Heritage Week 2026 was a tremendous success both locally and nationally. Working with the OPW as a seasonal guide at Ballyhack Castle we were very busy with visitors, requests for tours and supporting other events and sites. I also provided an illustrated talk at the castle on Sunday 23rd August on the 1640s Battles of Ballyhack.

Back in May, we had discussed our approach to Heritage Week at committee. Although we as individuals and as a project have contributed since at least 2014, we decided that as I was working, we would not directly coordinate any specific action this year. I had also made a commitment to the Heritage Officer in Kilkenny for an event. I was disappointed to turn down three other offers for the week, but it simply wasn’t feasible to take on any more work. But the Tides & Tales crew made some very good input on an individual level outside of my paid work with the OPW.

On Saturday 15th, our chair, Breda Murphy, was part of the Tales of the Estuary performance, which reprised a piece of a local drama to highlight the role of the cockle women in the harbour area and the knowledge they had of the rivers, tides and their quarry. The full team from Tides & Tales was there on the day, including Deena, Damien and our treasurer, Eoghan Hegarty,

Breda and colleagues surrounded by many descendants of the cockle women on Passage Strand. Photo courtesy of Deena Bible. 

Damien McLellan, our company secretary, led a walk from Arthurstown to Ballyhack graveyard on Saturday 22nd. Titled Teacht agus Imeacht – Landings and Leavings, some of the highlights of his walk included the following.

Ballyhack Graveyard is a repository of over 500 years of significant local and international history, including a touching memorial to 29 American sailors who were lost in the shipwreck of the Alfred D. Snow grain ship in 1888. Originally mapped as ‘Temple St James’, Damien believes it may in fact be connected to the medieval pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. He lays out his evidence in History Ireland (Vol. 24 No 3).

Next stop will be a nearby site where Cistercian monks from Nuke shaped millstones out of the local red outcropping sandstone in medieval times. While there, Damien will use the great views of the villages of Crooke and Passage East across the estuary in Co. Waterford to recreate the historic landing on Passage Strand of Henry II and his invasion fleet on 17 October 1171. His research and theories were published in History Ireland (Vol 32 No.6).

Damien explains the Henry II landing at Passage Strand from Ballyhack Hill. Photo courtesy of Glynis Currie.

Earlier in the week – Wednesday 19th, Deena and I had travelled at the invitation of Regina Fitzpatrick, Heritage Officer with Kilkenny Co Council to Ferrybank Library to give an illustrated talk on the boats, trades and people that made up the navigation of a small river called “Grannagh, Kilmacow and Dunkitt Pill”. We got a very warm reception and would have happily stayed for the night talking and sharing memories of this wonderful location. This is part of the larger project of Tides and Tales, tracing the Pill placename.

A warm and attentive gathering at Ferrybank library. Photo courtesy of Deena Bible

Numerous events were held over the week, and it would be unfair to try to list them for fear of missing some. However, I would have to acknowledge the terrific effort made by the Waterford Estuary Villages Alliance (WEVA). Under WEVA, the five traditional fishing villages of the Estuary have come together to confront the threat of heritage loss, as well as other social and economic issues, and they put on several events over the week, including Breda and Damien’s inputs. A great first-time effort by WEVA and one we, as a project, were happy to support.

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