Arklow Heritage & Maritime Museum, Co. Wicklow is this Wednesday (23 August) at 7.30pm to host an insightful and illustrated talk on the port town's history of Ormonde Castle and the Dominican Abbey.

Over the last two years, a significant deal of historical and archaeological research has been carried out into both the local sites of the castle and abbey.

Reports from these researches are nearing completion, and the Arklow Maritime Museum, located in the Bridgewater Shopping Centre on the North Quay, will give a taste of the findings.

Historian Jim Rees and archaeologist Yvonne Whitty, both members of the Medieval Arklow Project, will be the main speakers of the talk which is admission free. It is scheduled to last about an hour and be followed by a question-and-answer session.

As for the Museum itself, it focuses in particular on its boat- building, lifeboat and fishing traditions with models of boats and ships, among them Afloat adds not surprisingly are those from Arklow Shipping Ltd. Complimenting the models are photographs of the distinctive two-tone green hulled fleet.

ASL operate a fleet of more than 50 vessels comprising deep-sea bulkers and short-sea traders, among them the 5,054dwt gross tonnes Arklow Castle as featured over the years in Afloat's 'Ports & Shipping' coverage of the dry-cargoship's launch and when at sea.

Also on display at the Maritime Museum are photographs of the port dating back to the mid 19th century as well as models of vessels built in Arklow, tools, navigational equipment, paintings and artefacts.

Among the artefacts are those from Sir Francis Chichester's sailing boat the Gypsy Moth III.

Of particular interest to children is an operational model of the wheelhouse controls of a trawler.