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Message In A Bottle

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, […]
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THE POOKA of MONAMUC

( This picture above is the remains of a large pike taken by author during very low levels on Blessington reservoir.)   They built a huge wall and dammed 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 […]
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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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A Riddle of Sand

It is often said that there is too much ‘rubbish’ information on the web. To be sure, there is rubbish but there’s rubbish everywhere. There is certainly not so much that the internet should not be used for research. This would of course be foolish. Like all vaults of information, one must discriminate and discard […]
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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 […]