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Displaying items by tag: liffey

#liffeyswim – The Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn will officially start the 94th Liffey Swim, supported by Dublin City Council, this Saturday 24th August as hundreds of brave swimmers take the plunge. This year's race will start at the Loop Line Bridge beside Butt Bridge and finish at the pontoon on the North side of the river beside the East Link Toll Bridge in front of the O2.

The 94th Dublin City Liffey Swim, supported by Dublin City Councilwill start at the Loop Line Bridge beside Butt Bridge and finish at the pontoon on the North side of the river beside the East Link Toll Bridge in front of the O2.

The 1,600-metre race, organised by Leinster Open Sea Swimming Club and supported by Dublin City Council will commence at 12.30pm with over 300 entrants taking to the water for the historic swim.

The inaugural Liffey LivingFestival will take the infectious atmosphere of the swim on in to the Grand Canal Dock post race for free, family friendly activities such as giant sized street games, a live band, ambient DJ and a specially erected floating open-air cinema, showing water themed movies! Dublin City Council's Liffey Living Festival will run from 3pm -10.00pm

WHEN:
SATURDAY 24th AUGUST 2013
MENS LIFFEY SWIM COMMENCES AT 12.30PM
WOMENS LIFFEY SWIM COMMENCES AT 1.30PM

Published in Sea Swim
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#Kayaking - Kayaking in the capital will bring the Liffey "back to life", according to one enterprising watersport fan.

The Irish Independent reports on City Kayaking, a business operated from the IFSC in Dublin's Docklands by Donnchadh MacCobb, who's hoping to secure funding from the Arthur Guinness Projects initiative to expand his base and attract more people to the experience of kayaking through the city centre.

"We’ll let people explore underneath some of Dublin’s most famous bridges and take in some of the most iconic landmarks while paddling along the River Liffey," he says.

Keeping with the padding theme, the Sunday Independent's Fiona O'Connell headed waterside to see the Thomastown Paddlers' Annual Canoe Race.

The Kilkenny-based club is also in the running for funding via the Arthur Guinness Projects, with the hope of purchasing new strength and fitness equipment to take its members to the next level.

Published in Kayaking
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#Liffey - Dublin Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn and Dublin City Council have announced details of the inaugural Liffey Living Festival - coinciding with the 94th edition of the Liffey Swim on Saturday 24 August.

Following the swim, Grand Canal Dock will host an afternoon and evening of free, family-friendly activities with street performers, giant-sized street games, live music with Dublin band Ships, special floating open-air cinema showing water themed movies.

The Liffey Swim race itself will commence at 12.30pm with the Lord Mayor firing the starting gun for the men’s race, while the ladies’ race commences at 1.30pm.

Speaking at today’s announcement, Lord Mayor Quinn commented: “I am delighted that we are staging the inaugural Liffey Living Festival. Dublin City Council has introduced this new element to the Liffey Swim as a way for people to continue to enjoy the vibrant waterways we have on our doorstep in Dublin City.

"We hope the introduction of the Liffey Living Festival as part of the Liffey Swim will continue to grow year on year and encourage people to come and enjoy all that the River Liffey and surrounding area has to offer.”

The post-race festivities be staged in Grand Canal Dock from 3pm till 11pm - and admission is free.

For more details on the Liffey Living Festival, visit www.dublin.ie. And see www.leinsteropensea.ie for more on the Liffey Swim and how to take part in that or other Leinster Open Sea races.

Published in Maritime Festivals
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Dublin City Kayaking Challenge in aid of the RNLI

#kayak – The first ever 5km kayaking challenge in Dublin's City Centre will take place on Sunday 28th April in aid of the RNLI.

Competitors will start at the Jeannie Johnson on Custom House Quay and kayak to the Aviva Stadium on the River Dodder and back. The race will be have four different start times. The first groups will start at 9:30am and the last group at 2pm. The competition is open to all members of the public. All proceeds will be donated to the RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea. The cost to enter is €50 for two people in a two person kayak or €40 for two students. Tickets are available online from http://citykayakingchallenge.eventbrite.ie/ . The Dublin City 5km Kayaking Challenge is proudly sponsored by City Kayaking.

It will be a fun day for kayakers and spectators alike. There will be a barbeque, ice-cream, a raffle and prizes for the winning competitors.

For further information please contact Gavin on 086 071 8414 or email [email protected] .Donations can be made through the mycharity.ie page here http://www.mycharity.ie/event/dublincitykayakchallenge/ .

