Circumnavigator Conor O’Brien Presentation at Foynes Yacht Club

11th January 2023

Solo circumnavigator Conor O’Brien on board the Kelpie

Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary welcomes Vincent Murphy on Friday evening, 13th January, at 7.30 pm, to give a 100th-anniversary presentation on the life of the late circumnavigator Conor O’Brien.

In 1923-25, O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes.

O'Brien's boat Saoirse was the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' from 1895 to 1898.

O'Brien documented it as a journey in his book Across Three Oceans. The voyage ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived on Foynes Island.

The Foynes Yacht Club poster for the100th-anniversary presentation on the life of the late circumnavigator Conor O’Brien

Born in 1880, Conor was a heroic sailor with a huge commitment to Irish Home Rule and a fluent Irish speaker. In 1914 he assisted Erskine Childers in the famous gun-running saga of Irish history before circumnavigating the world.

The FYC entry fee is €5 and proceeds to the RNLI.

Published in Conor O'Brien, Shannon Estuary

Published in Conor O'Brien

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Foynes Yacht Club

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour