Waterford Harbour Archives - Waterford Harbour Tides & Tales

21/07/202121/07/2021

An American millionaire sails into Waterford Harbour

Although in this day and age, multi millionaires look to the sky for their thrills, there was a time when they looked to the sea. One such example was an American millionaire named Howard Gould, who dropped anchor aboard his magnificent yacht Niagra at Passage East in Waterford Harbour on Sunday July 21st 1901. Here for a tour of Ireland, he was also on the hunt for a castle to create his new home. Cian Manning has the story for us.

The eccentric American millionaire Howard Gould was described by the Evening Herald (Dublin) as ‘…not born famous. [But] He has [had] fame thrust upon him…’ Howard was the son of American railroad magnate Jay Gould who was described as a ‘Robber baron’, amassing his fortune through unprincipled business practices making him one of the wealthiest individuals in the late-19^th century. The controversial New Yorker was unpopular for his unscrupulous ways which led to a famous cartoon depicting Wall Street as his ‘Private Bowling Alley’. Howard (born 8^th June 1871) was the fourth child of 6 born to Jay Gould and his wife Helen Day Miller. He attended Columbia College and matriculated with the class of 1894 but records of the undergraduate college of Columbia University show that he did not graduate. Four years later, Howard Gould purchased a seat on the New York Stock Exchange with his offices located at 195 Broadway. It was a seat he maintained till his death in 1959.

Howard Gould. Unknown photographer – Notable New Yorkers (1899) Public Domain

TWO YACHTS NAMED NIAGARA

The younger Gould’s real passion however (aside from money) was competitive yachting. A year after entering the New York Stock Exchange, Howard Gould acquired the 65-foot (20m) sloop yacht named Niagara built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island in 1895. It was in this vessel that Gould won Lord Dunraven’s Castle Yacht Club Challenge Cup. Skippered by John Barr, in her first racing season she won 29 first prizes, nine second prizes and one third prize. In the twenty-rating class, Niagara sailed at the Thames Yacht Club Regatta and at the end of the ’95 season was left at Fay’s yards in Southampton for the winter.

Unknown Photographer. The *Niagara* as found in *The Old And The New* by Frank L. Blanchard. 1899. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niagara_(1895_sloop).jpg Public Domain

In addition to his sloop, Gould owned a large (282 ft) steam yacht also known as the Niagara, which was built in 1898 by Harlan and Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware. Coincidentally the acquiring of both vessels coincided with romantic entanglements. Prior to buying the sloop yacht, Gould was engaged to actress Odette Tyler who performed a number of Shakespearian roles such as Desdemona, Juliet and Portia. However, both families objected to the engagement which was subsequently broken off. One wonders was the purchase of the sloop a way to cheer-up a broken heart and to get away from the United States by competing at regattas in the United Kingdom.

The same year that the steam yacht was built, Gould married the actress (he certainly had a type) Katherine Clemmons on the 12^th October 1898. One review described Clemmons as having ‘a beautiful profile and a lissom figure but was devoid of any acting ability.’ While married to Gould it is believed that Clemmons was having an affair with ‘Buffalo Bill’ aka William F. Cody who subsidized a huge portion of her acting career.

GOULD & NIAGARA AT WATERFORD HARBOUR

On Sunday 21^st July 1901, Gould put into Waterford Harbour aboard his magnificent yacht for the purpose of visiting various castles and country residences to form an understanding of ‘what a nobleman’s house is like’. As the Nationalist (Tipperary) put it ‘His ostensible object is to see some of our [Ireland’s] famous castles to find a model for the grand new mansion he is about to build in New York suburbs.’ The plan was for Gould to sail from Waterford to Queenstown (Cobh) with a coaching tour through Kerry in mind. Though like all things in Ireland this was subject to change and, with the riches Gould could spend to cover such excursions, why wouldn’t it?