'Funds raised by the 5km City Centre Kayaking Challenge will ensure that our volunteer lifeboat crews go to sea with the best equipment available to ensure their safety when saving lives at sea' said Rose Michael, Howth RNLI Fundraising Chairperson.

Published in Kayaking

# ROWING: Neptune Rowing Club will hold their 31st annual regatta on Saturday  over a 1200 m course at Islandbridge. This is the first regatta of the season in the Irish rowing calendar, and it has attracted a big entry, with 204 races. Because of the large entry there will be 26 preliminary races held on the Friday evening between 6 and 7.30 pm.

 Racing on Saturday is scheculed from 8.30 am to 6.24 pm, with a race every three minutes throughout the day. The feature race will be the men's senior eights at 5.51 pm, which is a straight final between a Neptune/Commercial composite crew and a visiting English crew from Broxbourne Rowing Club with Irishman Albert Maher on board. Broxbourne will also compete in the men's intermediate eights and Albert Maher will compete in the senior sculls.

The women's senior single sculls is a straight final between Sarah Dolan and Eimear Lambe, both from Commercial. The men's novice single sculls has attracted an entry of 37 scullers, with 31 entrants from Dublin University!

Other visiting crews to the regatta are Portora, Bann and Belfast Rowing Clubs from Northern Ireland, as well as a good representation from all over Leinster. There will also be crews from Waterford Boat Club and Fossa from Munster and Sligo R.C. from Connaught.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: The Dublin Head of the River finished in a dead heat on Saturday, the first time this has happened in exactly 60 years. A big composite crew built around the Commercial senior four and with with members of three other clubs finished with the same time as UCD in cold and clear conditions. The college crew rested their senior oarsmen for the event.

 The only other dead heat in the 69 years of the event came in 1953 when UCD and Trinity dead-heated in an event which featured only nine crews. An impressive number of crews – 32 – took on the sometimes choppy water this year, but the boats set off at sometimes very long intervals, dulling some of the competitive edge.

UCD’s senior women won their battle with Trinity, covering the course from the Ha’penny Bridge to Islandbridge nine seconds faster than their rivals.

One negative note was the break-in and theft from three cars in the UCD car park.

Dublin Head of the River (Selected Results)

Overall: 1= UCD senior eight; Commercial/Grainne Mhaol/ Old Bones/University of Limerick 10 minutes 32.0 seconds; 3 UCD intermediate eight 11:02.0, 4 Trinity novice eight 11:17.0, 5 UCD intermediate eight 11:25.0, 6 Neptune junior eight 11:35.0.

Graded Results

Men, Eight – Senior: 1= UCD and Commercial/Grainne Mhaol, Old Bones/University of Limerick 10:32.0. Intermediate: 1 UCD 11:02.0, 2 UCD B 11:25.0, 3 Commercial 11:41.0. Novice: 1 Trinity 11:17.0, 2 Queen’s 11:39.0, 3 Trinity 12:09.0. Junior: 1 Neptune 11:35.0, 2 Blackrock College 12:27.0, 3 Neptune B 14:49.0.

Four – Senior: 1 Commercial B 12:35.0, 2 Commercial 31:18.0. Masters: Commercial 13:28.0. Quadruple – Novice: Trinity 13:49.0.

Women – Eight, Senior: 1 UCD 12:04.0, 2 Trinity 12:13.0. Intermediate: 1 Commercial 12:56.0, 2 UCD 12:58.0. Novice: 1 UCD 13:34.0, 2 Trinity 13:57.0, 3 Trinity B 14:08.0. Junior: 1 Commercial 14:00.0, 2 Commercial B 15:33.0.

Four – Senior: Trinity 14:47.0.

Published in Rowing
Forty cruising boats will sail up the river Liffey to spend a night near the the replica famine ship Jeanie Johnston. The East Link bridge will lift and the Samuel Beckett bridge will swing open at noon on Saturday 24 September.

The boats are mostly modest sailing yachts with some motor cruisers, typically eight to twelve metres long with up to six people aboard. They come from ports on the East coast of Ireland between Arklow and Skerries.

The sailors will spend the afternoon visiting other boats, renewing friendships and comparing notes. Some will use the opportunity to explore the city centre from this unusual perspective.

There are organised visits to the Jeanie Johnston and the Guinness Storehouse. A special attraction this year is a guided tour of the docks in an inflatable boat, by Sea Safari.

