Dedicated Volunteers Driving Maritime Change

3rd October 2017

Edward Bransfield commemoration committee at Ballinacurra – Liam O'Riordan ,Ann Wilson, Eugene Furlong & Jim Wilson

Ireland is a nation which has been slow to recognise its maritime resources and its international maritime achievements made by Irish sailors. This I was reminded about again this week. But there are indications of changes for the better, driven by dedicated people, many of them local volunteers.

Some Cork volunteers want to make the name of Edward Bransfield, from the village of Ballinacurra in East Cork, nationally known for his discovery of Antarctica.

Eugene Furlong is one of the group’s leaders and I met him at the exhibition about Bransfield in Cork County Library, bringing their campaign to public attention.

They are progressing well in their campaign to have a monument erected to Edward Bransfield in 2020, the 200th anniversary of the time when he first saw Antartica..

They are determined to honour the man who was press-ganged from Cork Harbour in the British Royal Navy.

Listen to more of this story on the Podcast here.

Tom MacSweeney presents This Island Nation maritime radio programme.

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Edward Bransfield

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Tom MacSweeney

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Tom MacSweeney writes a column for Afloat.ie. He is former RTE Marine Correspondent/Presenter of Seascapes and now has a monthly Podcast on the Community Radio Network and Podcast services

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