Historic Boats

Once thought impossible due to the entire seven boat fleet rotting in a County Wicklow farmyard, the first revived Dublin Bay 21 'Naneen' was revealed yesterday at Kilrush Boatyard in County Clare. The Hal Sisk led project has been working…

A tremendous welcome was extended to the Rankin Dinghy Class by Royal Cork Yacht Club last weekend at its DinghyFest Regatta. The largest fleet of Rankins ever gathered for the event. 21 boats assembled in the dinghy park, with 20…

Limerick Ketch Ilen’s 'Salmon's Wake' Voyage to Greenland Provided Research from High Latitudes
12th September 2019 Ilen This past summer’s successful Salmon’s Wake voyage by Limerick’s 56t traditional ketch Ilen to Greenland worked productively in many ways in high mountains, on the sea, and in ports where the crew interacted with Greenlanders on several cultural programmes. But…

Meitheal Mara Calls On Volunteers New To Ireland For Latest Boat Building Project
9th September 2019 Boatyards Cork city’s community and traditional boatyard Meitheal Mara has put out a call for those new to Ireland for its latest boat building project. The new 12-week programme will see participants have a direct hand in building their own traditional…

Ardmore is a lovely village on the Waterford coastline, not far from Youghal. It’s a seaside resort and was once a busy fishing village, though that period has largely passed. The meaning of its name in Irish is ‘Great Height’…

The Limerick ketch Ilen returned safely from Greenland to berth at an Irish quayside for the first time in more than two months when, at 0400hrs this morning, skipper Paddy Barry and his crew brought the 56ft 1926-built “little ship”…

Historic Prizes at Royal St George Yacht Club on Offer for 12 Foot Dinghies
3rd September 2019 Historic Boats This 12-foot class was designed in 1913 by George Cockshott, an English yacht designer, as the British Racing Association ‘A’ Class. The class was adopted by the International Yacht Racing Union on 1st. January 1920 and thus it became the…

Limerick Ketch Ilen Passing Skelligs – She's Due in Kinsale at 0400 Hrs Tomorrow (Wednesday)
3rd September 2019 Ilen When Conor O’Brien returned from his round the world voyage in Saoirse to Dun Laoghaire in 1925, it was all carefully choreographed so that he arrived in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, and the DBSC fleet, having abandoned their…

Ilen Voyage Promotes Transatlantic Learning Links for School Kids in Ireland & Greenland
1st September 2019 Ilen There’ll be opportunities in Limerick and Greenland for young people to learn more of what the two Transatlantic voyages – outward and return - of the 56ft traditional ketch Ilen have discovered and explained, with schools now resumed after the…

Anchor ‘Lost From Sailing Ship Over 100 Years Ago’ Recovered From Carlingford Lough
30th August 2019 Historic Boats The Facebook page for Carlingford Lough has shared a remarkable find from the lough by subsea divers — an anchor believed to have been lost from a sailing ship more than a century ago. It’s understood the anchor was discovered…

Limerick Ketch Ilen is Now Halfway Home to Ireland from Greenland & Headed for Kinsale
30th August 2019 Ilen The 56ft traditional ketch Ilen under the command of Paddy Barry has been making excellent progress since departing Greenland on Sunday evening, and is already halfway home to Ireland along the 1200 mile passage from Prince Christian Sund writes W…

Historic Ketch Ilen Takes her Departure from Greenland, Bound for Ireland & Limerick
26th August 2019 Ilen Limerick’s restored 56ft Conor O’Brien-designed 1926-built traditionally-rigged trading ketch Ilen emerged yesteray evening (Sunday) from the eastern end of Prince Christian Sound to start her passage back to Ireland writes W M Nixon. The magnificent Sound - noted for its dramatic…

Limerick Ketch Ilen Continues Homeward Along Desirable Greenland ‘Real Estate’
22nd August 2019 Ilen The traditional restored 56ft trading ketch Ilen of Limerick, under the command of Paddy Barry, is serenely continuing her progress homewards along Greenland’s southwest coast despite that rugged and sparsely-populated coastline suddenly becoming global news, thanks to the revelation that…

Historic Yawl Iolaire May be Gone, But Former Owner Don Street Sails on
20th August 2019 Historic Boats They say bad news travels fast. But the news that the 48ft 1905-built yawl Iolaire has been lost, after an inadvertent gybe in heavy weather drove her onto rocks – fortunately without loss of life or injury - off Ibiza…

Researchers Discover Vikings Arrived in Ireland When the Population was in Serious Decline
20th August 2019 Historic Boats New research has found that the population of Ireland was in decline for almost 200 years before the Vikings settled. The research from Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Natural and Built Environment is the first of its kind and has…

Historic Water Wag 'Pansy' to Be Displayed as Part of Heritage Week Theme
20th August 2019 Dublin Bay The theme of this week's National Heritage Week for 2019 is ‘Pastimes'. In recognition of this, the 113-year-old Water Wag dinghy‘Pansy,’ will be put on public display on the East Pier, Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay on Tuesday 20th August…