In the evening the whole group, about a hundred people, will gather for dinner in a nearby hotel. Formalities will be limited to a review of the season in general and the summer cruise in Strangford Lough, but the party is likely to continue until late.

Most sailors will spend the night aboard their boats. On Sunday morning commodore Derek Harris will say mass aboard the Jeanie Johnston. The bridges will open once more at noon, and the fleet will disperse to their home ports.

This annual event is organised by the Cruising Association of Ireland with the co-operation of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Dublin Corporation.

The Cruising Association of Ireland supports and represents the cruising community in Ireland, both power and sail (www.cruising.ie). Contact Derek Harris 087 6740334 [email protected], or Simon Parker 0872497859 [email protected]


Published in Cruising
The Cunard Cruise Ship Queen Elizabeth arrived in to Dublin Port this morning on schedule marking the start of an important visit to Irish shores. The ship passed the Baily Light marking the entrance to Dublin Bay at 7am. The maiden voyage here of the 90,901 gross registered tonnes cruise ship starts in the capital where the liner will berth on the river Liffey before heading south to Cork harbour where a major ceremony is planned for the arrival of the 965-feet long ship.
Published in Cruise Liners

The 91st annual Dublin Liffey Swim sponsored by Dublin City Council took place today, Saturday 3rd September 2011. This year's swim, extended to 2.4 kilometres, started at Watling Street Bridge (opposite Guiness Brewery) at 14.45 hrs and finished at the Jeanie Johnston Mooring (Dublin Docklands). The swimmers were each assigned a time handicap depending on their level of proficiency. Declan Proctor, Eastern Bay Club won the mens race  in a time of 39 minutes and 43 seconds (no handicap).The womens race was by Maria Quintanilla, Dublin Club in a time of 40 minutes and 53 seconds. (handicap - started 8 mins 30 secs after first swimmers into water).

Men's Event

Mens Winner - Declan Proctor, Eastern Bay Club in a time of 39 minutes and 43 seconds (no handicap).

Second place - Sean Kenna, St. Vincent's Club in a time of 40 minutes and 20 seconds (handicap - started 9mins 15 secs after first swimmers into the water).

Winners Resulta Maria Quintanilla, Dublin Club in a time of 40 minutes and 53 seconds (handicap - started 8 mins 30 secs after first swimmers into water).

Second place - Joan Barron, St. Vincent's Club in a time of 41 Minutes and 5 seconds (handicap 1 min 45 secs after first swimmers into water).

Third place - Sinead Tyrell, Garda Club in a time of 41minutes and 14 seconds (handicap 14 min 15 secs after first swimmers into water).


Published in Sea Swim
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This Saturday, September 3rd, the Dublin City Council sponsored Liffey Swim celebrates its 91st anniversary as 221 men and 101 women take the plunge, having completed 4 qualifying races on the 2011 Leinster Open Sea Swim Calendar. Dublin's Lord Mayor, Andrew Montague will start the men's race at 14.45hrs and the women's race at 15.30hrs. The 2.4 kilometre swim begins at Rory O'More Bridge, Watling Street and finishes at the Jeanie Johnston Mooring opposite Jury's Hotel in Dublin Docklands. The Swim is being supported by Dublin Port.

The Swim is open to competitors of all ages, abilities and nationalities, with teenagers pitting their strengths against 70 year olds and club swimmers from all over the country competing against eachother.

There is something for people of all ages to enjoy at the event, with entertainment at the finishline being provided by the Coastguard performing a simulated air-sea rescue, while Dublin Port tug boats, Shackleton and Beaufort, will fire water cannon into the air, accompanied by a colourful Dragon Boat display.

The Lord Mayor says, "the Liffey Swim is unique to Dublin. No European cities run an open swim right through their city centre. I look forward to starting the race and would like to thank Swim Ireland, Leinster Region Open Sea Committee, who do such a great job year after year. Most of all, I would like to thank the swimmers who have trained so hard for this race."

"I encourage everyone in Dublin on Saturday afternoon to follow the gruelling race along the quays and cheer on the swimmers, from the many great vantage points along the Liffey walls, bridges and boardwalks", the Lord Mayor continued."

David Farrell, Leinster Open Sea Committee commented, "We're delighted to be extending this year's race to a 2.4km event, so that it will now be finishing in the Dublin Docklands. We'd also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of Dublin City Council and Dublin Port. This year's race includes a number of Irish swimmers who have completed the gruelling English Channel swim: Julie-Ann Galloway, Lisa Howley, Ann McAdam and Eoin Gaffney."

