Fishguard & Goodwick Port & Pier

Goodwick and Fishguard Harbour. Goodwicks name is thought to come from a combination of the old Norse forms: goor (good) and vik (bay or cove) giving goorvik. The welsh name is Wdig.

In 1900 Goodwick was once just a cluster of small fisherman’s cottages and at this time work started on building the Fishguard Harbour. Harbour Village was built to house those working on the harbour and Goodwick grew rapidly. Completed in 1906, Fishguard and West Wales was visited by the largest ship in the world at the time the RMS Mauretania.

It is said that Fishguard Harbour could have become the main transatlantic port instead of Liverpool or Southampton but due to regular silting up of the harbour it wasn’t to be. There is a story that the breakwater was deliberately built this way as locals didn’t want the harbour to become too large. The person responsible for the construction of the Fishguard Breakwater was said to have felt guilty following it’s completion and committed suicide of the end of it!

These days Fishguard Harbour provides the shortest route to Ireland, with a ferry twice a day to Rosslare.