This week sees a significant local anniversary, for on the 21st July 1906 the first official train crossed the Barrow railway bridge. The infrastructure was the last significant piece of railway network constructed nationally and it linked the west of Ireland with...
The Waterford Steamship Navigation Company river service commenced in 1837. It ran daily return trips between New Ross-Waterford and Duncannon-Waterford, Monday to Saturday. In the Summer season Sunday trips were also offered. During the week the ships departed the...
Last Saturday I had the good fortune to call over to Waterford Airport to see the materials that were uncovered by Noel McDonagh at Creaden Head, Co Waterford. While there we got into a conversation with Michael Farrell of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society...
For this latest guest blog, I'm delighted to welcome back David Carroll, who shares more memories of his childhood in Dunmore East in the 1950's & 60's. In a similar vein to his previous blog on the village, and his recollection of the ship wreck of the St...
We often fear what we don't know, have never experienced or what is new and different. As free ranging children of the 1970's one of the more mysterious and fear inducing encounters must have been in what was then called the "Oak Woods" but what is now part of...
Last week I visited Ballyhack Castle in Co Wexford with my wife Deena. It was a bit of a day out, and most enjoyable as the sun shone, entry to the castle was free and neither of us had a care in the world on a welcome day off for us both. Later I posted about it on...
One of the most beautiful views, and quieter walks that you will find in in East Waterford is the Minaun, overlooking the Meeting of the Three Sisters and with panoramas over the counties of the SE, down the harbour and out to the Saltee Islands. My mother told me...
I was often chided for my romantic notions of the Cheekpoint name deriving from the fairy folk, the Sidhe. However in recent months strong, albeit circumstantial, evidence is coming to the surface that those of us with romantic notions may not be totally without...
An astonishing engagement during the Confederate wars in Ireland, saw an unlikely achievement by Irish rebels, when they sunk the flagship of Cromwellian forces at Duncannon. The loss of the Great Lewis must have been a significant boost to the confederate forces at...
In my recent book on growing up in Cheekpoint I devoted a chapter to my uncle Sonny and his operation of the Cheekpoint pilot boat. His role was to embark and disembark pilots coming to and from New Ross. The role of pilot or river guide is probably as old as people...
I was reared on a story about the local weirs. As I heard it, one day the cot fishermen of Carrick and New Ross and areas in between descended en mass on Cheekpoint and proceeded to cut down the fishing weirs in the river. The cot men were bazzed out of it with stone...
April's guest blog comes from a page regular, my cousin, James Doherty. Today he's talking about a topic that was very much part of some recent blogs and presentations I gave on the Paddle Steamer service that ran between the city and Duncannon. In this piece James...
While collecting my daughter from a bus recently I happened across a limestone slab set into the pavement behind the Waterford bus station. It was battered, damaged and out of place, but the inscription was legible. It reads In Memory of Louis C Lee of Aberdeen. ...
There was plenty of drama along the Irish coast in the First World War, some of which was directly played out in the harbour, whilst others eventually washed up, or in this case was towed into, the harbour. One such story is of the SS Hermione, a saga that continued...
Generally, ships in distress receive a welcome in any port, but this was not so with the Liverpool barque Sparkling Wave. For the ship was carrying an explosive cargo, of such a quantity, the city fathers of Waterford could not permit her into their port for fear of...
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...
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