For many of us, Christmas is a time of goodwill and making merry, if you are fortunate enough and depending on what you do for a living. For seafarers, it tends to be just another time of the year. But in the days of sail, it was also a sailor’s lottery of favourable...
We are delighted to hear that the Rosslare Harbour Maritime Heritage Centre have created a new podcast series and the first episode has just dropped. Hosted by Captain Sean Boyce, the programme will profile much of the work of the centre, which was founded in October...
On Thursday Decemember 4th 2025 Tides & Tales Chair, Breda Murphy launched our Strategic Plan. It brought to an end a busy year for the voluntary board and was even more satisfying as the committee had endured so many setbacks and challenges. Funded by the Local...
November 28 2025 marked a significant milestone for Tides & Tales Maritime Community Project with our 500th blog post. The project started out in May 2014 as a voluntary initiative to respond to the loss of the maritime/fishing traditions in Cheekpoint, Co...
The MV Shapinsay was a converted fishing trawler that came to grief on the Hook Peninsula in November 1967. Miraculously, no one aboard died, thanks in part to the bravery of her master, but also the sharp eyes of the lightkeepers of Hook Head Lighthouse. In early...
I've mentioned more than once how one of the highlights of Halloween growing up in Cheekpoint in the 1970s was my father's ghost stories. One I remember concerns an incident that befell one of his drinking buddies. Martin, RIP, well known to all in the community as a...
For this month's blog, I want to share something very special. It's an edited transcript of a recording made by the late Stephen Whitty of Passage East, who served in the Royal Navy in WWII and Korean War, rising to the rank of Petty Officer. Stephen later worked on...
Irish Merchant Ships and Shipowners: An Outline History of Powered Ships from the Beginning of Steam Navigation. The Irish Mercantile Marine 1815 – 2015 was recently published (2025) and is the incredible lifetime's work of Terry Conlon. He is to be admired,...
The Wartime Irish Marine Service: The first-hand experiences of broadcaster Norris Davidson was published in 2023. I can heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in Irish history, the Emergency era or the sea. Daire Brunicardi wrote the foreword to this, which...
The project had a very busy Heritage Week a report of which is now on our site. One event that was missed however, was the unveiling of a Blue Plaque at the Fishermen's Hall, Dumore East. The building has a long association with the village and is woven into the...
Yet again, Heritage Week continues to be one of the busiest times of the year for the project and 2025 was no different. What follows is a brief overview of the Tides & Tales Heritage Week 2025 report One significant challenge was my work schedule with the OPW as...
Ivan Fitzgerald's Tramore of Yore site has some terrific articles on our local maritime past. His latest endevour is a listing of all the Shipwrecks Tramore Bay and its environs, from the 18th C onwards. I can't reblog the page (my lack of technical know how on show...
Waterford’s Spraoi International Street Arts Festival transforms Ireland’s Oldest City into a giant stage where artists from around the world perform for free. Returning this weekend the events culminate with the legendary parade. The title for this years event – the...
Veale’s Brigantine Melina An email query about the Veale seafarers of Waterford brought me to the Waterford Museum of Time this week in search of a painting of a Waterford vessel, the Melina. In the company of Cliona Purcell and Donnchadh Ó'Ceallacháin of the Museum,...
Tides & Tales Heritage Week 2025 will be a busy time for the project. We have had multiple offers to provide inputs at various sites, but due to work commitments, we can only deliver three events this year. Heritage Week is one of our longest-running annual...
Daytripper to East Waterford in 1888 is an extract of a visitors guide to Dunmore East, Woodstown and Passage East, taken from the book: A Trip to the South of Ireland by John Otteran Downey DUNMORE EAST CO WATERFORD {9 miles mail car week days 6 am 4 pm returning to...
Introduction The Passage East Car Ferry is a vital transportation link. Operating at the narrowest point of Waterford estuary, it runs between Passage East in County Waterford and Ballyhack in County Wexford, Ireland. Running since 1982, the current car ferry service...
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a County Finalist in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2025 in the Heritage category. The judging panel will reconvene over the next few weeks to review all County Finalists and shortlist the...
As Waterford and the Port of Waterford celebrate 1,111 years this year, and to mark the occasion, Ireland’s oldest Port has launched a brand new podcast series ‘Port of Waterford 1111’ which explores the Port’s rich and varied maritime heritage. The new podcast series...
Ireland’s sea fisheries 1400 1600 (2023) looks at the rise and fall of sea fishing around Ireland, starting in the late 1300s and ending in the early 1600s. In the introduction, the author, Hayes, explains that past research focused too much on local stories and...
I was delighted to be invited to contribute to the Digging into Waterford Podcast Series this summer. The blurb stated that "As part of Visit Waterford’s 2025 campaign, Dig Into Waterford, the project launched the Digging Into Waterford podcast. The series hosted by...
Citizens of Waterford have flocked in their hundreds to the city quayside this May to view the installation of a new bridge across the River Suir. In sometimes glorious sunshine and with the aid of tremendous engineering technology, crowds were wowed by this technical...
Great news to share as Ballyhack Castle opens for Summer 2025. Another positive is that I will be employed there as a seasonal guide for the duration with my colleague, Tim. Getting to Ballyhack Castle The OPW runs the castle along with numerous others sites...
In 2024 I undertook a major piece of research on behalf of Regina Fitzpatrick. Heritage Officer. Kilkenny Co Council on the River Blackwater of Kilkenny. The Blackwater River might be considered a backwater to the modern reader. Although in a navigable waterway sense...
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