Waterford Harbour

The Irish have an old phrase for the passing along of local culture and lore: ‘O Ghluin go Gluin’, or from knee to knee. In short, that stories told to children on the knee of their elders are in turn passed along to the next generation by the same process. But in the fishing community of Waterford, these tales or yarns were told to the author while drifting for salmon, in the company of fishermen. His father and other sailors had a bit of a reputation when it came to exaggeration, but over the years he has found more than a grain of truth in many of the stories.The harbour has centuries of tradition based on its extensive fishery and maritime trade. In these tales we relive the fear of the dreaded press gangs who raided the communities for crew, join in search of buried gold when pirates seized the sailing ship ‘Earl of Sandwich’ and witness the horror visited on the community in WWII when a German airplane bombed the rural idyll. On every page we learn something of this community, steeped in traditions, customs and an enviable spirit. AUTHOR: Andrew Doherty’s family have lived and operated from Waterford Harbour since 1815 as fishermen, boatmen and sailors. He fished commercially for 15 years before going to college and retraining. He has written for regional and national publications and appeared on local and national radio and TV and runs a blog on maritime heritage.He is involved in several local history groups and regularly leads guided walks and has speaking engagements for a wide variety of historical societies around the SE of Ireland. 20 b/w illustrations

Author Biography

ANDREW DOHERTY’S family have lived and operated from Waterford Harbour since 1815 as fishermen, boatmen and sailors. He fished commercially for 15 years before going to college and retraining. He has written for regional and national publications and appeared on local and national radio and TV and runs a blog on maritime heritage. He is involved in several local history groups and regularly leads guided walks and has speaking engagements for a wide variety of historical societies around the south east of Ireland.