Steady As She Goes — Episode 6 | History From Beneath the Waves

In this episode of Steady As She Goes, we explore how Ireland’s maritime history survives not only in archives and harbours — but on the seabed itself.Our main feature takes us beneath the waves with Ed Burke, wreck diver and maritime historian, as he tells the remarkable story of Le Impatient, a French vessel lost off Mizen Head in 1797. Drawing on years of research and first-hand diving experience, Ed reveals how shipwrecks preserve fragments of our shared European maritime past, long after the ships themselves have vanished from the surface.The episode also pauses to remember Frank Hurley, the legendary photographer of the Shackleton expeditions, whose determination to save his glass plate negatives from the sinking Endurance ensured that one of the great survival stories of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration would endure.We’re On Watch in Rosslare Harbour, where John Boyce offers insight into the everyday rhythms of one of Ireland’s most important working ports. In Maritime Words of the Week, we explore why speed at sea is measured in knots, tracing the term back to its nautical origins and its continued use in navigation today.As always, the episode is rounded out with news from around the coast, reflecting the people, places, and stories that continue to shape Ireland’s maritime world.