What's the story here?

Ballyhack is a small village situated on the eastern shore of the Waterford Harbour. The village is fronted by a small drying quay suitable for small fishing boats. It is the eastern terminus of a ferry service between Ballyhack and Passage East, upon the opposite shore.




Ballyhack harbour dries to 5 metres beyond the harbour walls, where it then shelves steeply into the channel. Vessels intending to stay here need to arrive at high water and plan to take to the mud. The inner basin, with its west-by-southwest-facing entrance, offers up to 1.5 metres on springs and 0.6 metres on neaps, with depths increasing somewhat towards the entrance. It is also possible to come alongside the outsides of the walls of both piers. The outside walls provide 1 extra metre of water to the above inner depths, providing a tidal visitor with maximum shore time; it is also possible to dry out on mud alongside the outside walls.




Although convenient for landing in Ballyhack and providing very good holding, anchoring off the quays is best thought of for temporary purposes only. During neaps and in fair conditions it makes for a serviceable berth, but this is the narrowest part of the river and currents attain 3 knots during springs – although nothing to cause any unendurable hardship, a funnelled estuarial seaway can carry into the anchoring area off of the quays. However, one can stop and try it. Should it prove in any way uncomfortable, a good night’s sleep is assured by anchoring ¾ of a mile above off the Seedes Bank or a ½ mile further up and around Buttermilk Point .

How to get in?

Use the Port of Waterford for details of seaward approaches, entry to Waterford Harbour and the run up the estuary.




Particular attention needs to be paid when passing the ferry in the fast-flowing waters of the River Suir. It can reach speeds of up to 4kt at certain phases of the tide and during the summer months crosses every 10/15 minutes, making as many as 120 crossings each day.




The ferry operates within very tight margins and should not be impeded; nor should a vessel anchor anywhere within its vicinity.




From the initial fix, the harbour entrance is 100 metres eastward. Stand off the north wall, locally known as the Dock, which extends further than it appears. The final 5 metres of the wall has its head knocked off and the remaining stump of the wall becomes covered at half-tide. So, when covered, it is easy to unwittingly clip the end stump. A steel post marks this.




The south wall of the inner basin has a slip that wraps around it, extending off both sides and its head. When entering (or leaving) the basin, or coming alongside this pier at high water, keep 2 metres off the head of the wall to allow for this covered slip.




Shoal draught vessels that can dry may work their way into the basin at high water. Vessels carrying any draught may use either of the two enclosing piers, the berth alongside the outer head of the south wall provides the best depth available in Ballyhack, just inside of the ferry pylons.




However, as it is boxed in by the ferry slip on the south end, it is best approached on a flood tide so a vessel may power into the current and not get pushed down upon the ferry slip. It is not possible to dry out near the root of the South Pier as deep in the 'V' between it and the ferry slip, the bottom is made up of uneven rock.





Deeper-draught vessels may anchor west by northwest of the small harbour, well clear of the car ferry area of operation. Depths of 3 to 4 metres will be found near the mooring buoys, with excellent mud holding.

Why visit here?

Ballyhack, in Irish Baile Each, is thought to have derived its name from the Irish word Seasmhach, meaning stable, joined with baile. Baile, anglicised to Bally, has several meanings – town, village, farm, home, or a small settlement. It is thought that Ballyhack would have meant ‘place/town of the stable’.




The village is dominated by sturdy five-storey tower house Ballyhack Castle, which occupies the steep slope above the village. Holding a commanding position over the Waterford estuary, the castle is thought to have been built around 1450 by the Knights Hospitaller of St John. It is believed the site was initially used as a preceptory (a subordinate house or community of the Knights Templar) as far back as the 12th century. The Knights Templar then held the ferry rights by royal charter. Following the Pope’s dissolution of the Templars in 1312, their manors were handed over to their great rivals, the Knights Hospitaller.

The Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Hospitallers, Order of Hospitallers, Knights of Saint John and Order of Saint John) were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders during the Middle Ages. They were founded around 1023 to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organisation became a religious and military order under its own Papal charter. The Knights Templar did not participate in this invasion since they were not permitted to harm fellow Christians. They were latterly introduced by Strongbow sometime between 1172 and 1177.

With this order of warrior monks established in Ballyhack, the tiny village would have held enormous sway in the affairs of the busy river. By the tail end of the medieval period, Ballyhack was in the Cistercian estate of Dunbrody Abbey, which the monks used as a base to exploit the economic opportunities of the Waterford estuary, as well as protect the fishing community. It was during this period that the quays were built, largely along the southern shore.


During the 17th-century Confederate Rebellion, the castle was a holdout for Royalist forces. Parliamentarian ships bombarded it in 1650, and a raiding party was sent ashore to burn and take the village. The castle was then occupied by the Cromwellians, who also took the corresponding fort at Passage to control the river. After the Confederate Rebellion was put down, it was decreed in the 1652 Act of Settlement that all landowners who had fought as Confederates were to give up their estates in exchange for lands in Connacht. Ballyhack Castle was used as the holding centre for Confederates awaiting transportation, at which time the expression to ‘go to Ballyhack’ assumed portentous connotations and it became a place of disdain. In 1684 Robert Leigh observed: “About two miles from Dunbrody, to the seaward, upon the River of Waterford, there is a creek and an old key [quay] at the bottom of a steep rock, called Ballihack; it is a sad place to look upon, and has not about half a dozen houses, and an old pile of a castle, besides a few cabins; but it is a place much frequented by passengers that ferry over there into Munster, to a place on that side called Passage, as also by seamen and the like, for ships often lie thereabouts in the river.”




Ballyhack's prospects picked up during the 19th century, when it was the centre of the salmon fishery and ran a small trade in corn and pigs for the Waterford market. The village and its southern quays were improved during this time, and the north quay was added to enclosed the harbour area. In Samuel Lewis’s ‘A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’, published in 1837, Lewis described his experience of Ballyhack as: “…containing 258 inhabitants. This place is situated at the outlet of the rivers Barrow, Suir, and Nore, in Waterford harbour, and is chiefly supported by the shipping that anchors in the estuary, where, both at the quay and in the anchorage grounds, large vessels may ride securely in all states of the weather. It is a fishing station, and a small trade is carried out in corn and pigs ready for the Waterford market. Here are the ruins of a castle.”




Very little has changed since. Where once it was a key anchoring ground for sailing ships, the hamlet now centres around the comings and goings of the important ferry service that operates between Ballyhack and Passage East on the opposite Waterford shore. The small village contains a shop, a pub and a small quay for fishing boats.




Today Ballyhack Castle is open to the public as a National Monument in state care. It has been partially restored and houses a display dealing with the history of the Crusaders, Norman nobility and medieval monks. Visitors can explore its dungeon and ‘murder hole’, and view its effigies and oratory.




From a boating point of view, Ballyhack is a good place to come ashore to acquire basic provisions a few strides from the pier. The pub in Ballyhack also serves good bar food and has outside tables where it is possible to lazily overlook the comings and goings of the ferry and other traffic along the estuary.

What facilities are available?

There is a good pub and small shop at Ballyhack. Passage East also has a pub that serves food. If you do not fancy the tide with your dinghy, you may take a foot passenger ride across on the car ferry or power across and day anchor at Passage East.

Waterford Airport is within 15km (9 miles), offering scheduled flights to the UK and mainland Europe.

Any security concerns?

There are no reported security issues in the area. It is advisable, however, to secure the vessel if leaving unattended.

With thanks to:

John Carroll, Ballyhack, County Wexford, Ireland. Photography with thanks to Paul O'Farrell, Michael Harpur and Burke Corbett.