One of the odder stories to emerge from the weird and wonderful history of Dublin port is the near-legend of the Ouzel galley. It seems that in 1695 a group of the city’s merchants funded a sailing cargo ship called the Ouzel - it means ‘Blackbird’ – under the command of Captain Eoghan Massey of Waterford, the purpose being a trading voyage to the Levant with Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) as the ultimate objective.
The Ouzel Galley - as she tended to be called - sailed away, and the years passed with no word at all, until it was assumed she was lost. In due course, insurance was paid out in 1698 to the investors, suggesting that Dublin maritime trading in those distant days was more advanced than we might have thought. In fact, even now a complex settlement like this after just three years would be considered good going, as m’learned friends would see pots of gold in keeping the arguments going as long as possible.
THE OUZEL RETURNS
But then in 1700, the Ouzel came sailing up the Liffey again. Her crew claimed that they had managed to escape from capture by Algerian corsairs, who had forced their ship into years of piracy with themselves as crew. It was not an explanation universally accepted, but as the Ouzel was well laden with pirates’ booty, it was sold off.
The Ouzel Galley Medal was struck after the ship returned to Dublin from supposed oblivion
As the insurance dealing was over and done with, with a line drawn clearly under it, the money raised from this sale was used to fund the establishment of a new body to structure the trade of the city with a more up-to-date system than the ancient guilds. By 1783 this had become the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, which is still very much with us today, the oldest Chamber of Commerce in all Ireland.
MASSEY LINKS?
We’ve been reminded of all this by the appearance in Maine of a new all-wood 95ft cutter called Ouzel. While quietly wondering if Captain Eoghan Massey of Waterford might have any connection to the maritime Massey tribe who do so much successfully with the Howth 17s, we’ll let the Rockport Marine vid about the remarkable new Ouzel speak for itself. Click here for the Rockport Marine webpage, and here to view the video.
