The restored 56ft trading ketch Ilen of 1926 vintage and Conor O’Brien fame has been blithely passage-making to and fro at speed – despite the unsettled weather – along the southwest coast in recent weeks, as Ilen Marine School Director Gary Mac Mahon and his colleagues prepare their ship for her “Culture Voyage” to London.
After a high-profile period of being hospitably wintered in Galway Docks, where her squaresail yard provided the structure for some industrial-grade Christmas tree lighting at the height of the festive season, Ilen zapped southward in the mad March days towards her re-birth home of Liam Hegarty’s boatyard at Oldcourt on the Ilen River above Baltimore.
Going about her business – the Limerick trading ketch Ilen will be London-bound in late April. Photo: Gary Mac Mahon
Welcome aboard! Ilen’s hospitable saloon looking its best at the conclusion of the recent refit.
There, a fortnight of very concentrated survey and re-fit programme was put in hand, and with April upon them, the job was done. Despite the restlessness of the Atlantic – particularly in the Blaskets area – it was expedient to have the ship back in Limerick at the earliest opportunity, and now she is returned to her home port after a 23-hour passage quayside to quayside, with the benefits of the ketch’s big stove much appreciated.
Looking good – Ilen back in Limerick this week. Photo: Gary Mac Mahon
Departure for London in the latter half of April will allow a comfortable time window to be berthed at the beginning of May in St Katharine’s Dock beside Tower Bridge, with the dock authorities providing an accessible location for Ilen to stay until May 14th. There, she will act as the focal point for a series of events celebrating the positive links between ancient port cities.
Geography re-imagined – the logo for the Ilen’s London expedition.
