Send flowers to Dungarvan and Abbeyside

Dungarvan is a harbour town on the south-east coast of Ireland, at the mouth of the Colligan River, with 10,081 people at the 2022 census, making it the third largest town in County Waterford. The Irish name, Dún Garbhán, means Garbhann's fort, after the saint who founded a church there in the seventh century. The town lies on the N25 between Cork and Waterford, about 40 km south-west of Waterford and 60 km north-east of Cork, which makes it an easy place to deliver to from either city. The river splits the town into Dungarvan on the west bank and Abbeyside on the east, joined by a causeway and bridge built from 1801, and an order for Dungarvan covers both.

Streets, quay and countryside

The commercial heart of Dungarvan is the western half of the town, where the shops and the administrative buildings stand close to the harbour. The Quay and the Causeway enclose the harbour, and the Anglo-Norman castle, whose shell keep dates to about 1209, stands beside it, so the harbour front is the easiest landmark to quote when you are explaining where a gift should go. Abbeyside is quieter, with the old Augustinian friary partly built into a twentieth-century church. Beyond the town, deliveries reach the houses along Dungarvan Bay, the villages out towards Ring and Helvick, and farms on the road to Lismore. For rural addresses give the townland and the Eircode, as a house name alone is not enough for a driver.

Why Dungarvan takes flowers seriously

Dungarvan competed in the 2018 Entente Florale, the European competition for flowers and landscape, and won a silver medal, so the town has a reputation for well-kept planting. That gives a bouquet to a Dungarvan neighbour a certain resonance: this is a place where people notice flowers. Walkers and cyclists on the Waterford Greenway, which follows the old railway line to Waterford and has been open since 2017, pass through the town, and a posy of seasonal flowers in a vase is a kind thank-you for a host or a neighbour who looked after the house while you were away.

Occasions through the year

Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and in west Waterford families often gather for lunch, so a bouquet delivered on the Friday or Saturday before gives the recipient time to display it. St Brigid's Day on 1 February, observed as a public holiday on the first Monday of February, suits a small spring posy, and late summer is the season of weddings, when a bouquet for the couple's parents or a thank-you for a bridesmaid is a popular order. Birthdays and anniversaries need no explanation; for a new baby, white, cream and soft green are traditional, and a note with the baby's name is a lovely touch.

Funeral flowers in Dungarvan and Waterford

In County Waterford a death is announced on rip.ie, a wake or removal takes place within a couple of days, and the funeral Mass follows at the family's parish church. Dungarvan has two long-established Catholic churches, Saint Augustine's and Saint Mary's, both built in the early 1830s on much older religious sites. If a notice says family flowers only, send a card, a Mass card or a donation to the named charity. If flowers are welcome, confirm whether they go to the funeral home, the church or the house, and keep the wording simple. A small spray in white and green is easy to carry to the graveside, whereas a large stand is not.

Sending flowers to a hospital patient from Dungarvan

Patients from Dungarvan are often treated in Waterford or Cork, and flowers are not accepted everywhere. St James's Hospital in Dublin lists flowers and plants as not permitted, and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork stops flower deliveries at reception. Always ring the ward first, give the patient's full name and ward, and ask whether a card or a balloon is allowed. When the patient is back home in Dungarvan, a bouquet delivered to the house is a welcome sign that they have not been forgotten.

A few practical points

Write the recipient's full name, house number or name, Eircode and mobile number. If you are sending to a shop or office in the town centre, add a contact name. Choose a delivery date at checkout when someone is likely to be home, and add a card message that is short and sincere. Put the flowers in clean water, trim the stems on a slant and keep them away from direct sun and ripening fruit to keep them looking fresh for longer.

Did you know? Dungarvan took part in the 2018 Entente Florale and won a silver medal in the competition run by the European Association for Flowers and Landscape.