Research
Let us help with your researchResearch
The Tides & Tales Maritime Community Project currently has in excess of 500 free-to-access blogs or primary research pieces, on the local maritime heritage available. All of this is free and available to the public and we have plans for much more. Feel free to search the site, use the blog categorisations or contact the project if you require help.
In some cases this is a simple process of sharing details already to hand. We always endevour to respond. Others require further research, including linking with third parties to try and find satisfactory responses.
If you need further or more detailed research, including the references, either on an existing blog or any matter related to the maritime history of the Waterford area or beyond we would be happy to receive such requests. However, in order to sustain the project we may need to charge a research fee.
If you have a research question please contact our Coordinator through the contact page on our site. The Coordinator will assess the query and let you know the query type and cost. For example:
€0 – Straight forward query with information readily to hand.
€20 – Basic Query – supplying information we have on file or relatively easy to access.
€50 – Intermediate Query – This could be defined as a question requiring further research and time.
€90 – Advanced Query – This relates to queries that require reaching out to relevant third parties.
All funds raised will go towards sustaining the Tides & Tales Maritime Community Project and making it possible to provide the blogs and this valuable resource material.
Our Blog
Lough Fisher – Another Waterford Shipping Disaster
On March 30th 1918, a small steamer was chugging along the southern Irish coast. Of the thirteen souls aboard, eleven crew and two naval gunners, eight were from or living in the port city of Waterford. All would die that night, within sight of their homeland. Another...
Geoffrey Spencer’s Oriental Gamble
Geoffrey Spencer was the founder of the Spencer shipping operation which burst into life with an all or nothing bet on Waterford's quays in 1869. This story charts the family shipping enterprise that flourished for almost 50 years from the initial fateful risk on the...
Bolton’s Doorway?
At a recent event to unveil an interpretation board at Old Faithlegg Church, my daughter Ellen and I were assisting Damien McLellan with the set up. While we put the world to rights, we fell to discussing the perplexing question of why a large doorway was on the north...
Cirilo Amorós centenary
On Sunday, 15 Feb 2026 the good folk of Stradbally, Co Waterford, unveiled an information board to commemorate the events of 100 years previous when a Spanish registered ship steamed onto the rocks at Ballyvooney Cove. The events of that day were relived in words,...
Old Faithlegg Church Interpretation Board Unveiled
On Thursday, 22nd January 2026, a new interpretation board was unveiled at Old Faithlegg Church. The event was the fulfilment of a promise from over twenty years ago - one that we made when fundraising to maintain and preserve the fabric of the 13th Century Norman era...
Bristol to Waterford Steamer Services 1823 -1939
Waterford has a long association with Bristol. Following the arrival of Henry II to Waterford in 1171 the harbor area was carved up by merchants, knights and religious, many with a connection to the inland port of Bristol in SW England. The city developed on a point...
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