Dublin's River Liffey Become Ultra-Shared Resource

12th September 2024

Escaping to the open sea. The Cruising Association of Ireland fleet manoeuvring to go through the Liffey Toll Bridge after their successful Three Bridges Rally in the heart of Dublin, with Tom Fitzpatrick's classic sloop Saoirse in foreground Credit: CAI

The Matt Talbot Bridge in Dublin provided a useful border-marker in last Saturday (September 7th's) good weather. The 104th Liffey Swim was coming down-river to finish off the Customs House, while Commodore John Murphy's Cruising Association of Ireland's annual Three Bridges Rally was coming in from seaward to avail of the three opening bridges, and as usual had to berth with the square rigger Jeannie Johnston downriver of the non-opening Talbot.

The Liffey Swim winners were Jessica Purcell and Paul Mulvehill. They both train with advanced swimming clubs that are associated with Aer Lingus employees, which will be a thought-provoking item of information for nervous flyers.

The Liffey Swim in the heart of Dublin. A hundred years ago, the Jack Yeats painting of this 104-year-old event won a Silver Medal at the Paris Olympics.

LIFFEY SWIM WINS OLYMPIC SILVER

As for the Liffey Swim, it's very much a time-honoured feature of Dublin river life, immortalised by Jack Yeats's famour painting which won a Silver Medal a hundred years ago at the Paris Olympics when "artistry" was an Olympic category. Indeed, so important is the Liffey Swim in some individual perceptions of Dublin life that a second 104th Liffey Swim will be staged on Saturday September 21st, though whether Dubliners get two swims for the price of one remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the boat gathering which came in from the sea had an extra dimension with the inclusion three of the restored Dublin Bay 21s. Former CAI Commodore John Leahy is now devoting much of his attention to the assembly of crews for the Hal Sisk/Fionan de Barra DB21 restoration project, and putting in a sailing appearance at as many places as possible is all in a good cause.

The Dublin Bay 21s come to town - three of the restored DB21s in the Liffey at the weekend. Photo: CAI

Published in River Liffey, Cruising, Dublin Bay 21

Published in River Liffey

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River Liffey

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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