It is situated on the banks of the River Blackwater, and was founded in the 1740s by a local landlord, John Villiers, as a base for the linen industry, and initially populated primarily from Lurgan.

The original village consisted of a church, a rectory, a school, 24 dwelling houses, a court, a police barracks and a quay on the river.

The church has been converted to a community hall; on its grounds is the Villiers-Stuart's family burial vault where many of its ancestors are buried.

The majority of villagers were given work by the Villiers-Stuarts on the estate at Dromana, which itself encompassed Villierstown and beyond as far as Dungarvan and Helvick, where the family occasionally resided in the summer.

The Villiers-Stuart family were known to be one of the most civic-minded estate holders in Ireland: earlier Lord Stuart de Decies, himself a Protestant, spent much of his political life furthering the cause of Catholic Emancipation with Daniel O'Connell.

illustrates how the poorer population of Villierstown had declined in comparison to 1841.There was now only one family per house, which improved the overall standard of living.

[3] The Villiers-Stuart family and their direct descendants have resided in Dromana House in its different forms for well over 700 years, on what was one of the very oldest continuing estates in Ireland.

[citation needed] Dromana is perched high above the River Blackwater, located between Villierstown and the town of Cappoquin.

In May 1921 rebel forces launched an attack on the British Black and Tans near the bridge on the Dromana estate, an important crossing point on the river Blackwater.

[9] Detached three-bay two-story house built around 1850,it contains a hipped slate roof and timber sash window and a distinctive over light to the door opening.

[10] The gate designed by architect Martin Day is a combination of Gothic and Oriental styles and is the only example of Brighton Pavilion architecture in Ireland.

[12] Multiple planning developments have been proposed to the Waterford County Council, indicating improvements been made in the local area.