Displaying items by tag: Lough Neagh Search and Rescue

26th April 2023

On-the-Water Rescue Trainees Feature in New Irish Language TV Series

New recruits in the Irish Coast Guard as well as search and rescue teams on loughs Neagh and Foyle are featured in a new four-part Irish-language TV series following the next generation of emergency workers.

999 Faoi Oiliúint debuted on RTÉ One last week with new team volunteer Martin O’Neill out on patrol with Foyle Search and Rescue, while the latest episode from this past Monday (24 April) follows Ruaidhri Ó Domhnaill during his first year of training with Killybegs Coast Guard in Co Donegal.

Filmed over the course of a year, the documetary series accompanies the cadets as they navigate an intense training regimen and deal with real-life emergencies callouts.

The next episode of 999 Faoi Oiliúint is on RTÉ One next Monday 1 May at 8pm and previous episodes are available on RTÉ Player for viewers in the Republic of Ireland.

Published in Maritime TV

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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