Gould at his desk on the 1898 *Niagara*. Photo by Frank L. Blanchard, Gill Eng, Co, N.Y. – Niagara; the old and the new (1899), by Frank L. Blanchard The trophy is the *Lord Dunraven Castle Yacht Club Challenge Cup*, or possibly the *Maitland Kersey Cup*, both won in 1895 by the *Niagara* (yacht, 1895) Public Domain

The Evening Herald surmised:

As Howard Gould’s magnificently appointed yacht, bought out of the millions that he never earned, lay anchored between the Waterford and Wexford shores, he might have visited many a place whose memories would broaden his mind, and give him knowledge which, in the long run, might be of no more use to him than suggestions for building a palatial residence of marble, stucco, and gliding that is to lick creation.

Photo by Frank L. Blanchard, Gill Eng, Co, N.Y. – Niagara; the old and the new (1899), by Frank L. Blanchard, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82004045

Anchored at Passage East, the Waterford News noted that the Niagara was ‘much admired by those who had the opportunity of seeing the graceful outlines of this splendid vessel even at a distance, for no visitors were allowed aboard.’ Tuesday 23^rd July saw Gould and his party travel to Waterford in one of the steam launches and lunched at the Imperial Hotel on the Mall. The local paper described it as follows:

The luncheon was served in the splendid drawing-room of the Imperial Hotel, the spacious proportions of which were much admired by the visitors, and the beautiful ceiling of the apartment which is an exquisite work of art attracted very special and most appreciative attention

After lunch the party made up of Mr and Mrs Gould, Mr. W.A. Perry, Mrs. Perry and Mr H. Perry Jr of New York and A.H. Lery (London) took the 1.30 train from Waterford to Kilkenny. Before leaving the Imperial Hotel, Gould was presented by William Murray (proprietor of the hotel) with a copy of the Waterford News’ publication Beauty Spots.

From the Marble County, the American’s party travelled to Limerick and took a coach from the Treaty County to Listowel en-route to Killarney. While travelling Munster, the Niagara was making it’s way for Bantry Bay. Stops in Kerry included Tralee, Dingle, Valentia to visit the Knight of Kerry, Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, Waterville, Parknasilla, Kenmare, Glengariff, Bantry and Cork before departing aboard their yacht for Le Havre.

Accessed from http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=maje1

While at Queenstown, Gould’s yacht was not the only American millionaire’s vessel to arrive that week. The morning after docking there, those aboard the Niagara would have witnessed the White Star steamer Majestic (1899) arrive from New York. Aboard was W.A. Vanderbilt whose fortune was made through steamboats and railroads. A few years previously, Vanderbilt had built the largest privately owned home in the United States in the form of the 250-room mansion named Biltmore Estate. The Staten Island native, with his party, boarded his yacht Valiant and made their way for Southampton.

Six months after Gould’s visit to the south of Ireland, it was reported by Mr. J.J. Comerford in the Royal Magazine that Gould planned to build a replica of Kilkenny Castle in Long Island. He was able to obtain photographs of the castle while engineers and architects planned to build a larger version of Kilkenny Castle with modern comforts and improvements across the Atlantic. This was known as Castle Gould though it was not to the couples liking, they decided to build another larger house in a Tudor style and called it Hempstead House. After the completion of the estate in 1912, Gould sold it to Daniel Guggenheim.

Hempstead House, Sands Point Preserve, Sands Point, New York September 1995. Photo by Gyrofrog Public Domain

DEBTS, DIVORCE & THE DEISE

Although everything seems to have been cordial between the Goulds and their connections with Ireland it would not always be the case. In 1906, the Cork painter Henry Jones (Thaddeus Walsh) brought an action against Mrs. Gould who would not pay the contracted price on a portrait she was dissatisfied with. The court found in favour of Jones with Katherine Gould having to pay $5,675. A year later saw the beginning of the process of judicial separation between the couple as Katherine accused her husband of bribing detectives in the public service to shadow her movements and gather evidence against her for court proceedings. The matter was finally settled two years later when the Court granted the separation exonerating Clemmons of Howard’s charges of impropriety and habitual intoxication. She was granted an allowance of £7,200 a year.