"With it all to do are the "scratch" swimmers, Colleen Mallon and Julie-Ann Galloway in the women's race, and Shane Drumm, Daire O'Driscoll and Seamus Stacey in the men's race. They are seeded fastest and will have to pass all the swimmers who start before them if they are to win the race. They will wear a unique red hat so they can be spotted as they progress through the field", says Farrell.

Published in Sea Swim
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Dun Laoghaire Harbour Information

Dun Laoghaire Harbour is the second port for Dublin and is located on the south shore of Dublin Bay. Marine uses for this 200-year-old man-made harbour have changed over its lifetime. Originally built as a port of refuge for sailing ships entering the narrow channel at Dublin Port, the harbour has had a continuous ferry link with Wales, and this was the principal activity of the harbour until the service stopped in 2015. In all this time, however, one thing has remained constant, and that is the popularity of sailing and boating from the port, making it Ireland's marine leisure capital with a harbour fleet of between 1,200 -1,600 pleasure craft based at the country's largest marina (800 berths) and its four waterfront yacht clubs.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Bye-Laws

Download the bye-laws on this link here

FAQs

A live stream Dublin Bay webcam showing Dun Laoghaire Harbour entrance and East Pier is here

Dun Laoghaire is a Dublin suburb situated on the south side of Dublin Bay, approximately, 15km from Dublin city centre.

The east and west piers of the harbour are each of 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) long.

The harbour entrance is 232 metres (761 ft) across from East to West Pier.

  • Public Boatyard
  • Public slipway
  • Public Marina

23 clubs, 14 activity providers and eight state-related organisations operate from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that facilitates a full range of sports - Sailing, Rowing, Diving, Windsurfing, Angling, Canoeing, Swimming, Triathlon, Powerboating, Kayaking and Paddleboarding. Participants include members of the public, club members, tourists, disabled, disadvantaged, event competitors, schools, youth groups and college students.

  • Commissioners of Irish Lights
  • Dun Laoghaire Marina
  • MGM Boats & Boatyard
  • Coastguard
  • Naval Service Reserve
  • Royal National Lifeboat Institution
  • Marine Activity Centre
  • Rowing clubs
  • Yachting and Sailing Clubs
  • Sailing Schools
  • Irish Olympic Sailing Team
  • Chandlery & Boat Supply Stores

The east and west granite-built piers of Dun Laoghaire harbour are each of one kilometre (0.62 mi) long and enclose an area of 250 acres (1.0 km2) with the harbour entrance being 232 metres (761 ft) in width.

In 2018, the ownership of the great granite was transferred in its entirety to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council who now operate and manage the harbour. Prior to that, the harbour was operated by The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, a state company, dissolved in 2018 under the Ports Act.

  • 1817 - Construction of the East Pier to a design by John Rennie began in 1817 with Earl Whitworth Lord Lieutenant of Ireland laying the first stone.
  • 1820 - Rennie had concerns a single pier would be subject to silting, and by 1820 gained support for the construction of the West pier to begin shortly afterwards. When King George IV left Ireland from the harbour in 1820, Dunleary was renamed Kingstown, a name that was to remain in use for nearly 100 years. The harbour was named the Royal Harbour of George the Fourth which seems not to have remained for so long.
  • 1824 - saw over 3,000 boats shelter in the partially completed harbour, but it also saw the beginning of operations off the North Wall which alleviated many of the issues ships were having accessing Dublin Port.
  • 1826 - Kingstown harbour gained the important mail packet service which at the time was under the stewardship of the Admiralty with a wharf completed on the East Pier in the following year. The service was transferred from Howth whose harbour had suffered from silting and the need for frequent dredging.
  • 1831 - Royal Irish Yacht Club founded
  • 1837 - saw the creation of Victoria Wharf, since renamed St. Michael's Wharf with the D&KR extended and a new terminus created convenient to the wharf.[8] The extended line had cut a chord across the old harbour with the landward pool so created later filled in.
  • 1838 - Royal St George Yacht Club founded
  • 1842 - By this time the largest man-made harbour in Western Europe had been completed with the construction of the East Pier lighthouse.
  • 1855 - The harbour was further enhanced by the completion of Traders Wharf in 1855 and Carlisle Pier in 1856. The mid-1850s also saw the completion of the West Pier lighthouse. The railway was connected to Bray in 1856
  • 1871 - National Yacht Club founded
  • 1884 - Dublin Bay Sailing Club founded
  • 1918 - The Mailboat, “The RMS Leinster” sailed out of Dún Laoghaire with 685 people on board. 22 were post office workers sorting the mail; 70 were crew and the vast majority of the passengers were soldiers returning to the battlefields of World War I. The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat near the Kish lighthouse killing many of those onboard.
  • 1920 - Kingstown reverted to the name Dún Laoghaire in 1920 and in 1924 the harbour was officially renamed "Dun Laoghaire Harbour"
  • 1944 - a diaphone fog signal was installed at the East Pier
  • 1965 - Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club founded
  • 1968 - The East Pier lighthouse station switched from vapourised paraffin to electricity, and became unmanned. The new candle-power was 226,000
  • 1977- A flying boat landed in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, one of the most unusual visitors
  • 1978 - Irish National Sailing School founded
  • 1934 - saw the Dublin and Kingstown Railway begin operations from their terminus at Westland Row to a terminus at the West Pier which began at the old harbour
  • 2001 - Dun Laoghaire Marina opens with 500 berths
  • 2015 - Ferry services cease bringing to an end a 200-year continuous link with Wales.
  • 2017- Bicentenary celebrations and time capsule laid.
  • 2018 - Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company dissolved, the harbour is transferred into the hands of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council

