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Displaying items by tag: Greening the Jeanie

#GreenTallShip- The 'greening' of our national iconic landmarks and those throughout the World are increasing in number as each St. Patrick's Day passes.  Yet what about those of a floating nature, as in the case of the Dublin Docklands based Jeanie Johnston which was given a 'greening', writes Jehan Ashmore.

She is a 19th century replica emigrant ship which made her historic voyage to the United States a decade ago. For several years now the vessel has remained on this side of the giant pond, albeit in a static role, however she still has an important part to play as a tourist visitor attraction under the name of the 'Jeanie Johnston Museum Ship'.

The original 408-tonne cargoship 'Jeanie' sailed between Tralee, Co. Kerry and North America during the years 1847 to 1855. In that timeframe she carried thousand's fleeing from famine and on 3,000 mile voyages across the Atlantic in conditions braving gales and harsh seas.

How times have dramatically changed as the Irish Diaspora and visitors alike came to our shores to witness the gathering of the parade in the city-centre and the proudly lit-up tallship moored downriver along Custom House Quay.

 

Published in Tall Ships

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)