Fishguard is a coastal town in north Pembrokeshire, overlooking Cardigan Bay. Its name in Welsh, Abergwaun, reflects its position at the mouth of the Gwaun river; its name in English derives from the Old Norse Fiskigarðr – ‘fish-catching enclosure’ –…

Download the Port Places App to see this Experience and more! When you have the app installed on your smart phone or tablet, you can also find this experience on the menu under 'Find More'. The Experience is available in English and Welsh. If you…

In our world of instant communications it’s hard to imagine that it once took ten days to send a message from North America to Europe. That was the fastest a ship could go - if the weather was favourable. All this changed in 1858 when the first…

In Pembrokeshire, fairies are commonly known as Plant Rhys Ddwfn, the ‘children of Rhys the Deep’, ‘deep’ here referring to depth of character. This particular tribe or type of fairies are of diminutive size like that of a 5- or 6-year old child.…

Virginia Woolf travelled widely in Britain and Europe throughout her life, but visited Ireland only once. On 27 April 1934, she sailed out from Fishguard to Cork for a motoring tour with her husband Leonard, visiting the novelist Elizabeth Bowen at…

Seventy years ago, a young woman from Lismore County Waterford set out with her bicycle on her first trip out of Ireland alone. The trip would take her to England, a ‘Pagan land’ something that did not go unnoticed by her neighbours some of whom were…

In August 1909, the port of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire hit the headlines. The Cunard Steamship Company had chosen Fishguard as its first port-of-call for its Atlantic liners. In its inaugural crossing from New York to Fishguard, the Cunard ship…

In August 1909 the liner the Mauretania called for the first time at Fishguard, having established a new record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic from New York. A public holiday was proclaimed, and trains of day trippers from Swansea, Llanelli…

In 1909, Fishguard became a port of call for the Lusitania on eastbound transatlantic crossings between Liverpool and New York. Not only had Fishguard brought the United Kingdom and the United States closer together, but it also demonstrated the…

The saying goes that you never get a better welcome than at Fishguard. This is entirely down to a group of volunteers who call themselves the Fishguard Friendly Faces. Jana Davidson sat down with Ports, Past and Present to talk how the award-winning…

Whitesands Bay (Porthmawr in Welsh) with its long sandy beach, rolling waves and stunning views, is a world-famous surfing destination, as well as a popular holiday beach. Two miles west of St David’s, it has a long history as a place of arrival and…

The inhabitants of Abercastle, Pembrokeshire were much surprised on Saturday [10th August 1876] by the arrival on their coast of a seaman named Alfred Johnson in an open boat in which he left Gloucester Massachusetts on the 15th June. The boat is…

In 1912 'aeroplaning', as it was then known, was in its infancy. Owning an aeroplane was something that only the rich could indulge in. But indulge in it they did. One of these early aeroplane pioneers was Denys Corbett Wilson. An Anglo-Irishman, his…

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first flight from Britain to Ireland by Denys Corbett Wilson in April 1912, many activities were planned in Fishguard and Enniscorthy for the weekend of 20 to 22 April, 2012 including exhibitions, the…

Stand on the Parrog at Goodwick when the tide is low and look across to the ferry terminal. Before you lies a large expanse of flat sand, firm to walk on, but with a myriad of ankle-deep puddles. On the far-side, below the steel gantry frame over the…

It is thought that Fishguard was named from the Old Norse Fiskigarðr,a ‘fish catching enclosure’. What remains here today is very unlikely to date back that far but we know the style of low-walled hook-shaped trap is an ancient one. Remains of…

Fishguard harbour's natural properties made it a uniquely safe and reliant harbour through the centuries. Not only did the town support its own fishing industry, specialising in herring trade, but it also offered reliable anchorage to international…

David Pepper sat down with Ports, Past and Present to share the origin of the old nickname for the people of Fishguard in the once properous trade in herrings before the disappearance of the vast schoals in the eighteenth century.

For first-time visitors of Fishguard, the Gorsedd circle is a great stop to gain a great view over the bay and Lower Town at their feet to the Preseli Hills in the far distance. Gary Jones talked to Ports, Past and Present why the Gorsedd circle is…

Folk music in this part of Pembrokeshire has a distincly Irish sound and local phone registers contain many Irish family names. Gary Jones sat down with Ports, Past and Present to explain how the advantagous geography of Fishguard harbour had an…

The Catholic mission in Fishguard was established in the late nineteenth century to minister to Irish workers and families involved in the construction of the port, mirroring a similar mission to Catholic families in Holyhead in the mid-nineteenth…

The tradition of commissioning stained glass at St Mary’s Church in Fishguard began relatively late in the 1920s. The church was designed in the 1850s with an outward appearance and interior that had more in common with Nonconformist chapels than…

The first member of the Fenton family to arrive in Fishguard - in the late 18th century - was Lieutenant Samuel Fenton, a naval officer who transformed the fortunes of a fishing village so dependent on the local catch that its inhabitants were known…

During the 1790s Richard Fenton was busy touring his native Pembrokeshire and gathering material for his Historical Tour of Pembrokeshire, published in 1811 to highly positive reviews. This enormous work, beginning and ending in Fishguard, contains a…

Richard Fenton (1747-1821), travel writer, poet, lawyer and antiquarian, was a significant Welsh cultural figure who lived in Fishguard from 1793. One of his most influential publications was an edition of the writings of the Tudor historian George…

In 1779, US-born Stephen Manhant attacked Fishguard with his ship Black Prince, sailing under a French flag. Prior to his attack on Fishguard, Manhant had destroyed over 30 ships sailing under a British flag and taken many prisoners with the plan to…

A cold dark night in December 1920 saw the most celebrated of the Fishguard’s many lifeboat rescues. The boat in question was Charterhouse, funded by the school of that name and presented to the RNLI station in 1908. The boat was built for rough…

Between 25 and 26 October 1859, one of the strongest storms of the 19th century hit the Irish sea. Known as the ‘Royal Charter’ storm , the tempest was named after the ship Royal Charter which was caught on its way from Australia to Britain, carrying…