I'm delighted to be featuring on the RTE Radio 1 Sunday Miscellany raido show. It will be bradcast Sunday morning, 17th November 2019 after the 9am news. This was my second attempt to submit a story to the very popular RTE Radio 1 show, now in its fiftieth year. My...
Introduction In June of 1832 a ship anchored off Passage East, apparently to await favourable sailing conditions. However within hours her passengers would be fleeing ashore and the army was called out to exert control. For the passengers were escaping a deadly...
Òn Saturday evening, 23rd November 1872 the SS Kinsale grounded on the Wexford side of Waterford harbour at a spot known locally as the Hell Hole. It was an appropriate name for the events that were to follow and it resulted in one of the largest losses of life in the harbour that I am aware of.
I started 2019 with a pledge to publish a new book. Well I'm a lot of the way there, but there's been a hiccup and I wanted to give a brief update. As I said in January my working title was Stories from the Aft Oar and my chapters were based on stories I had heard...
This mornings guest blog comes from Carrick On Suir but as with all things connected to the water, it travels fairly widely. Maurice Power, another of those supporters of my blog that I have come to rely on, introduces us to an institution on the River Suir in Carrick...
I started what has emerged into the tides and tales blog four years ago this month. It began with stories that concentrated on my youth in Cheekpoint, themes of life, occupation and structures or local features such as the quay, church and limekilns. My favourite...
The Ballinlaw Ferry has a proud ancient history. It ran in various forms, probably from the early Christian era to the early 1960’s and must have transported tens of thousands of people in that time from the most exalted to the most humble and I’m confident that we will never really know the true extent of it.
Before ever the Barrow Railway bridge was constructed to allow the trains run from Waterford to Rosslare, New Ross Harbour Board had concerns for its positioning. The Bridge would block access to the port and to get around this an opening span wasintroduced. ...
The Royal Navy Press gangs were licenced kidnappers who operated with official sanction up to the early 19th Century. Their role was to remove sailors from shore or ship and impress them into the service of the Royal Navy. It was a recruitment policy that was...
In a new departure for me, I'm going to be one of the contributors at this years Booze, Blaas & Banter. The venue is Jordan's American Bar on Waterford's Quay. It's part of the Imagine Arts Festival and organised by Johnny Clunno on behalf of the Waterford...
The Waterford Steamship Navigation Company river service commenced in 1837. It ran daily return trips between New Ross-Waterford and Duncannon-Waterford, Monday to Saturday. In the Summer season Sunday trips were also offered. During the week the ships departed the...
Last Saturday I had the good fortune to call over to Waterford Airport to see the materials that were uncovered by Noel McDonagh at Creaden Head, Co Waterford. While there we got into a conversation with Michael Farrell of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society...
In my recent book on growing up in Cheekpoint I devoted a chapter to my uncle Sonny and his operation of the Cheekpoint pilot boat. His role was to embark and disembark pilots coming to and from New Ross. The role of pilot or river guide is probably as old as people...
Generally, ships in distress receive a welcome in any port, but this was not so with the Liverpool barque Sparkling Wave. For the ship was carrying an explosive cargo, of such a quantity, the city fathers of Waterford could not permit her into their port for fear of...
A stormy January in 1862 saw tremendous seas and howling gales that created havoc in the Irish seas and beyond. As ships do, they sat it out where possible and then when it passed, they raised anchor and got underway. The gales however had not gone, merely abated. ...
In recent weeks we've looked closely at the Waterford Steam Navigation Company and their river based service. The feedback has been very positive, many contacting me to remark on how vibrant and busy the rivers were, and how important they were for transportation and...
Last week we looked at the river services operated by the Waterford Steamship Company. This week I wanted to look at the work of one particular ship the Paddle Steamer Ida. The PS Ida was launched from the Neptune Iron Works on Friday 27th September 1867 and was...
As a child in Cheekpoint I was told that in the past I could have travelled to Waterford by paddle steamer. Christy Doherty RIP, one of the old school fishermen related stories to me of the paddle steamers calling to Cheekpoint quay, picking up passengers and heading...
For generations in the harbour here a small and awkward looking fishing craft was a constant feature. Called locally a Prong, it had a variety of uses which probably sustained its use for so long, but the origins of the craft are a mystery and almost now extinct, it...
This weekend we commemorate the loss of the ships SS Formby and SS Coningbeg in December 1917. It's a topic I covered last week with a view to promoting the commemoration this weekend. In thinking about the sailors who perished this week I came to realise that the...
This months guest blog is courtesy of Fintan Walsh and I think it prepares us for the upcoming month of December, which for us here in Waterford is going to be about commemoration. For it was December of 100 years ago that Waterford's worst maritime tragedy...
When Waterford city was looking to create a river crossing to cater for the increasing trade associated with its dynamic port of the 18th Century the city fathers had a problem. A bridge was needed, but ferrymen operating between its quays on the Waterford and...
Last Sunday there was an understated but very fitting memorial ceremony for the crew of the sailing ship, Alfred D Snow. The ship grounded in Waterford Harbour on January 3rd 1888 and all 29 crew aboard were drowned. The memory of the tragedy lives on however, on both...
The day after my fathers ninth birthday, 26th August 1940, he witnessed something that profoundly marked his life. Up on the hills around the village he caught sight of his first ever German airplane which was followed closely by the dropping of bombs on the small...
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