One of Shetland's best-known historic fishing vessels has returned to Dublin Bay, with the restored Maggie Helen currently lying at anchor in Scotsman's Bay off Sandycove.
The 42ft wooden Zulu drifter, built in 1904 by Hay & Co. Ltd. at Hays Dock in Lerwick, is a familiar visitor to the Irish east coast and has attracted attention from passing sailors and shore-based observers in recent days.
According to the UK's National Historic Ships Register, she was designed by John Shewan, Maggie Helen was originally launched as a herring fishing boat. Built with larch planking over oak frames and carrying the distinctive pointed bow and characteristic Zulu stern, she represents one of Scotland's most recognisable traditional fishing vessel types.
Following her commercial fishing career, the vessel was converted to motor propulsion before being re-rigged as the Bermudan schooner yacht Loki in 1952. A further conversion to a motor cruiser followed in 1960, with the vessel cruising extensively around Shetland and Scandinavia for more than four decades.
After falling into disrepair, Maggie Helen underwent an ambitious community restoration at the Shetland Museum & Archives in 2022. Working in the same Lerwick shed where she had been built 118 years earlier, up to 15 volunteers spent three months rebuilding the historic vessel using reclaimed and locally available materials.
Now restored to sailing condition, the former drifter continues to cruise widely and has become a regular and much-admired visitor to Dublin adnd Killiney Bays.
The visit of Maggie Helen also highlights growing interest in the preservation of traditional working vessels. Afloat readers interested in Irish fishing heritage can read more about an upcoming lecture on Dublin's historic Ringsend sailing trawlers here