Gould married one final time in 1937 to German actress Grete Mosheim (whose most notable credit was her role in the 1930 film Dreyfus based on the events of the Dreyfus affair). However, the couple divorced ten years later. Howard was the last surviving son of Jay Gould and Helen Day Miller , he died in 1959 aged 88 at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan. Of the two vessels named Niagara that he was most associated with, the sloop was broken up in England in 1960 while the steamer was bought by the US Navy on 10^th August 1917. She was converted into an armed patrol yacht and commissioned in Tebo’s Yacht Basin, Brooklyn under the command of Commander E.B. Larimer. After the First World War she cruised off the coast of Mexico and on 17^th July 1920 Niagara was reclassified as PY-9 patrolling the Caribbean. Finally the steam yacht was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 21^st April 1922. Recommissioned as Niagara, the vessel was used to survey in the Caribbean and from 1924 charted the Gulf of Venezuela and the coast of Central America. She was decommissioned a second time in 1931 and sold for scrapping two years later.

At anchor, circa 1920, probably in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Collection of Gustave Maurer, ex-Chief Photographer, 1921. U.S. Navy photo NH 2232. Accessed from http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/1309.htm

Howard’s visit to the south-east was not the last connection between the Gould family and Waterford. In 1911, nearly ten years after Howard’s tour of the castles in the south of Ireland, his niece Helen Vivien Gould married John Beresford, 5^th Baron Decies. Sadly Helen died tragically of jaundice and a heart attack in London in February 1931.

One would imagine today that if an American millionaire docked in Passage East there would be a frenzy on Twitter and Instagram as a wealthy celebrity party toured Ireland, a grand tour in search of grand designs. You could say it was by Hook or by Crooke that Gould ended up building Kilkenny Castle on Long Island, New York. An unusual story concerning the auld sod and the New World. Though the tale has largely been forgotten you could say silence was Gould’s end.

Many thanks to Cian for this fascinating account. Cian is the author of Waterford City A History which is available through all good bookshops or online here. Cian also has a passion for sport, check out some of his blog stories at Póg Mo Goal

19/12/202019/12/2020

Dauntless Courage – Book Review

The arrival of Dauntless Courage, Celebrating the History of the RNLI Lifeboats, their crews and the Maritime Heritage of the Dunmore East Community was greeted with a wave of conflicting emotions this week. Joy at seeing the book finally in print, tears of relief after two years of work and pride in the satisfaction of realising a book conceived and raised within a community of volunteers that makes up the RNLI.

Opening the book was a thrill, and the satisfaction of the smell of all those tightly bound hard covered pages only heightened the expectation that comes whenever I open a book. Sometimes the first impressions are let down however, but not in this instance. From the wonderful historic painting on the cover by local marine artist Brian Cleare through to the hundreds of photos and images on the inside, the quality of all are amazing and really bring the book to life.

Running to almost 380 pages author David Carroll takes us on a journey through Dunmore. Quite rightly in my view, David doesn’t start with the first lifeboat, Henry Dodd, in 1884. He starts from the outset of the small little fishing hamlet through to the building of the pier and the coming of the mail packet. Throughout, David continues to ground the lifeboat service in the community of Dunmore and in the life and times of the community which serves to remind the reader that unlike perhaps any other volunteer service, the RNLI relies on the maritime community in which it resides.

David captures some of the more heroic rescues of the past such as the rescue of five fishermen aboard the St Declan in 1952 which saw Paddy Billy Power and Richard Power receive awards for their valour through to the more mundane, but no less important shouts such as the provisioning and repairs to the SS Pauline in Tramore Bay in December 1932. The book is so up to date, it even includes the Lily B rescue carried out off the Hook in October of this year.

There are also the first person accounts from personalities in the area, people that are synonymous with the service such as Joefy Murphy, Frances Glody or John Walsh. Sadly one of those recorded died before the book came to print, Stephen Whittle. But this just highlights the importance of the book still further, in capturing and recording the first person accounts of those who have given so much.

It also records the crew, and the photos of those behind the scenes, the station support, the fundraising committee, the less glamorous jobs but without which such a service has no hope of maintaining itself.

The book is a testament to the volunteer committee that established around David to fundraise to bring the book to fruition. It is also a timely boost to the fundraising fortunes of the station in these covid restrictive times. But it is also a testament to the abilities of David Carroll, ably supported by his wife Pauline, and his deep regard for Dunmore and the people of the RNLI that the book has come to print.

