Displaying items by tag: Irish Seamen's National Monument

22nd November 2011

National Commemoration Services for Irish Seafarers

#EVENTS-The annual Seafarers Commemoration in Cork will be held at 12 noon, on 28th November in the Port of Cork Offices, Custom House Quay.

The event is organised by the Cork branch of the Maritime Institute of Ireland which also hosted the Seafarers Commemoration in Dublin last Sunday where a mass was held at City Quay Church. Wreaths were laid afterwards at the nearby Irish Seaman's National Memorial, for the men of the Irish mercantile marine who lost their lives at sea during the Second World War.

In the afternoon, a commemoration service of those who lost their lives on Irish ships also took place at Evensong in St. Patricks Cathedral.

As the 'family of the sea' gathered at the City Quay memorial, this provided an opportunity to reflect memories of former seafarers. In recent years, the memorial service has been extended to honour all Irish seafarers who have died at sea.

For further information detailing lists of Irish merchant ships lost during WW2 and the names of those seamen lost, click HERE in addition a short video clip depicting war footage and paintings of Irish vessels lost.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the B&I Line containership Kilkenny in Dublin Bay in which three crew lost their lives in a collision with the German owned Lo/Lo Hasselwerder.

A memorial to the incident in 1991 is located at Irish Continental Group's (ICG) headquarters in Dublin Port, where the former state-run B&I Line was based before privatisation and sold to ICG's ferry subsidiary Irish Ferries.

Published in Boating Fixtures

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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.