By Tomás Sullivan This guest blog is brought to us by Tomás Sullivan. It is a glimpse into the days of sail in the harbour. It is also a tragic tale so common in seafaring communities. The story is of Captain Daniel Sullivan of Coolbunnia, Cheekpoint and his vessel...
For centuries navigation at sea was conducted with care, and attention but a certain degree of providence. Until the coming of steam power, this approach had a certain veracity – ships under sail tended to follow the winds and prevailing weather systems and thus...
I'm delighted to say that I will be appearing on RTE 1 TV's very popular walking series Tracks and Trails this coming Friday night, 5th April 2024 at 7.30pm. I will be guiding Crime journalist, Nicola Tallant who follows the cliff top trail starting out from Dunmore...
On St Patrick's Day 1880 the Waterford-owned sailing vessel Geraldine lay in New York. Under British registry, the ship was supposed to fly its national flag, a requirement of any ship in a foreign port. However as it was St Patrick's Day, the crew in an...
As a young fisherman I regularly passed a curious vessel at what we called CAP. The area also had a grander title - Bellevue - the French for a beautiful view, assigned to a then crumbling Georgian era mansion. The name was at odds with the reality of that time as it...
An official mail packet service ran between Milford Haven and Waterford from 1787 to 1848. The service often referred to at the time as the Southern Route, operated in competition with an earlier route between Holyhead and Dublin*. Although the Southern...
There is a fine rectangular headstone in Faithlegg Graveyard that is very distinctive both in design and definition. On the face is etched the names of two sea captains, Edward and Samuel Grandy. The grave hints at their commercial success, but their story...
This month, I'm indebted to my good friend Mark Fenton for a story to bring a smile to people's faces. Mark like myself was reared in a home where the sea was in our blood and we wanted nothing more than to sail away into the wild blue wonder. Maybe thats why we got...
To generations of locals, the Clyde boats were a byword for employment, trade, emigration, and holidays and the final two that were often referred to at home were the Rockabill and the Tuskar. Two very different ships, two different personalities but two ships...
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