David in company with Brendan Dunne; lifeboat volunteer and a driving force behind the project

Dauntless Courage, Celebrating the History of the RNLI Lifeboats, their crews and the Maritime Heritage of the Dunmore East Community is David’s first book, but I hope it won’t be his last. It deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in Dunmore East, anyone who enjoys maritime history, and anyone who supports the work of the RNLI.

The book is currently flying off the shelves. For stockists of the book and online orders check out the project website

27/11/202029/11/2020

Enduring Mystery of Creaden’s Forty Steps

One of the most intriguing and enduring mysteries we have anywhere in Waterford harbour is the Forty Steps at Creaden Head. Carved into the cliff of this inhospitable headland the purpose and the creators of the stone steps have intrigued and perplexed many.

Creaden Head is located on the western side of Waterford harbour, 1 ½ mile NW of Dunmore East. The stone at the tip of the headland is from volcanic Old Red Sandstone, sometimes called puddingstone, a sand and pebble mixture that was forged in the furnace of the earth’s natural heat. It juts out into the harbour and stands as the most eastern tip of the county of Waterford and the province of Munster. Canon Power speculated that the name originated from a person, but someone unknown to us.[I] As the land is in private ownership, I have only ever seen the steps by water, the best way to my mind!

The steps were carved into the cliff face in a very steep area. It would have taken time, determination, and a lot of skill. It would also have had to be financed. Numerous theories have been put forward about the steps and I will share those that are known to me in no specific order.

The steps as seen this summer from our punt. We are looking upriver.

I might start with a piece written by the column “Sean Suir” in the News & Star in 1949. “While camping in Woodstown my old pal and myself walked down those steps when the tide was very low. I often wondered who made them and why they were cut in such a point almost at, the steepest part of the cliff. If you have not seen them, do go and have a look at them. Seemingly no one in the locality could tell us anything about them. The first time I saw them was when brought by my parents for a cruise to Dunmore on the old ‘ Vandeleur,’ the once-famous river steamer.[ii] What I love about this is the notion that even in the era of the Paddle Steamers (1837-1905) the steps evoked speculation and intrigue.

New Book Out Now

One theory is that the steps were created when the Knights Templar operated a ferry between Creaden and their church at Templetown in Wexford, just over a mile across the harbour. The Templars were granted ferry and numerous other rights after the Norman conquest. According to Byrne[iii], they established a ferry crossing at the narrowest point (Passage East to Ballyhack). No mention is made of another crossing, and why they would want another crossing point a few miles away and in a wider and more dangerous location is beyond me.

A more incredible theory is that it was used as a means of taking African slaves ashore to be walked in chains (for exercise apparently) before being reloaded and sent to the America’s. The origin of this theory is that an old path close to the shore at Fornaght leading inland known as Bothar na mban Gorm , the road of the blue women. The name has created much speculation and wild theorising, but the notion of diverting northwards from off the customary slave route has no evidence that I am aware of. More importantly, It ignores the well-known practice of triangular trade that governed shipping at the time, and indeed the fundamentals of the theory are still in use to this day.

The late Noel McDonagh had a very interesting and to my mind plausible theory which linked this roadway with Creaden and the ancient burial site of the Giants Grave at Harristown. Noel’s research was unfortunately cut short by his untimely death but his theory, in brief, was that ancient people may have used the road and steps as part of a funeral rite as they placed the bones of their dead at the base of Creaden in a sea cave to enable their passage to the other world by water. Noel’s findings of flints and other evidence have turned the heads of everyone with an interest in the early settlement of Ireland.

The steps and the cave beneath to the left

One theory that I occasionally discussed with Noel was smuggling. Neither of us really thought smuggling at the location made any sense. Firstly it was within view of Duncannon which had a military presence since the medieval era. But it is also an inhospitable location. Tides can reach three knots on the Head during spring tides, and it is open to all wind directions except south-westerlies. To put it mildly, it is far from being an ideal location.

