Arthur Henri Poole - Passengers going to Graiguenamanagh in brakes

Why? I mean why would you want to go to Graiguenamanagh in the first place? Why go there in the buckets of rain? In an open car, late in an Irish summer? In any event, this fine Poole shot captures groups of passengers in horse drawn transport leaving for the town of Graiguenamanagh (but from where?)..As suggested by Rory Sherlock ( /photos/139877639@N08/ ) , these passengers are leaving from Merchant's Quay, Waterford ( https://goo.gl/maps/r8NDN43daPM2 ) (with St Saviours visible to the rear). Beachcomber ( /photos/beachcomberaustralia/ ) tells us that the "brake" carriages ( Brake_(carriage) ) are "large, four-wheeled carriage-frame with no body". And, while these carriages have "no body" they are certainly carrying plenty of bodies - pressed together on the 25m/half-day journey to Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny. O Mac ( /photos/91549360@N03/ ) and guliolopez ( /photos/20727502@N00/ ) offer answers to our (perhaps bluntly put) question about why such a group would brave the weather in an open carriage on such a long journey - with confirmation that a rail and steamer strike was in place at the time, leaving "Waterford Isolated" otherwise (as per the Irish Independent article linked in the comments).......Photographer: A. H. Poole..Collection: Poole Photographic Studio, Waterford ( http://catalogue.nli.ie/Search/Results?lookfor=A.H.+Poole&type=Author&sort=title&view=grid ) ..Date: c.23 September 1911..NLI Ref: POOLEWP 2129 ( vtls000592523 ) ..You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )