Traditional Irish Ketch Ilen’s Decking–Out Ceremony Will End Woolly Thinking

7th October 2016

Well done to anyone who spots the typo in this first version of the community invitation to the Ilen Decking-Ceremony at Oldcourt near Baltimore on Saturday October 15th.

We well know from running stories now and again about the restoration of the Conor O’Brien 57ft ketch Ilen at Oldcourt near Baltimore for Limerick’s Ilen Boat-building School just what a high level of interest it arouses at home and abroad writes W M Nixon. So when this Community Invitation for the decking-out ceremony in nine days time pinged through the inbox, we thought for a moment about how best to publicise it. Then the spotting of a little typo allowed us to send a pompous email telling them that the curve of the top of the hull is the sheer, but if you want to shear, then you need sheep.

Sheep cargo Ilen Ketch Ship sheep. Ilen takes aboard woolly passengers in her working days

Ilen wool cargo Ketch sailing ship Job done. After a successful shearing session, Ilen heads for home with bags of quality wool

You don’t pull the wool over the Limerick men’s eyes for long. Within minutes there came back the photo of Ilen’s deck well-filled with sheep during her working days in the Falkland Islands, and then another one with her foredeck topped-up with bags of wool after a successful shearing expedition.

That was followed in due course by a typo-free invite for the ceremony. It will be quite a party.

Ilen Invite4 Ilen invitation all present and correct

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Ireland's Trading Ketch Ilen

The Ilen is the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships.

Designed by Limerick man Conor O’Brien and built in Baltimore in 1926, she was delivered by Munster men to the Falkland Islands where she served valiantly for seventy years, enduring and enjoying the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties.

Returned now to Ireland and given a new breath of life, Ilen may be described as the last of Ireland’s timber-built ocean-going sailing ships, yet at a mere 56ft, it is capable of visiting most of the small harbours of Ireland.

Wooden Sailing Ship Ilen FAQs

What is the Ilen?

The Ilen is the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships.

Who designed the Ilen?

The Ilen was designed by Conor O’Brien, the first Irish man to circumnavigate the world.

Where does the name Ilen get her name?

Ilen is named for the West Cork River which flows to the sea at Baltimore, her home port.

Who built the Ilen?

The Ilen was built by Baltimore Sea Fisheries School, West Cork in 1926. Tom Moynihan was foreman.

What is Ilen built from?

Ilen's wood construction is of oak ribs and planks of larch.

What are the dimensions of the lIen?

As-built initially, she is 56 feet in length overall with a beam of 14 feet and a displacement of 45 tonnes.

How did the Ilen get from Baltimore to the Falkland Islands in 1926?

Conor O’Brien set sail in August 1926 with two Cadogan cousins from Cape Clear in West Cork, arriving at Port Stanley in January 1927 and handed it over to the new owners.

How much did the Ilen cost in 1926?

The Ilen was delivered to the Falkland Islands Company, in exchange for £1,500.

What roles has Ilen performed in her lifetime?

Ilen served for over 70 years as a cargo ship and a ferry in the Falkland Islands, enduring and enjoying the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties. She stayed in service until the early 1990s.

Who from Ireland rediscovered the Ilen in the Falkland Islands?

Limerick sailor Gary McMahon and his team located Ilen. MacMahon started looking for her in 1996 and went out to the Falklands and struck a deal with the owner to bring her back to Ireland.

What condition was Ilen in when she was found in the Falkland Islands?

After a lifetime of hard work in the Falklands, Ilen required a ground-up rebuild.

How did the Ilen come back to Ireland?

A Russian cargo ship transported her back on a 12,000-mile trip from the Southern Oceans to Dublin. The Ilen was discharged at the Port of Dublin 1997, after an absence from Ireland of 70 years.

Who restored the Ilen?

It was a collaboration between the Ilen Project in Limerick and Hegarty’s Boatyard in Old Court, near Skibbereen. Much of the heavy lifting, of frames, planking, deadwood & backbone, knees, floors, shelves and stringers, deck beams, and carlins, was done in Hegarty’s. The generally lighter work of preparing sole, bulkheads, deck‐houses fixed furniture, fixtures & fittings, deck fittings, machinery, systems, tanks, spar making and rigging is being done at the Ilen boat building school in Limerick.

How long did it take to restore Ilen?

Ten years. The boat was much the worse for wear when it returned to West Cork in May 1998, and it remained dormant for ten years before the start of a decade-long restoration.

What is the role of the Ilen today?

Ilen now serves as a community floating classroom and cargo vessel – visiting 23 ports in 2019 and making a transatlantic crossing to Greenland as part of a relationship-building project to link youth in Limerick City with youth in Nuuk, west Greenland.