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
Launch of Tides & Tales Strategic Plan 2025 – 2029
On Thursday Decemember 4th 2025 Tides & Tales Chair, Breda Murphy launched our Strategic Plan. It brought to an end a busy year for the voluntary board and was even more satisfying as the committee had endured so many setbacks and challenges. Funded by the Local...
500th Blog Post – a Project milestone
November 28 2025 marked a significant milestone for Tides & Tales Maritime Community Project with our 500th blog post. The project started out in May 2014 as a voluntary initiative to respond to the loss of the maritime/fishing traditions in Cheekpoint, Co...
Shapinsay sinking Nov 1967
The MV Shapinsay was a converted fishing trawler that came to grief on the Hook Peninsula in November 1967. Miraculously, no one aboard died, thanks in part to the bravery of her master, but also the sharp eyes of the lightkeepers of Hook Head Lighthouse. In early...
Martin’s Old Road Encounter
I've mentioned more than once how one of the highlights of Halloween growing up in Cheekpoint in the 1970s was my father's ghost stories. One I remember concerns an incident that befell one of his drinking buddies. Martin, RIP, well known to all in the community as a...
Stephen Whitty Sails to War
For this month's blog, I want to share something very special. It's an edited transcript of a recording made by the late Stephen Whitty of Passage East, who served in the Royal Navy in WWII and Korean War, rising to the rank of Petty Officer. Stephen later worked on...
Irish Merchant Ships and Shipowners
Irish Merchant Ships and Shipowners: An Outline History of Powered Ships from the Beginning of Steam Navigation. The Irish Mercantile Marine 1815 – 2015 was recently published (2025) and is the incredible lifetime's work of Terry Conlon. He is to be admired,...
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