There is merit to the theory, however. Firstly smuggling was a well organised and lucrative trade in Ireland up to the mid 19^th Century. My cousin James has guest blogged on it before. Creaden is out of the way, right beside the channel into the ports of Waterford and New Ross. More importantly, such steps have an established association with smuggling in other areas including west Cork.

My view of smuggling was that it would involve a ship coming into the head to unload. Not feasible on this site in my view. But what if it anchored above the head, and a number of smaller boats worked to bring the goods ashore, where willing hands passed the goods up onto the headland and distributed them inland. Not just feasible, but practical. It may have also served the purpose of offering a diversion to the revenue coastwatchers, another site amongst many to be watched and the spreading of resources. And it’s a theory supported by one of Ireland’s foremost archaeologists Connie Kelleher. Connie specialises in underwater archaeology for the National Monuments Service. She spoke about it in Waterford some years back in a talk organised by the cousin. Connie has a new book out called The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic piracy in the early seventeenth century, which I have promised myself for Christmas. I’m sure Creaden and Waterford will get a substantial mention.

Another theory about the steps was that they were used by pilots for boarding sailing vessels coming into the ports. See for example Michael Fewer’s account from Rambling Down the Suir[iv]. Most likely this was the era of the hobblers, prior to the formation of the harbour commissioners in Waterford (1816) who appointed their own official pilots and a pilot boat. However, it’s also known that the hobblers operated for many years after this and that they operated from the area. I would think it would be highly unlikely they went to the bother of cutting steps into the cliff, but very likely they used the steps when tide and weather allowed.

a virtual tour via Mark Power

There is one idea I have myself that I have yet to properly research. That is the use of stone on Creaden by millstone makers and which has been researched by Niall Colfer (son of the renowned late Billy Colfer) Colfer estimated that almost 300 millstones were quarried from the site and he describes it as “…the most intense example of millstone quarrying located in Ireland as part of…[his]… research.”[v] Is it possible the workmen employed in such an operation used the steps as a point of access at certain times. They would certainly have had the skill. The quarry stands a long way from the steps and there is no evidence that I have seen of any millstone quarrying in their vicinity, but as I say more research is merited.

And of course, there’s likely to be other theories that I have not heard, or have yet to unearth. But that’s the joy of research. It’s an ever-evolving story.

Any feedback can be added to the comments on the blog or by email to tidesntales@gmail.com

26/10/201806/12/2018

1950’s Dun Laoghaire visitors to Dunmore

My guest blog this month is from a stalwart of the page, David Carroll. Like myself he has a passionate interest in the local maritime heritage story and his personal reflections and research into the stories make a significant contribution to our understanding. This month he considers the regular summer visitors from Dun Laoghaire to Dunmore during his childhood and paints a very vivid scene.

Both my parents, Desmond and Freda, were from Dun Laoghaire but had come to live in Dunmore in 1947, six months after I was born. The reason we arrived was that my father was appointed Harbour Master in succession to Major Wilfred Lloyd. My parents were very happy living in Dunmore and had integrated well into the maritime community of the village. They remembered Dun Laoghaire fondly and loved every opportunity that presented itself to catch up on gossip and news. Countless visitors made this possible; members of the OPW dredger crew, visiting yachtsmen, fishermen during winter months and also those staying in the hotels, caravans or renting houses during the summer months.

1950’s Dunmore

One such visitor was my uncle Jim (J.J.) Carroll who came to stay with us one summer during the mid-1950s at the time the Dunmore Regatta was taking place. My uncle, who incidentally was the first curator of the National Maritime Museum, was an expert model maker of ships and locomotives. He brought with him a model yacht that I was able to race in the regatta, which was a great thrill for me. He also brought a replica model of the Kingstown lifeboat Dunleary 11, the last lifeboat to be stationed in Kingstown, which relied solely on oars and sails for propulsion. It was in service from 1914 until 1919, during which time the RMS Leinster was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine UB-123 off the Kish with the loss of over 500 lives in October 1918. I arranged for the model to be displayed in our garden beside the harbour to draw attention to the Annual Flag Day for the Lifeboat, which was always held on Regatta Day. That was a time, long before Twitter and Facebook were used to publicise such events. The model is now on display in the National Maritime Museum.

