Limerick’s Ilen Restorers Get National Recognition for Success of Their Project

17th December 2019

WM Nixon

(L to R) Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland President Paul McMahon, Gary MacMahon of the Ilen Project, ESB Director Nicholas Tarrant, Father Anthony Keane (Ilen Project), and Michael English (IHAI Board Member) at the presentation of the IHAI’s Best Restoration of 2019 .

Limerick's Ilen Project has been presented with the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland's Award for “Best Restoration of 2019” with its visionary management of the rebuilt sailing ship Ilen, and the associated community education work in Limerick. The Association’s President Paul McMahon presented the trophy at the IHAI Awards 2019 in the ESB Archive Building in Finglas. The ESB sponsored the event, and Michael English (IHAI Board Member) read the citation.

The Ilen during 2019 carried Limerick’s flag across the Atlantic to Greenland and back on the Salmons Wake research voyages, and having also confirmed that things are indeed cold within the Arctic Circle, she may set sail southwards for the islands of Madeira in 2020, as it was a port of call for Ilen during Conor O’Brien’s delivery voyage to the Falklands in 1926. The Ilen Project's marine educational programme has already extended to the islands, and the possible arrival of the ship has aroused local interest. It is now some ninety-five years since she last docked there, and her return visit to Funchal is eagerly awaited.

ilen award2 Ilen in Greenland in the summmer of 2019. In 2020, a southward voyage to Madeira is an increasing possibility. Photo: Gary MacMahon
The ship has turned out every bit as well as anyone expected. She has handled with equanimity whatever the North Atlantic threw at her this past summer. Her combination of sturdiness, elegance and speed win admiration wherever she goes.

The Ilen has also had a very full first operational season conveying community groups and individuals around the apectacular coast of Ireland. Her utility and attraction as a floating classroom and educational platform give credit to Limerick City and County Council, who provided funding through the Social Intervention Fund, to the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, and to all others who gave so generously of their time and treasure to bring her to where she is now.

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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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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.