Displaying items by tag: Dun Laoghaire Club

30th June 2012

Summer BBQ in aid of National Maritime Museum

#MARITIME MUSEUM BBQ – Live music and a full bar are to accompany a Summer BBQ party to be held on Saturday 14 June (8pm) in the Dún Laoghaire Club, in aid of the town's National Maritime Museum of Ireland (NMMI).

Tickets for the barbecue cost €12.00 and are available from the NMMI located in the former Old Mariners Church on Haigh Terrace or at the door of the Dún Laoghaire Club on Eblana Avenue off Marine Road.

For further information of the mid-July evening event contact: 01-2143964 and in general for opening times and activities of the museum which is run by the Maritime Institute of Ireland visit www.mariner.ie

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7th May 2012

Lecture: Sinking of Submarine HMS Thetis

#LECTURE – A lecture about the sinking of HMS Thetis will be held in the Dun Laoghaire Club, 3 Eblana Avenue next Monday 14th May. The talk will be presented by David Roberts MA -BBC marine presenter.

Roberts will tell the story of the 1939 submarine disaster in Liverpool Bay when 99 men were left to die while carrying out trials. In addition about the delays, mistakes and indecision of the disgraceful cover-up by the Churchill Government and the shocking treatment of those who were left behind.

Standard tickets cost €10 and €5 for concessions and to members of the Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.). Tickets can be purchased from their maritime museum shop which is on the top (3rd floor) of the Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre. For further information Tel: 01-2143964 or 085-7528737 and in general about the maritime museum visit www.mariner.ie

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19th December 2011

Portrait of R.M.S. Leinster Survivor to be Unveiled

#DUBLIN BAY NEWS-Tom Connolly, a survivor from R.M.S. Leinster which was torpedoed off the Kish Bank in 1918, will be remembered when his portrait is unveiled on 31 December.

The unveiling is to take place in the Dun Laoghaire Club, 1 Eblana Avenue, where live music will be the order of the night, starting at 8.30pm. Tickets costs €10 each and can be purchased from the club bar or Costello Jewellers on Cumberland Avenue. Proceeds will be used to provide wheel-chair access to the club.

R.M.S. Leinster was operated by City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) and on the day of the incident she had 771 passengers (mostly military personnel) and crew on board. Of those 22 were postal sorters from the Dublin Post Office, working in the ships on postal sorting room. The prefix of the vessel, R.M.S. stood for Royal Mail Steamer.

Officially 501 people died, making it both the greatest ever loss of life in the Irish Sea and the highest ever casualty rate on an Irish-owned vessel, though research to date has revealed the names of 529 casualties. To read more click HERE.

Connolly was also a member of the Dun Laoghaire Club and he founded Ireland's first supermarket in Patrick Street, Dun Laoghaire. A model of R.M.S. Leinster was displayed in his supermarket over many years. The model is now in the town's National Maritime Museum of Ireland which is due to re-open in Easter next year, for further information www.mariner.ie

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7th September 2011

Lecture: Reminiscences’ of Maritime Institute of Ireland and Maritime Museum

Following the successfull one-day maritime lecture seminar held last month in the Dun Loaghaire Club, an illustrated lecture on the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire is to be held tomorrow at 8pm in the same venue. The presenter is Kevin Crothers, a former vice-president of the Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.).

The venue is situated off Marine Road behind St. Michaels Church and close to the Senior College Dun Laoghaire. All are welcome to attend the evening. To assist covering costs voluntary donations would be appreciated.

Kevin will be recounting his involvement with the acquisition of many of the museum's artefacts in addition to the part he has played in representing the M.I.I. on such issues as sail-training, and the National Monuments Legislation with relation to the Armada finds in Ireland. In addition, Kevin is an experienced yachtsman and he will be touching on that subject too during the evening.

The museum which is situated in the former Mariners Church, Haigh Terrace is due be re-opened with a 'preview' from 16 October 2011 to mark the M.I.I.'s 70th anniversary. The museum is due to be officially opened in Easter 2012. For more about the M.I.I., its museum and activities www.mariner.ie

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2nd August 2011

Heritage Week: Maritime Lecture Seminar Day

This year's Heritage Week (20-28 August) includes a one-day maritime lecture's seminar organised by the Maritime Institute of Ireland. The lectures will take place in Dún Laoghaire Club, Eblana Avenue, Dún Laoghaire (12.30 to 6pm) on Sunday 28th August.

In addition to the lectures there will be an exhibition of Model Boats, by Garry Mooney, secretary of the Irish Model Boat Club, throughout the day.

Below is listing of the lecture programme and times.

12.30 – 1.30 pm. Neutral Ireland's Role in the Sinking of the Bismark, May, 1941. By Dr. Michael Kennedy, Executive Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, Royal Irish Academy.

1.30 – 2.30 pm. Traditional Boats of Ireland. - Wooden workboats from all the Maritime Counties of Ireland. By Darina Tully, Lecturer and Maritime Archaeologist.

2.30 – 3.30 pm. Too Many Bags in the Lifeboat. A Lifeboat Tragedy at Bray 1876. By James Scannell, Lecturer and P.R.O of the Old Dublin Society.

3.30 – 4.00pm. Model Boats, A short talk to accompany the exhibition. By Garry Mooney secretary of the Irish Model Boat Club.

4.00 – 5.00 pm. Maritime Guinness, The Ships, Yachts and Barges of the Guinness Dynasty. By Dr. Edward Bourke, Diver, Maritime Historian and Author of "Guinness, the Family, the Business and the Black Stuff"

5.00 – 6.00 pm. Ireland's Armada Heritage. The Story of the Spanish Armada of 1588.The discoveries of the wrecks on the Irish Coast and the recovery of artifacts. By Cormac Lowth, Lecturer, Author and Diver.

For further information contact Barney Yourell Mob: 087 900 7466 No seminar charge – donations accepted

Information in general on the Maritime Institute of Ireland can be found on www.mariner.ie and for all the other events held during the National Heritage Week go to www.heritageweek.ie/

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3rd February 2011

Maritime Museum Needs You!

The Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) is looking for volunteers to assist in the running of the maritime museum, located in the former Mariners' Church in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

A Volunteers Induction Meeting is to be held on 15 February at 8 p.m. in the Dun Laoghaire Club. Please register in advance. For further details click this link.

In addition to the various roles and activities required in the operation of the museum, the institute, are looking for people who can assist from time to time with the setting up of special exhibitions, the making of DVDS to go with displays and website maintenance.

For general information and other updates about the museum log on to www.mariner.ie

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7th October 2010

AGM of the Maritime Institute of Ireland

The Annual General Meeting of the Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) will be held on Saturday 9th October in the Dun Laoghaire Club, 3 Eblana Avenue, Dun Laoghaire. Regristration and light refreshment from 11am, AGM commencing at 12 noon.

The Maritime Institute of Ireland, a registered charity, is run by volunteers that represents maritime interests and organises a winter lecture series mostly held in Dublin
city-centre.

In addition the M.I.I. has a museum and a library in the Mariners Church, Dun Laoghaire.For several years the premises has remained closed due to extensive renovation, it is
intended to re-open in Easter 2011. For information on the M.I.I. www.mariner.ie

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.