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...
For many years I was intrigued by the copper mining at Bunmahon on Waterford's coast, but it was only recently I realised that the industry had a connection with one of this pages passions, ships. Bunmahon, on Waterfords coast is home now to the Copper coast Geo park...
Welcome to my online gallery. It arose from a post by Maria Doyle, originally from Ballyhack. She suggested a photo library taken of my book cover from wherever people read it. And the title of this online gallery is suggested by Maria too. Please feel free to...
My first time in the Saratoga Bar in Woodstown was about this time of the year many years back when playing rubbers. Whats a rubber you may well ask. A rubber is a card game where two teams of three played thirties against each other. The winners progressed to...
On Tuesday 24th October on Geoff Harris' Lunchbox show on WLR FM I was interviewed about my blog, new book and the launch last week at Jack Meades. I was delighted to feature on this lunchbox show interview with Geoff and he has a great insight into the river and its...
As my regulars now know, I launched my first book last Friday 20th October. Called Before the Tide Went Out it tells my own story from my earliest memories into my childhood recollections of the village of Cheekpoint and the fisherfolk that made up my world. I bring...
Those who have looked at the photos depicting the bustling trade on Waterford and New Ross quays in the 19th Century must wonder at the safety aspect of so many ships in close proximity. Indeed, the risks associated with this golden age of sea travel have made for...
This day next week Friday 20th October I will launch my first book titled Before the Tide Went Out. It takes place at Jack Meades on the Cheekpoint road at 7.30pm and everyone is welcome. Of course launches are something I am very familiar with. Launching punts...
Few could imagine in this day and age, the joy of attending a disco in an old hall, with broken windows and a sagging floor with dodgy electrics and no toilet or running water. But in rural Cheekpoint in the 1970's every teenager from the village and for miles around...
I offer a platform for anyone who wants to write about Waterford harbour on the last Friday of each month. This month David Carroll joins us with a tale of ships and people from the port in 1960 and his experience of the impounded vessel the SS Macuto and how it...
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