northwall

I'll have a dry martini please ... or maybe it has not been invented yet? The sun is well over the yard-arm where I am.

It's a long way from the ferry to Holyhead! :-)

Looks like it must be 1860-1865 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Eastern The Sept 1861 voyage looks like a contender - "On the second day out [from Liverpool] the wind increased to gale force, causing the ship to roll heavily"

Although, the captain of the ship from 1866-78, during its cable-laying years, was a Wicklow man en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Halpin It seems odd that the saloon and dining saloon would be so luxuriously appointed for that kind of work though.

ccferrie The absolute earliest this could be is 1865, as Lawrence didn't set up in business until then. But logistically speaking, it was probably at least a few years after that. (Robert French, photographer on three-quarters of our Lawrence Collection didn't even start working for William Lawrence until 1880-ish....)

The British Rail train ferry Cambridge Ferry. She operated between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire in February 1991, right at the end of her career. She was also a regular on the Fishguard - Rosslare run during the late 1980s.

Troops? [ed. Oh I see what you meant!] "... In 1972, Cambridge Ferry and Essex Ferry made ten voyages between Harwich and Dublin, Ireland to deliver new rolling stock to CIÉ. ..." From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Cambridge_Ferry

Flickr is sometimes surprisingly amazing! In 1984 via TimWebb

There's a connection between this ferry and Train Ferry 2 seen at Cork. Both used the same "link span" at Harwich. This links span was moved from Port Richborough after WW1 and is now a national monument in Harwich. flic.kr/p/bKFARH I wonder how those new coach's with their 5' 3” Irish guage aligned with the 4' 81/2” British guage on the ferry?

Well, they didn't, must have been up on wooden blocks or something. Delivery of seventy-two Mk2 coaches from Derby. Lasted in service till 2008. I wonder what it was doing on the Fishguard run as train ferrries were never a feature between Britain and Ireland

How very decadent. Wonderful photos.

I'd love to see one of the ship berthed at Arklow. I never miss a visit to the Maritime Museum each time I'm down there.

Very opulent! What a great image though - so much detail and this was taken below decks - must have needed a hefty exposure!!

"Her first voyage to North America began on 17 June 1860" She was converted into a cable-laying ship in 1865. "The conversion work for Great Eastern's new role consisted in the removal of funnel no. 4 and some boilers as well as great parts of the passenger rooms and saloons" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Eastern

I've posted a couple of comments on the other photo which may be of interest