Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

An Achill currach built by artist Mark Redden is part of a project on display for the next fortnight in Dublin’s Temple Bar. Redden says the project began as a conversation about how a damaged two-handed Achill currach, An Trá…

Armada experts from across Europe will converge on Sligo on May 24-25th next for the Spanish Armada TIDE International Conference. The conference, titled Turning the Tide - revealing the past through new eyes, will feature speakers from Spain, Ireland, the…

Ten years ago, when the Old Gaffers Association’s Dublin visit was a highlight of their Golden Jubilee Cruise-in-Company, it was a very crowded and festive series of events based around Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in late May 2013 that…

A former Mersey ferry, the Royal Daffodil is to be transformed as plans reveal that the historic river-ferry is set to become an "iconic visitor attraction" with a food, drink and events space. The Royal Daffodil which was originally named…

The 70th anniversary of “Tóstal na Gaillimhe”, a traditional currach regatta, is to be celebrated off Salthill in Galway Bay in early May. After a break of ten years, the event planned for May 6th and 7th has been billed…

The disappearance of 129 people led by Sir John Franklin after they set out in 1845 to find a sea route to the Orient by way of the North-west Passage is one of the great mysteries of high-latitude exploration. That’s…

There’ll be celebrating in West Cork this Easter, and rightly so, as the 1902-vintage cutter Lady Min – designed, built and sailed in Schull by the O’Keeffe family during 120 years – has been garlanded with honours at this week’s…

Yet again, Ireland's classic boat restorers have found themselves on the peak of the podium, this time at last night's International Classic Boat Awards 2023 in London. The O'Keeffe family's gaff cutter Lady Min, designed and built in Schull by…

Let us imagine that you are both an enthusiast for Conor O’Brien (1880-1952), the Shannon Estuary’s great pioneering voyager, and that you are also one of those number-crunchers who enjoy calculating on what particular day significant anniversaries will fall in…

The old minesweeper HMS Enterprise has all but submerged in Kilkeel Harbour in Northern Ireland, as Afloat.ie reader Lee Maginnis has shared with his. His recent images of the vessel show a significant degradation from the last update in autumn…

Appropriately, given the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race will be the 50th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s premier event, a significant number of classic yachts are entered, competing for the Dorade Cup. In 2021, Paul Moxon’s Amokura was the oldest boat in the race and…

Classic clinker-built wooden dinghies can mean a lot of maintenance work as they mature. Betty Armstrong's recent stories on Afloat.ie of restoration projects on some of the almost-forgotten 14ft Ballyholme Insects in the North, will have been an evocative reminder…

A year ago, the world of classic boats in Ireland was on a high with the news that maritime polymath Hal Sisk of Dun Laoghaire had been acclaimed as International Classic Boater of the Year, while Steve Morris of Kilush Boatyard…

Naomh Éanna, the iconic CIE passenger/cargoship that for decades served the main Aran Islands-Galway route until 1988, is through artefacts to feature in a permanent maritime exhibition. The exhibition according to the Galway Advertiser is to be part of the…

The 14-foot clinker-built dinghy has XIV on the stern, and it was sold to Paddy Prunty, ex Manager of Kinnego Marina on Lough Neagh, as a Ballyholme Insect class dinghy. In 1953, Mantis was listed as number 14 in the…

The St Ayles skiff Ealu, new-built by Seol Sionna in Kilrush, has been entered for this year's edition of the vast and deservedly legendary Semaine du Golfe for traditional and classic boats at the Morbihan in Southern Brittany from May…