JJ’s model as it looks today, highlighting the proud history of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat

Dunmore was a favourite port of call for Dun Laoghaire yachtsmen. It was an ideal ‘stopping-off point’ for a yacht sailing onto Crosshaven or West Cork and was also convenient for yachts coming from Milford Haven in Wales. Looking at visiting yachts to the harbour as recorded in the 1957 Irish Cruising Club Annual, over fifty per cent showed Dun Laoghaire as their home port. This would be typical of all summers in the 1950s and up to the time that the re-development of the harbour started in the early 1960s.

I have some fond memories of the Dun Laoghaire yachts coming to Dunmore and some that I might want to forget! The typical yachtsman arriving in Dunmore would have been a professional type of person as yachting was a pastime that required a lot money to fund. Having worked hard all year, many would let their hair down during their time in Dunmore. It was mainly all good-natured fun and antics but one escapade that I was told about, by my parents, involved a small Messerschmidt car being brought through the windows of the Haven Hotel and placed in a guest’s bedroom.

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One of the most ebullient yachting characters from Dun Laoghaire was a dentist called Gerry Reddy. He was a regular visitor, coming as a member of the crew on different yachts. On one famous occasion, he arrived, not by sea but rather by air and it almost had an unhappy ending. The front page of the Irish Press of 12th August 1954 reported as follows:

Escape In Waterford Plane Crash

“A 4-Seater Miles Messenger aircraft crashed at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford last night while attempting to land on a local air-strip. Neither of the two occupants of the plane was injured but both received a severe shaking. The plane was piloted by Mr. Cedric O’Callaghan, who had with him as passenger Mr. G. Reddy also of Dublin. After circling the harbour twice, the plane overshot the landing ground, plunged through a wire fence and landed heavily in scrub. The under-carriage and wings were wrecked”. [1]

The Waterford News went on to say: “..It was the second time within a week that Mr. Reddin (I think they meant Reddy) figured in an unpleasant incident. The first occasion was when the yacht in which he was a passenger was buffeted by mountainous seas five days ago off Hook lighthouse.

All on board though that they were going to be swamped and crushed to death on the rocks. They tried to light flares, but they had become so wet that they would not light. It was the intention to raise an alarm so it could be conveyed from the lighthouse to the crew of the Dunmore East lifeboat.

If the lifeboat had arrived at that time, according to Mr. Reddin, they would have abandoned the craft at sea. They steered the boat two miles out to sea after considerable difficulty and managed to get into Dunmore East on the tide.” [2]

Two other regular yachtsmen were Roy Starkey and Bob Geldof who sailed a small 4-ton yacht called Bonita. I can recall them coming into our house at midnight to hear the shipping forecast on BBC radio. This information was vital to them before setting off to round the Tuskar and heading up the Irish Sea home to Dun Laoghaire. Bob Geldof lived just a few doors away in Crosthwaite Park, Dun Laoghaire to where my mother had lived before her marriage. I can recall saying to her that Geldof was an unusual name and she told me that it was a Belgian name and the family had come to live in Dublin, which satisfied my curiosity. Many years later, he rose to national prominence because of his famous son, also Bob who became celebrated as the singer with the Boomtown Rats and who brought Live Aid to the world.

Two motor yachts from Dun Laoghaire, listed in the 1957 Irish Cruising Club Annual were the Kittiwake and the Santa Maria and I have memories of them both for very different reasons.

Community Noticeboard:

The Santa Maria, may have been a converted fishing boat, and was kept in pristine condition by two professional yacht hands from Dun Laoghaire called Pat Carey and Billy Davis. They crewed and maintained the motor yacht on behalf of the Creedon family, who were well known in business. Pat and Billy were real seafaring characters and I always thought that they may have spent time at sea earlier, with Irish Lights or maybe on the mailboats.

