The Blue Plaque Trail: Wolfe Tone Club

Thomas Francis Meagher was born in Waterford, son of the first Catholic mayor of Waterford for over 200 years. From 1843 he immersed himself in Nationalist politics initially supporting Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Movement. By 1846 however, he broke with O'Connell and together with a number of the younger members of the movement (the Young Irelanders) was instrumental in the formation of the Irish Confederation, offering a more radical alternative to O'Connell's conservatism.

In March 1848 Meagher was part of the delegation which traveled to Paris carrying a message of goodwill to the new French government following the revolution there and the establishment of the Second Republic. On his return to Ireland he brought with him the tricolour flag of green, white and orange - no doubt influenced by the revolutionary French red white and blue tricolour. This flag, which ultimately became the national flag of Ireland was first flown publicly at the Wolfe Tone Club, 33 the Mall in Waterford on 7 March, 1848.

Waterford Civic Trust has installed numerous Blue Plaques in the city to commemorate a link between a particular location and a famous person or event.