ards

[billedge]

I am interested in Irish Sea shipping in the old days and I noticed that
several coasters were calling at a port or jetty called Ards. They
all went from Ards to Garston presumably carrying some bulk cargo.
Ships involved included Normanby Hall, Barrule and Mountcharles as
well as some Dutch coasters. I originally thought Ards meant
somewhere on the Ards peninsula but now I have discovered an
Ards in Sheephaven Bay west of Londonderry. Does anyone know
more about the port of Ards and the trade carried on??

[GALTRA]

There is the remains of a small pier there in Sheephaven Bay, Co. Donegal that once was used for the export of silica sand, I sailed with a man who took a small ship in there in the fifty's. It served the nearby Ards Monastery for the import of coal etc. Charley

[billedge]

Thanks Charley. Very useful information. Bill