I photographed this boat a few years back, maybe two or three and have wanted
to go back to see how it was doing, I was surprised at just how much it had decayed
in that time, if I recall rightly Steelydan’s uncle worked on this boat….am I right John?
No I dont think i was me that had an uncle working on the Portlairge. I do remember passing by this boat(we called it the Mud Boat, as it used to clear gravel off the bottom of the River Suir,more like mud than gravel) But i used to pass this when it was docked in the Waterside (Scotch Quay) in Waterford around 1984-1987. I used to work in O’Keefee’s bakery and have a few film shots of the boat, in my early photography days.
Lovely shot by the way, will have to make my way back down to Saltmills
Hi Jenny.
T’was my grandfather that worked on the old mud boat for a while. It’s such a pity that this piece of Waterford’s history wasn’t saved. It worked on the river Suir for almost a century & was the last working steam dredger of it’s kind in Europe before it was put out of commission. Nationwide on RTE did a nice feature on it a few years ago & I managed to get a copy of it on DVD. I think your last image of it was better, but this is also a nice shot.