation to read at Winterverse on December 8th, at The Marine Bar in Dungarvan. Pictured here, left to right, are Neil Hallinan, Alan Murphy, Joshua Dyson, Colm Barry, Hillary Healy, Kevin MacAlan, John Byrne, and David RyanOnce again, congratulations to our winners. We had hundreds of entries, and judging was very tough.
So, what is a waterford?
It’s shorter than a limerick - it has only four lines. This might be why it has been described as "the Irish haiku"!Like the limerick, it has its own rhythm and has to rhyme in a particular way - the 1st and 4th lines have eight syllables each and rhyme with each other, and the 2nd and 3rd have four syllables each, and rhyme with each other.This makes the waterford a quatrain, with an abba rhyming scheme (if you want to get technical about it).Think of the waterford as a word caricature, a thumbnail character sketch in four lines. These thumbnail sketches can be about people, places, or art.Another important distinction between the limerick and the waterford, is that the limerick pokes fun, or is insulting, whereas the waterford is complimentary. The idea is that a waterford celebrates its subject; it’s a positive commentary.Let's look at some examples:
Joe Kelly
A piller of society,
With just a touch,
But not too much,
Of local notoriety.
This is a biographic waterford, celebrating the personality of Dungarvan legend, Joe Kelly.
By the way, "piller" isn't a typo. Joe is a pharmacist, this is typical waterford word play!
Dungarvan
Dungarvan is a seaside town
With ev’rything
A place could bring
To make a frown turn upside down.This is a geographic waterford, waxing lyrical about a coastal town in Co. Waterford.
By the way, it's just a coincidence that Dungarvan is in Co Waterford. A waterford can be written about anywhere and anyone! No Waterford connection is necessary.
The Waterford Rhyme
The waterford is hard to write,
You have to count
The right amount
Of syllables and lines: It’s tight!This is an ekphrastic waterford. Coincidentally, it happens to be a waterford about waterfords!
FAQs
Can a waterford have more than four lines?
No. All waterfords are four lines long.Does line length matter?
Yes. Most definitely. To be recognised as a waterford, the first and fourth lines must be eight syllables, and the second and third, four.Can a waterford have more than one verse?
No. A waterford consists of a single verse of four lines.Does a waterford need to be about a subject that has a connection with Co Waterford?
No. You can write a waterford about anyone, any place or any piece of art.Does the poet who writes a waterford need to have a connection with Co Waterford?
No. The waterford is a global art form - open to all. We encourage everybody, the world over, to embrace this concise expression of positivity!Does a waterford have to rhyme?
Yes. To be recognised as a waterford, the verse must have an abba rhyming scheme. However, all forms of rhyme are acceptable. It needn't be 'perfect rhyme'.Must a waterford be funny?
Absolutely not. Sure, it can be, but it doesn't have to be. A waterford can express the full gambit of emotions. It is a poetic form. As such, it can be used wherever poetry is appropriate.Must a waterford have a title?
It is preferrable, but not essential. By default, if a waterford is left untitled, either the subject, the first line, or the first few words of the first line, will often be used as a 'de facto' title.Can a waterford be rude, or insulting?
No. In this manner, the waterford is entirely different to the limerick. The limerick is defined as being bawdy or mocking. The waterford is an affirming verse. To be recognised as a waterford, the subject is given reverence. A waterford needs be a positive commentary. Peace out!Must a waterford be written in the English language?
No. El waterford es una forma de arte global - abierta a todos. ¡Animamos a todos, en todo el mundo, a que abracen esta concisa expresión de positividad!Does a waterford need punctuation?
Punctuation marks can be helpful to the reader, but there is no hard and fast rule. The use of punctuation in any poetry is an artistic choice. It is no different for a waterford.Is a waterford better than a limerick?
Not better, just different. We're all for a bit of inter-county rivalry here in Ireland, but no single nation has contributed more to poetic excellence. The limerick has an eight-hundred year headstart, but even fans of the limerick should welcome the appeal of the waterford, and be happy to see it make its mark on the world.
All sorts experimented with the limerick, including Rudyard Kipling, John Cooper Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Ogden Nash, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson and even William Shakespeare. Give me a few centuries and I'm sure I'll be able to share an equally impressive list of waterforders.
Click the 'ABOUT' button for details of the next annual waterford competition. Open to anyone, from anywhere, and free to enter!Click the 'ENTER' button to enter the competition.
The Archives...
How it all began...
A selection of 2024's winners...
Waterford Competition 2025
The next annual waterford competition will be launched in August 2025. Probably just for fun and bragging rights, but we are hoping to secure some funding for a dedicated award event. A longlist will be released, from which the ten winners will be chosen, all of whom will be recognised by publication, and invited to read, but everyone who enters will win our adoration for helping establish a new, and essentially positive, art form. We desperately need more positivity in the world!The waterford, in all its glory, is the brainchild of Kevin MacAlan. For the most part, this is not a glass-half-full kind of a fella. So, let's make this positive offering to the universe a resounding celebration.C'mon, most of yers think you have a book in you, all we're looking for is twenty-four syllables (probably less than a couple of dozen words).The only catch? You gotta say something nice!
Click the 'EXAMPLES' button to explore a selection of waterfords and access the FAQ section.Click the 'ENTER' button to enter the competition.
Submissions are closed.
Look out for the launch of the 2025 competition!You can enter any number of waterfords via this contact form. Please make sure that each one has a title, rhymes correctly, and has four lines of the right length.Remember:The waterford is hard to write,
You have to count
The right amount
Of syllables and lines: it's tight!
Thank You
Stay poetic!
Team Waterford