Displaying items by tag: bord Pleanala

21st May 2010

Harbour Company issue Carlisle Pier Statement

The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company has issued a brief statement regarding the decision of An Bord Pleanala on the demolition of structures on the Carlisle Pier last September. Afloat.ie reported that Ciaran Cuffe has called for the old Victorian structure on the pier to be rebuilt.

The Harbour Company published a brief statement on its website in response:

"The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company is studying the initial report of An Bord Pleanala regarding the Carlisle Pier, and notes that it is the opinion of the Bord that the works, which occurred in early September 2009, did not involve Protected Structures or interfere with the setting of any Protected Structures. The Bord was of the view that the works required permission, and the structures constituted "Business Premises". The Harbour Company, in the light of the long disuse of the Pier, will study the report of the Bord's Inspector in detail and will then be in a position to make further comment.

Published in Dublin Bay

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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