A true meeting of minds took place recently when Seamus Harrington made a visit to our museum to present Jim Murphy with a copy of his book Time and Tide. Jim in turn, presented Seamus with his book, Passage to Everest and Beyond: The Story of Ireland's Major Richard Hingston, M.C.
The book tells the story of Major Richard William George Hingston (1887–1966), a doctor, naturalist, explorer, and WWI hero from Passage West, County Cork, where Major Hingston's family lived and where he is buried.
The book is based on Major Hingston's personal diaries and interviews with his daughter, Gill Hingston. It traces his journey from his hometown to the Himalayas, and his later scientific expeditions across Africa and South America. Hingston served as the official medical officer and naturalist for the ill-fated 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition. He was one of the last people to see George Mallory and Andrew Irvine alive before they vanished near the summit.
The author Jim Murphy is a well-known local historian, community advocate, author, and public figure from Passage West, County Cork. In 2018, along with his daughter Angela and local supporters, Jim established Passage West Maritime Museum. The museum showcases the town’s maritime heritage, shipbuilding past, and connection to the sea.
Jim has written extensively on the history of the lower Cork Harbour area. His bestselling book 'Salt Water and Rust in Their Blood – Passage West, Lower Harbour and the Sea' detailed the maritime family lineages, industrial trade, and shipbuilding history of the area.
He served as a Labour Party Town Commissioner for 25 years and was a former Chairman of the Passage West Town Council. He co-founded Passage Football Club (Passage AFC) in 1972 and serves as its Honorary President.
In October 2022, Cork County Council hosted a Civic Reception in his honour at Cork County Hall to celebrate his lifelong contribution to the community, historical preservation, and public service in Passage West.
Time and Tide is the debut poetry collection by Cork writer Seamus Harrington, published in May 2026.
The collection is deeply connected to weather, work, and the pull of the sea. Settings range from shipyards and lighthouses to cycle lanes, toll plazas, and waiting rooms. It balances the rhythmic pull of tides with everyday observation, shifting between playful, solemn, and affectionate tones. Its themes are memory, human stories, maritime lore, and the interplay between human routines and natural elements.
About the Author
Seamus Harrington is an Irish poet based in Cork whose work has featured in publications across Ireland, the UK, and the US. He was shortlisted for the Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition and has contributed to RTÉ Radio's Seascapes. He was born on Bere Island in Bantry Bay. He started work as a motor mechanic and spent three decades lecturing in motor and transport engineering for Cork Institute of Technology, now part of Munster Technological University.
Harrington is a keen sailor who has voyaged as far as the Caribbean and undertaken many coastal trips, and these experiences influence his writing. Prominent maritime journalist Tom MacSweeney says his work conveys “his love of the maritime sector through his own sailing knowledge and experience”, adding that Harrington is an “unstoppable force highlighting the importance of maritime matters to our island nation”.
Museum co-ordinator Jim Murphy (left) welcomed members of the Cobh branch of the World Ship Appreciation Society to our museum recently (Pic. Martin Collins)
We at the museum recently had the pleasure of welcoming the acclaimed British documentary and urban landscape photographer Mike Seaborne who, from 1979 until 2011, served as the Senior Curator of Photographs at the Museum of London.
During his tenure, his role involved not only managing the museum's vast collection of historical photographs but also actively documenting the city himself for the museum's archives, exhibitions, and publications. His photographic work is largely defined by his focus on London's urban landscape and he has extensively chronicled the changing face of the city.
Now living in Cork, he has focused his attention on capturing on film the changes that are taking place in Cork's Docklands in particular.
From left; Mike Seaborne, Martin Collins, Margaret O'Mahony, chairperson, Passage West Maritime Museum and Joe Healy.
