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It’s Never ‘Just a Wreck’. The MV Cameo.

Even though the young student had little need to describe the lost ship no more than a ‘total wreck’, there’s always a ‘story’. Commonly addressed by her last Christian name, Stella, Susan was actually the young woman’s first name; her second was Caroline after her mother. 1963, Spring arrived and Stella had only to pop […]
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The Buttons

‘The Most Abandoned Villains of Wexford’

‘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 […]
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WHEN IS A WRECK NOT A WRECK ?

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, […]
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‘Murphy’s Sub’

After all those years. We followed up on every bar-room story, endless tales by fishermen, and all of the mucky folklore that was ever recounted about this wreck – that of a submarine lying on the Arklow Bank. Probably known to many now, a much abbreviated version of the tale goes as follows. In 1917 […]
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“The South Arklow Light Vessel has Disappeared”

Accurate, but defying an explanation, the announcement as it appears above, was posted in the Custom House, Dublin, on March 31, 1917. Its brevity can be partly explained by war time secrecy, and an importance in preventing the general public and the German navy becoming familiar with British naval matters. The statement did nevertheless indicate […]
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U-Boats Sink the Mail-Boat Leinster and Others in the Irish Channel

The Atlantic Gateway  (Jim Phelan 1941) When ships crossed the channel between Ireland and England during WWI, they were attacked and sunk by German submarines. The loss of ships, Irish or not, with civilians, service men and women, was not only condemned by those considered to be ‘West Brits’, but anger and a sense of […]
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The Flanders Flotilla in Irish Waters WW1

The repeated claims that America declared against Germany during WW1 because her citizens and ships had been attacked by German U-boats is not accurate. Though the U-boats were restrained as a result of American diplomatic protests, America did not enter the war at that time, and when they did, it was for different reasons. This […]