Category Archive: World War One
Oct 08
The first of the famous Guinness fleet – torpedoed in 1917
On 12th October 1917, the steam ship WM Barkley having set out from Dublin Port just hours earlier was torpedoed just off the Kish lighthouse. Five of the 13 crew members on board were killed, and the others were lucky to survive. Among those to lose their lives was Thomas Murphy of Sheriff Street, who …
Sep 29
Christopher Wolfe – A North Dock victim of World War One U-boat attack
“Ah I’m going Liz, the lads will think I’ve swallowed the anchor” These words were spoken by Christopher Wolfe to his wife on the 27th December 1917 . He left his home at Jane Place (off Seville Place) and that evening set sail on the SS Adela , a Tedcastle & McCormick steamer that had …
May 24
1917 Submarine victims – Media coverage of appeal for family contacts
This year will mark the centenary of two u-boat attacks on Dublin Port ships, which led to a substantial loss of life from the Dublin Dockland communities. On 14th December 1917 the SS Hare was targeted as it travelled from Manchester to Dublin Port, while less than a fortnight later, on the 27th December the SS …
Mar 24
ROBERT HENDERSON : Died at Flanders , March 23rd 1918
On the 23rd March 1918 twenty five year old Robert Henderson was killed in Flanders, where he was serving as a private in the Royal Army Medical corps. The Henderson family were long-time residents of East Wall, and remain there to this day. Robert is one of those remembered on the memorial plaque which …
Jun 30
“Roll on the End” – A soldiers letter home (to East Wall 1915)
“We are having terrible times out here this while back Roll on the end.” These are the last words written in a letter from James Nimmo to his mother Rachael, from number 44 Caledon Road, East Wall. James was a private, a drummer in the Connaught Rangers, killed in action at Flanders on AUGUST 3rd …
Apr 30
‘I am Muirchú’ by Rita Edwards (Remembering the Helga)
‘I am Muirchú’ by Rita Edwards I am Muirchú the ‘Hound of the Sea’. I was not always known as Muirchú. When I was built in the Liffey Dockyard in Dublin in 1908 – a steam yacht with 323 tons displacement, capable of reaching a speed of 14.6 knots – I was named Helga II. …
Aug 29
“Poor Tommy worked on the Railway” : The London and North Western Railway, North Wall and the Great War
Along North Wall Quay, situated between the modern developments at Spencer Dock and the shell of what was to be the Anglo-Irish Bank HQ are two somewhat incongruous red brick buildings. These are the former Hotel and Railway Station of the London and North Western Railway Company, an employer of over 90,000 men and women …