From East pier to West Pier the waterfront clubs are:

  • National Yacht Club. Read latest NYC news here
  • Royal St. George Yacht Club. Read latest RSTGYC news here
  • Royal Irish Yacht Club. Read latest RIYC news here
  • Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club. Read latest DMYC news here

 

The umbrella organisation that organises weekly racing in summer and winter on Dublin Bay for all the yacht clubs is Dublin Bay Sailing Club. It has no clubhouse of its own but operates through the clubs with two x Committee vessels and a starters hut on the West Pier. Read the latest DBSC news here.

The sailing community is a key stakeholder in Dún Laoghaire. The clubs attract many visitors from home and abroad and attract major international sailing events to the harbour.

 

Dun Laoghaire Regatta

Dun Laoghaire's biennial town regatta was started in 2005 as a joint cooperation by the town's major yacht clubs. It was an immediate success and is now in its eighth edition and has become Ireland's biggest sailing event. The combined club's regatta is held in the first week of July.

  • Attracts 500 boats and more from overseas and around the country
  • Four-day championship involving 2,500 sailors with supporting family and friends
  • Economic study carried out by the Irish Marine Federation estimated the economic value of the 2009 Regatta at €2.5 million

The dates for the 2021 edition of Ireland's biggest sailing event on Dublin Bay is: 8-11 July 2021. More details here

Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Offshore Race

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down the East coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry. The latest news on the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race can be found by clicking on the link here. The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

The 2021 Race will start from the National Yacht Club on Wednesday 9th, June 2021.

Round Ireland Yacht Race

This is a Wicklow Sailing Club race but in 2013 the Garden County Club made an arrangement that sees see entries berthed at the RIYC in Dun Laoghaire Harbour for scrutineering prior to the biennial 704–mile race start off Wicklow harbour. Larger boats have been unable to berth in the confines of Wicklow harbour, a factor WSC believes has restricted the growth of the Round Ireland fleet. 'It means we can now encourage larger boats that have shown an interest in competing but we have been unable to cater for in Wicklow' harbour, WSC Commodore Peter Shearer told Afloat.ie here. The race also holds a pre-ace launch party at the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

Laser Masters World Championship 2018

  • 301 boats from 25 nations

Laser Radial World Championship 2016

  • 436 competitors from 48 nations

ISAF Youth Worlds 2012

  • The Youth Olympics of Sailing run on behalf of World Sailing in 2012.
  • Two-week event attracting 61 nations, 255 boats, 450 volunteers.
  • Generated 9,000 bed nights and valued at €9 million to the local economy.

The Harbour Police are authorised by the company to police the harbour and to enforce and implement bye-laws within the harbour, and all regulations made by the company in relation to the harbour.

There are four ship/ferry berths in Dun Laoghaire:

  • No 1 berth (East Pier)
  • No 2 berth (east side of Carlisle Pier)
  • No 3 berth (west side of Carlisle Pier)
  • No 4 berth  (St, Michaels Wharf)

Berthing facilities for smaller craft exist in the town's 800-berth marina and on swinging moorings.

© Afloat 2020