As the Irish Russian diplomatic tensions deepen, it came as a complete shock to the tiny neighbourhood of the Russianside, Cheekpoint, Co Waterford, to learn that they were to face mass deportation over the Easter weekend. News of the deportation broke on Thursday...
This months guest blog is by Joe Falvey another long time supporter of the blog and a writer of many excellent articles about our local history. This months piece is a fine gathering of historical facts and anecdotes based around the visit of the Kennedys to...
A recent Facebook and Twitter post of the Cross on Cheekpoints Green, prompted a large reaction and got several comments particularly from an international audience asking why was the cross overlooking the village and when was it put there. My recent snow photo One of...
This week in a look ahead to the coming St Patrick's day festival I wanted to share this piece which celebrates the hard work and personal integrity of one of our own. I've spoken about emigration to America before from the village. Todays piece featuring Bill Lannen...
On the night of my book launch Nationwide, the show that showcases positivity, human interest and regional stories, came along to capture the scene and the atmosphere of the night. This was followed up with an interview in Cheekpoint one dry crisp November sunrise. ...
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. ...
I was so looking forward to an event scheduled to happen in Faithlegg graveyard this morning. However, like so many other plans across the nation it has fallen victim to the weather. The weather I'm referring to, for anyone living abroad, is a snowstorm which struck...
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...
When the 42 man crew of the Dutch-owned SS Beemsterdijk departed Greenock for Cardiff in January 1941 none of them could have known that all but three would ever see their families again. Those three fortunate men who survived had the keen eyes of the men in the...
In our first guest blog 2018, Brendan Grogan brings us this wonderful summary of the life and maritime career of Captain Richard Farrell. Captain Farrell, as I always heard him referred to, was highly respected in his role as Harbour Master, but then again having seen...
Over the past month, I have commenced a new part-time role with Faithlegg House Hotel. Under the direction of the hotel's senior management team we have initiated a process including amongst other elements, gathering the stories of the residents/employees of the...
Last year I wrote about the astonishing flotilla that departed from Passage East for St James Fair in Bristol in 1635. I'd long been aware of this connection, particularly Faithlegg's connection with the English city dating back to the Norman conquest. That said I'm...
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...
The last Friday of each month I try to source a contribution from a guest writer. This month, David Carroll gives another slice of his early life growing up in Dunmore East concerning the shipwrecked Saint Austell. It's a wonderfully researched account of a...
On this years Late Late Toy show the television moment of the year was said to have been the unwrapping of Sergeant Graham Burke by his kids. He was, up to hours previously, serving with Irish peacekeepers in Mali, Africa. The host, Ryan Tubridy, became emotional at...
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...
Next weekend in Waterford we will remember our greatest maritime tragedy when, within two days in December 1917, Clyde Shipping's SS Formby and SS Coningbeg were sunk by a U Boat. Of the 83 souls who perished 67 were from the city, the harbour and hinterland. It...
Following the Seahorse tragedy in Tramore bay in January 1816 an initiative was started to create a warning system about the dangers of confusing Tramore Bay with the entrance to Waterford Harbour(1). The system commenced with the placing of three towers on the...
Following the launch of my first book I received an invitation today to speak to the Waterford Archaeological & Historical Society annual lunch. I decided to give a short presentation about one aspect of the local heritage which is featured in my book, that of...
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...
Cheekpoint and McAplins Suir Inn are synonymous. One without the other seems unimaginable. The family came to the village in 1971 and this last week celebrated 46 years in business in the village. An achievement worth recording in itself, but the pub itself dates to a...
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