SNIPPET: Waterford, the site of the Irish rebellion, has a colourful maritime history. The early Viking invaders gave the town its original name, Vradaford, recalling its network of watery inlets, reminiscent of their own homeland in Scandinavia. By the 1400s, Waterford's maritime trade had become so extensive that the town was nicknamed Rich Waterford. The River Suir widens to more than a mile as it flows 10 miles from the city centre out to the Atlantic, and the fame of its boatyards spread far. In the early 1500s, HENRY VIII, one of the strongest of the English Monarchs, commissioned the boatyards of Waterford to build two ships for the Royal household. Legend has it that, a century later at Waterford, Oliver CROMWELL coined the phrase, "by hook or by crook." Hook Head lies on one side of the estuary, a crook-shaped promontory at Brownstone Head. Just before landing his troops, Cromwell allegedly vowed: "By the Hook or by the Crook we will be victorious by tonight." He m! eant no matter on which side they went ashore or how they carried out their attack, a rapid conquest was assured. Waterford's appearance has changed little over the past 150 years. The lively quays beside the Suir in Waterford remain the very heart of this attractive town. One much-loved feature, Reginald's Tower, has survived 1,000 years, having been built by the Vikings in the year 1003. The old tower saw the Normans invade in the 11th century, followed by the English armies in the 16th century, and later witnessed the departure of countless emigrants during the Famine years. During the Famine, Waterford was the home port for nearly 250 ships. A great number were named after owners' or captains' wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, such as "Juliet," "Louisa," "Catherine," "Margaret," "Ann Henry," "Ann Carr," "Ann Kenny," "Victoria,", "Eliza," "Ellen," "Lavinia" and "Sophia," -- all vessels of the 40-strong fleet which sailed with the Famine emigrants from Waterford to America. "Day after day our quays are crowded with people seeking for American ships, and no sooner is a ship's departure for that prosperous land announced than she is filled," reported the "Chronicle" as the Fame took hold. In one week in the spring of 1846 ten ships sailed with passengers for Canada. The rate slowed down during the following year, with around three ships leaving every week through the summer months. But the pace of departures picked up in 1848 as the potato-failure and the reality of the doomed insurrection were recognized. The busiest of the famine ships operating from Waterford that year was the "Harmony," which took passengers to New York sometimes, though more often to New Orleans and Boston. After one spring voyage, she tied up at Boston on May 27, 1848. On that day in the space of two tides there arrived at Boston three emigrant ships from Liverpool, plus the "Gulane" from Limerick; the "General Scott" from Cork; the "Princess" from Donegal and the "Lord Fitzroy" from Galway. The armada from Ireland was in full flow. Waterford's famous, hand-made Waterford crystal, admired all over the world was first produced in 1783 when George and William PENROSE opened their glass factory. Recognising the profits to be made in shipbuilding, the Penrose family opened a shipyard, too. The shipping movements are now few, but the hotels, busy shops and converted warehouses, look out on the ancient cobble-stones and weather-beaten bollards, the view across the wide river unbroken by any buildings. Reginald's Tower, the walls as robust as ever, has been converted to a small museum, an ancient witness to so much history and bloodshed, heartache and grief. -- Excerpts, "The Famine Ships," Edward Laxton (1996)