In the first half of the nineteenth century, Holyhead experienced considerable growth and improvements to the town infrastructure thanks to the growing importance of its port. The completion of Thomas Telford’s Holyhead to London postroad, the…

Residents of Holyhead fondly remember Pollecoff’s department and drapery store for its ‘elegance and quality’. Its owner, Solomon Polliakoff, was born in Russia in 1867. He emigrated to the United Kingdom to escape persecution and to better himself…

The newly-created Boathouse Hotel is the first social enterprise Eco-Hotel in North Wales with a social and environmental mission. Nestled in a dip on Newry Beach Promenade, the Boathouse Hotel boasts a perfect location on the Anglesey Coastal Path…

Welcome to the Mauretania J. D. Symmonds Thrice welcome, Mauretania,We hail thee, kindly seer,Who speaks of Fishguard's futureIn accents loud and clear;From down the midnight shadows Where towns have not a name, She mounts up now to noonday Among…

When exploring the shared cultural history of Irish Sea Port towns, it is expected that there will be movement of people in both directions. However less expected is emigrants leaving from both Ireland and Wales, to head to the same Liverpool port…

In April 1844, John James Murphy, emigrated from the townland of Haysland in Kilrane Parish with the rest of the Kilrane Boys to Argentina. The Rosslare harbour was not yet built and it would have been known as Ballygeary at that time. Ireland would…

An Excerpt from the Song The Kilrane Boys by William McCormack It being on the twelfth of April, in eighteen forty four,In the blooming spring, when birds did sing, all round sweet Erin’s shore.The feathered train in concert, their tuneful notes…

Dock work was treated as casual labour in Dublin Port right up to the 1970s. As such, men would gather at the docks each day in the hope that they would be called to work by the foreman in a daily address known as 'The Read'. Foremen from different…

An outstanding coastal strip, the South Wexford Coast extends from the early 13th century lighthouse at the craggy, limestone tip of Hook Head in the west, to the gently rounded, granite headland of Carnsore Point in the east; a foreland called…

‘Where sea water meets the Spotted fields, a young Kurdish arm would neverUnhook the window handle to admit the openingfragrance of honeysuckle. Our Wexford peoplewould never eat our strawberries, drink our tea.’ ~ ‘Our…