This months blog started with an intriguing photograph of an unidentified naval vessel anchored at Passage East, Co Waterford at the start of the last century, her likely identity and the purpose of her visit; recruitment of young men from the area into the navy.
Whilst researching a story recently I happened upon a small snippet in the Passage East Jottings in the Munster Express dated 25th January 1963. It was just a mention of my father who was unmarried at the time, and he had just joined a ship at New Ross after spending...
Since I started blogging in 2014 I have set aside a blog for Christmas. It's a break from my normal fare, but isn't Christmas a break from routine too! At least for those of us lucky enough to have a job that doesn't involve pulling a shift over it. So for this year I...
I would like to wish all my readers a happy and peaceful Christmas and hope everyone will have a healthy, prosperous and productive 2020. Looking forward to more blogs and of course the publication of my second book in April. Take care for now.
On Saturday morning, 30th October 1875 the schooner Mino of Cheekpoint, Co Waterford was run ashore on the Wexford shore by her captain and crew. Aground on the sandy shoreline the first wave to break over her stern carried the timbers away and this was quickly...
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...
On a dark November night in storm-force winds and driving rain, an Arklow schooner scurried up Waterford harbour in search of shelter. Within sight of the Spit Light below Passage East, the ship healed over stuck fast in the sand and her crew took to the rigging from...
Mark Anthony was born in Waterford in 1786 and at fifteen joined the Royal Navy serving for close on twenty years until retiring to take up a post as harbour master at Dunmore East. Mark Anthony was born second in line to Joseph Anthony and his wife Juliet...
Since I went to the monthly format I have stopped the very popular guest blog segment. However, as Cian Manning publishes his new book on Waterford I asked if he would consider sharing some memories of why the river and our maritime past means so much to him....
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 that...
Introduction You will probably be aware of the twin pillars of Brownstown Head to the east of Tramore completed in 1823. There is also a lookout post dating from the time of the emergency. But in 1811 a Mr Pope sent a letter to Trinity House, the custodians of...
It was just about midnight on a calm moonlit night in Waterford Harbour. Aboard the WWI mine laying submarine UC-44, her skipper, Kurt Tebbenjoahnnes, satisfied himself as to their position and gave the orders to start deploying her load. The UC class of sub were a...
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...
While out walking in the early morning sunlight last week, I spotted something that I haven't seen as clear and obvious ever before. The remains of what was once the Norman era tower house that is Buttermilk Castle. I've written about it before...
Its been a hectic week since my first blog last Friday in the new monthly format. Readership was well down, perhaps because people were out of the habit after a four week layoff. I don't know. Will definitely try whet the appetites before the next last Friday in July...
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...
In May I came to the difficult decision to change my weekly martime blog to a monthly publication. Several people have asked me why and so I thought it best to set out my thoughts and reasons. I first started blogging when in college as a mature student studying...
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...
On a bright but blustery dawn in June 1928 three vessels departed Waterford’s quays. Leading the small convoy was a powerful tug, towing two old sailing ships. Although the tug was a stranger to the city, the sailing ships were anything but. To anyone looking on the scene must have proven ironic if not ignominious. For these were the ports last sailing vessels Zayda and the Madcap; and they had given over fifty years loyal and trusted service to the city, only to be made redundant by steam power.
As a child growing up in Cheekpoint, Dunbrody Abbey loomed large in our lives. It might have been in a different county, might have been separated by a fast lowing expanse of water, but it was a landmark that everyone knew, and I think, were proud of. We learned...
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...
In 1864 Waterford finally had a new fully functioning landmark installed on its bustling quays. Construction had been a protracted, disjointed and often stormy affair as it was funded through an ongoing public subscription . The intention was to provide a clock that would be visible day and night to sailor and citizen alike in what was then Ireland’s busiest port. Perhaps reflecting the Victorian era, it was originally conceived as an Illuminated Fountain Clock. But to generations of Waterford people it became known as the Clock Tower.
This months guest blog is brought to us by Brian Forristal who remembers his ancestors in a small cottage in Rochestown, Co Kilkenny beside the fast flowing River Barrow. A family of boatmen and farm labourers, Brian's recollections are set in the context of a walk, a...
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