Displaying items by tag: Cork Naval Museum

18th May 2022

LÉ Eithne: Plea to Convert Flagship into Cork Naval Museum, Rather than Selling Patrol Vessel for Scrap

Flagship LÉ Eithne: Although completely refurbished in 2017, LÉ Eithne has been laid up since mid-2019. However, the flagship LÉ Eithne was briefly brought back into service in 2020 to provide support to the HSE’s Covid-19 operations. Above LÉ Eithne in Dun Laoghaire, is the last naval vessel (AFLOAT adds of any ship) built in Ireland at VCD, Cork, and is seen at the East coast harbour which is the vessel's adopted homeport from where the Naval Service represented by the flagship, was in 2017 bestowed the ‘Freedom of Entry to the County’ by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The Award in recognition of humanitarian service on behalf of the people of Ireland and EU acknowledged the duties undertaken by the Navy as part of Operation Pontus in the Mediterranean Sea to rescue refugee migrants.

In a last-ditch effort a campaign is underway to see the Naval Service flagship converted into a maritime museum, rather than sold for scrap.

Cork County Council is writing to the Minister for Defence and the secretary-general of the Department of Defence asking that LÉ Eithne be retained in Cork Harbour as a monument, rather than scrapped or sold.

Some of the main reasons for the request lie with LÉ Eithne’s significant history and association with the region. It was the last Naval Service ship built in Ireland, by the Verlome Cork Dockyard (V.C.D.) in Cobh in 1984, and the first to cross the Atlantic and visit South America.

The flagship and two ageing coastal patrol vessels, ‘Peacocks’ LÉ Orla and LÉ Ciara, are due to be decommissioned this year and rumours have circulated that all three will be sold for scrap metal value, rather than auctioned off.

The reasoning behind that theory is it might avoid further diplomatic embarrassment. The last to be auctioned ended up in the hands of a Libyan warlord, although through no fault of the Irish authorities.

A previous one was given free to Malta. However, it didn’t go down well there as former senior naval commanders on the Mediterranean Island described it as junk.

More from the Irish Examiner on this development to save the unique final Irish built ship whose adopted homeport is Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Published in Navy

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Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of. For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water. The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.