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20Dec
Author’s Note - The greater part of the following story was included in an earlier work, primarily concerned with the operations of German submarines in Irish waters during WWI. The subject matter was not considered ‘relevant’ to the main body of work and was deleted from the remainder of my book, U-boat Alley, published in […]
9Nov
‘Render Unto Caesar…’ The Christian Bible is clear – citizens must pay their taxes, just or unjust. Dogma is one thing, in practice, evading punitive taxes has been with us since the earliest success of both. Free-trading, free of taxes, comes in many guises today and is constantly responding to market […]
18Oct
By any comparison, Victorian hay-day of sail or today’s modern giants of the seas, the sailing barque, Bay of Bengal, three-masted, 260 feet long, built of ‘Government standard, best, best best iron’, to beyond Lloyd’s highest specification, was a large ship. Launched from the Fairfield Yard at Govan on the Clyde by the respected shipbuilder, […]
26Apr
All Measures Necessary – Where They a Success? There has been few events in history that one can point to and say, ‘they changed the world’. ‘Change’ in this case, meaning profound or even philosophical. There were many, after which the world did change, but over a very long period, like the onset of […]
12Nov
At 2.30 PM, Sunday, September 7, 1845, a large public meeting was convened at Kingstown [Note 1.], on the property of builder, James Nugent. The topic was Repeal of the Union, and a large crowd with a number of celebrated speakers attended. Among them was the colourful emancipationist, Thomas Steele, who stirred the crowd with […]
20Aug
A Tale of Shipwreck and Lost Treasure The Banks Many will be aware, and unfortunately for some, they will also remember only too well, how Banks can ‘fail’. The term is of course not an honest assessment of events when due governance and propriety are recklessly abandoned in favour of greed. Terms like ‘maximising […]
12Apr
THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE OF THE EAST COAST An account of the harrowing loss of the emigrant ship, Pomona, 1859 ‘Arranged side by side, they lay locked in the sleep of death, and the lifeless, which a few hours past were lighted up with life and animation, had become sickening objects, from which the heart […]
5Sep
They built a huge wall and stemmed the waters of two rivers; the Liffey and the Kings River. Both had joined at Baltyboys and cascaded into the dark pool near Ballymore Eustace, known as the Devil’s Hole – Pool a Phuca. Legend had it, that a large monster swam in the pool, and was blamed […]
9Aug
‘The Most Abandoned Villains of Wexford’ Some say it’s the deep sounding whoosh from the revolving blades of the enormous turbines at Carnsore Point, in county Wexford. But when they rest, others will offer; it’s the confusion of winds that can blow around this large expanse of low lands, a place of prolonged periods of […]
8Aug
When is a Wreck not a Wreck? An answer seems easy, but not always obvious. A ship that has been wrecked might be raised and then float again. It might sink again, immediately, or soon after – and declared a wreck once more. It may be repaired, and live out many more years afloat. Alternatively, […]