During my summer holidays around that time (1957/58) I was allowed serve as an altar boy at the daily Mass in the small chapel attached to the Convent that overlooked the harbour. On one occasion, I was told that the priest celebrating mass would be the priest who was a guest aboard the Santa Maria. The priest was from Blackrock College in Dublin. He obviously was used to older and better-trained boys serving and was very intolerant of me as I struggled sometimes with the responses, which in those days were in Latin and I had a tendency to ring the bell at the wrong time! After Mass, the priest took me aside and told me directly that I would need to speed up and cut out the errors. I was very upset and did not return to the Convent after that until the Santa Maria was well and truly around Hook Head. Much later, I discovered that the priest was Father Walter Finn, nicknamed Wally, who was a famous rugby coach in the College and coached many successful SCT teams.

I had much happier memories of the Kittiwake. Another well-known person in business, called Sam McCormick, who held the agency for Caterpillar heavy-duty machinery in Ireland, owned this motor yacht. This company later became McCormick MacNaughton. He and his family were always very kind and generous to my parents. I often used to catch shrimps in the harbour and hand up a bucket full to the guests staying onboard, who always seemed to enjoy cooking and eating them.

At the end of the 1957 summer, my father was asked to skipper the Kittiwake on its return voyage to Dun Laoghaire. Along with Sam McCormick and his eldest daughter Jean, I was given special permission to be part of the crew. I was absolutely delighted. This was to be first time to go past the Hook in a boat and I was told that the course my father was to steer would bring us right between the two Saltee Islands. I could not hide my excitement. From Killea church, you could see the Saltees in the distance off the Wexford coast. I was looking forward to seeing them at close quarters, but the reality was somewhat different, as I got very seasick as we passed through the sound between the two Islands and had to lie down on a bunk in a cabin for a few hours. We reached Wicklow by nightfall and went to the Grand Hotel for a lovely meal. My appetite has returned at this stage. Next day, was the All-Ireland Hurling Final and we completed a very enjoyable voyage to Dun Laoghaire along the Wicklow and Dublin coastline. I recall that it was about 3am, when we arrived back in Dunmore by car but I was still up in time for the first day back at school, which was overshadowed somewhat by Waterford’s narrow loss in the final.

It was not only during the summer that Dun Laoghaire folk came to Dunmore because during the winter herring seasons, fishing boats from Dun Laoghaire formed part of the large fleet fishing in the rich herring grounds at Baginbun and landing their catches at Dunmore.

Nordkap photo courtesy Richard Mc Cormick, National Maritime Museum”

One Dun Laoghaire skipper who stood out and was held in very high esteem by my mother and father was Brian Crummey of the m.f.v. Ard Ailbhe. This was partly because he hailed from Booterstown, where my parents had lived but more importantly because he was highly qualified and trained skipper and a very ambitious one that had the expertise and drive to compete with foreign fishermen.

In 1967, Brian travelled to Norway to bring the trawler Nordkap back to Ireland. It was 65 feet in length (20 m), wooden hull and powered by a 230hp engine. It was an outstanding vessel. Brian, of course continued the Dun Laoghaire / Dunmore East connection many years later when he married Frances and came to live in the village.

The two ports will always have connections and I am sure that other people will have as many happy memories to share, over the years, as I had growing up on the harbour in Dunmore.

Next month’s guest blog will feature Catherine Foley, who will introduce us to her uncle Joe from Passage East. I’m always delighted to get contributions for the guest blog. If any others out there would like to contribute, I would love to hear from you. The brief is 1200 word count, on a theme of the three sister rivers, the ports of Waterford and New Ross and harbour maritime history. If interested to know more or discuss an idea please drop me an email.

I publish a blog about Waterford Harbours maritime heritage each Friday.

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[1] Irish Press 12 August 1954

[2] Waterford News 13 August 1954 (Thanks to Michael Farrell of BGHS for alerting me to this.)

10/08/201805/07/2022

1904 Harbour War Games

In 1904 a local paper(1) announced that war had been declared from Waterford Harbour. The war was a game, but a serious game, that involved up to 200 ships and extended across the length of the Irish Sea. The Waterford Flotilla stationed in the harbour played a crucial part.

The early years of the twentieth century saw heightened tensions across Europe and Asia as Russia, Germany, Britain and France flexed their might and vied to extend or to enhance their individual power bases. On land and sea new technologies and uncontrolled expansion saw risks multiply and preparations for war was the order of the day. A feature of this preparedness were manoeuvres or war games played out on a grand scale.

