Last Tuesday 17th I popped up a facebook post with my planning for 2017. Well it was more an example of my planning for the two previous years. In this time I've managed to publish 152 stories about the life and times of my generation and those previous...
Today sees the inauguration of a new president in America. It promises to be an "interesting" presidency with many fears as to the direction America is taking. One concern is the attitude to emigrants. So today I thought what better way to reflect on the event than my...
On the evening of Thursday 2nd November 1899, the barque Hansa entered Waterford harbour in gale force winds. Having endured the early winter storms crossing the Atlantic, and finally arriving at her port of destination, the crew were probably beginning to relax....
The night of the big wind occurred on January 6th 1839 and I often heard it referred to growing up as the storm of all storms. It was a weather event against which the community compared all others. But the storm was much more than just an extreme weather event; it...
This weeks blog marks a new departure, which is appropriate as we enter a new year. I've asked a number of people to contribute a piece of writing on the harbour, and these will feature on the last Friday of each coming month.Today's piece first featured in History...
To celebrate Christmas this year, I thought I'd bring you the words across the Irish sea, an emigrant's lament, a cousin of mine from the Russianside, but one of my grandmother's generation. Fr Tom Doyle was one of two brothers to enter the priesthood and both spent...
Within two days in December 1917, Waterford experienced its biggest loss of seafaring lives with the sinking of Clyde Shipping's SS Formby and SS Coningbeg. Of the 83 souls who perished 67 were from Waterford, the harbour and hinterland and the effects were profound....
I publish a blog each Friday. If you like this piece or have an interest in the local history or maritime heritage of Waterford harbour and environs you can email me at [email protected] to receive the blog every week. My Facebook and Twitter pages are more...
In 1824 Rev Richard Hopkins Ryland published The history, topography and antiquities of the County and City of Waterford. The Dungarvan native and amateur historian had set out to challenge "the incorrect ideas and false representations of flying travellers...
A lime kiln is a structure that uses heat to break down limestone rock into limestone powder. The kiln sites that remain in the harbor are based on a similar design and probably date back to the mid-18th century. Most of these kilns are double kilns, meaning they have...
The Marquis de Bombells visited Waterford in November 1784, and over a week, made some observations on the area which he probably would not have had the time for, except that he was waiting on a ship to take him away. Similar indeed, to another foreign visitor we...
I’d imagine that for as long as humans have lived in the harbour of Waterford, men and women have gone to fish. Perhaps one of the most common and dependable species was the Herring. My first experience of the fishery was as a boy washing fish boxes and...
Waterford harbour, hasn't always be known as such. Historically there have been several names, some of them very colourful and descriptive. Of course many others must be lost to us in the pre-history of the nation. Patrick Power in his History of Waterford, City &...
As a child growing up in Cheekpoint, there were a number of curious features off the main quay known as Eel boxes. The Eels which were fished from the village were placed into the boxes to be kept alive, and when the buyers came the eels were removed, weighed...
As a child, Halloween was a lot simpler. There again in the early 1970's with one TV channel (RTE 1), the ability of advertisers or foreign TV shows to influence our daily lives was much less than today. Although they are very different countries between then and...
In the early decades of the 19th century, traditional fishing methods were turned on its head with the introduction of the Scotch Weir to Ireland. The origins are confirmed by the name, and the method of fishing is typified by what remains of the Woodstown weir near...
As part of this years Imagine Arts Festival, Deena and I were asked to lead a walk in our local community on a theme reflecting our heritage and arts. To do this we thought about the many songs, stories, poetry and prose that surround our area and reflect our rich...
This coming week will see another significant historic anniversary. For on the 16th of October 1171 Henry II launched his fleet which beached on the 17th at Crooke in Waterford Haven as the harbour was then known. As he stepped ashore he became the first foreign king...
Any walk we ever do that includes the Minaun and its stunning views, invariable leads to a mention of Oliver Cromwell and his vow to take Ireland by Hook or by Crooke. Looking out the harbour we have the Hook peninsula in Co Wexford on the left and Crooke below...
We celebrated the Waterford Harvest Festival recently which had a significant input from the local Grow it Yourself GIY project. Its a philosophy that I have subscribed to with my wife Deena for many years, and I have my grandmothers generation to thank for...
Last weekend there was a homecoming of sorts to Cheekpoint. Members of the extended Condon family, the offspring of Mary Doherty and Larry Condon who married in the first decade of the last century, had a gathering in the village. I was asked to come to one event...
In 1932, a Hungarian sea captain, Rudolph Udvardy, who was master of the MV Honved,was in the port of Waterford with a cargo of Maize. To free up berth space, the Honved dropped down to Cheekpoint, where she anchored while the ship waited for an outgoing cargo....
Comparisons, it's said, is the thief of joy. So when it comes to the two lighthouses at either side of the mouth of the harbour, I would suggest that it is silly to choose one over the other. Hook light is much better known as the oldest working lighthouse in Europe,...
On the 1st September 1942, the SS Irish Willow rounded Hook Head and steamed for Dunmore East. With her destination Waterford port, it was a familiar course. But rather than being met by the pilot boat, this time she was intercepted by the local life boat Annie...
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