In this particular war game in 1904, the Irish side of the Irish sea the “Blue side” and extended from Lough Swilly to Cobh (then called Queenstown) with three ports assigned as “designated protected zones” meaning in short that to the opposing side these were seen as no go areas due to the perception of land defenses and military might. The three were Carrickfergus, Kingstown and Waterford. On the opposing side of the Sea the “Red Side” had her own areas of protection Loch Ryan, Milford Haven and Falmouth.

The manoeuvres commenced on Monday 8th of August (preparations had commenced two weeks previously) and were set to continue until August 15th. (See comment from Anne Batten below, a disparity I must try to reconcile) The object was to test out naval strategies, enhance communications, testing machines and weapons and ensuring the security of land defenses. Such defenses had at their core, it would seem, the efficient working of signal stations and intelligence bases. Ultimately it seems with the reorganisation of the British home fleet flotilla and the introduction of new technologies and ever faster and more powerful ships, new strategies for deployment and engagement were critical for the defence of the realm.

HMS Invincible, later HMS Erebus and finally HMS Fisgard
By Unknown – Old photo (1870), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23302252

Central to the Waterford base of operations was the river between Passage East, Ballyhack and Arthurstown. There the “Waterford flotilla” was managed. The ship at the centre was HMS Erebus a depot ship which headquartered the command of Captain Charlton. The Erebus, which was formerly HMS Invincible is described as a floating factory dealing with everything from initially painting signaling boards for use in exercises to repairing ships and dealing with all manner of mechanical and technical faults through an army of artificers stationed aboard.

Following a terrific storm Waterford harbour was littered with sheltering ships of the “Blue side”. Those further down the harbour were reported to be at risk of dragging their anchors. Those at Passage had their troubles too. For example a collision between HMS Erebus and the destroyer HMS Starfish is reported. The latter coming alongside collided heavily with the depot ship. She also narrowly missed HMS Violet (1897) presumably already alongside. Interestingly the link above used for Starfish suggests that there were handling issues with the craft. Later while Starfish is swinging on the tide, her stern collides heavily with the bow of HMS Vulture which is also at anchor.

A journalist gives a first hand account of departure from the harbour aboard HMS Vulture, a Torpedo boat destroyer with a top speed of 30 knots. (I’m speculating this was an earlier departure, probably arranged specifically for the media) The journalists were given special permission to board by Captain Charlton and the “Waterford flotilla of destroyers and gunboats” departed the harbour at 5pm heading down to the Hook and then dispersed. Aboard the HMS Vulture the journalists are welcomed aboard by a young commander named Lieutenant Hill who “…looked young to have such responsibility, but only the young can stand the strain of life on a destroyer.” Of his appearance “…one of the great mysteries of the world is the permanent cleanliness of the naval officers among the all pervading filth and smuts of a destroyer.”

A whistle announced the departure of the ship and at first only a spray makes the speed of the craft noticeable. At 15 knots a shudder runs through the ship and a gale blows along the decks. At 20 knots the deck is throbbing. When 25 knots are reached the ship is tearing past the wooded hillsides of the harbour and a hurricane is blowing along the decks. At this point a stoker emerges from a manhole in the deck of the ship covered in coal dust from head to foot and limp with perspiration. Below him the air glows red with heat, and when at full power the temperature will rise to 140 degrees.

1909 cartoon in Puck shows nations engaged in naval race game
By L M Glackens(Life time: 1866-1933) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Whatever the outcome of the games, over 114 years later it is obvious that the tone of the article and the romance and adventure reported in parts was very absent from the actual conflict when it emerged. As the superpowers went on to build larger and more powerful machines, the threat of war increased in tandem. Far from acting as a deterrent it arguably made war more inevitable. Ironically many of the ships used in the war game would be redundant by the outbreak ten years later.

(1)This article is based on a new report from the Waterford Standard, published on Wednesday August 10th 1904 page 3.

I would like to thank Paul O’Farrell for helping me clarify some points with the piece