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Displaying items by tag: Bell On Display,Derry

#HistoricBoats - The bell of S.S. Laurentic, one of the most significant artefacts in local maritime history, will make its return to the Derry this week, following purchase at auction by Derry City and Strabane District Council.

The Bell, which was desperately rung by crew as the immense former White Star liner sank in the Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal over a century ago, will go on display at the Guildhall from today, Friday 12 January, before it finds a permanent home as Afloat previously reported in a planned Maritime Museum due to open in 2020 at Ebrington Square.

Curator with Council’s Museums and Visitor Services, Roisin Doherty said she looked forward to seeing the Bell making its return. “We are delighted to display the Laurentic bell once again, particularly in the Guildhall, where the survivors of the wreck were treated to a meal by the Mayor of the city in 1917. The tragic story of the sinking of the vessel is inextricably linked with the city and this is a fantastic way to ensure the legacy of the ship survives in memory.”

The display will be accompanied by an exhibition entitled ‘Letters from The Laurentic’, which chronicles the story of the Laurentic disaster through deeply personal correspondence, through letters, postcards and photographs of the men lost and those, fewer in number, who survived. A short documentary, ‘Wine Dark Sea; Letters from The Laurentic’, will also feature.

The exhibition was commissioned by the Ulster Canada Initiative and produced by Harry Kerr, Martha McCulloch, Jim Doherty and Don McNeill.

The Laurentic Bell is made from bell alloy and is from the Bridge area of the ship. It was found in 1979 by local diver Ray Cossum and his son Des with Allerton Salvage. It weighs 37kg and is 2ft high by 2ft wide at the base. It is one of only two bells from the ship, the other being the bow bell, which is permanently located in the belfry of the Church of Ireland at Portsalon, after being donated by the leader of the original Royal Navy salvage expedition in 1924.

In addition to being a highly important historic artefact recovered from the wreck, the bell is also significant because of a series of dents on its rim. These dents were created by a sailor on the bridge, who on the orders of the captain, beat the bell with a wrench to sound the alarm to abandon ship. The survivors of the wreck were afterwards acknowledged by the then Mayor of Londonderry, Alderman R.N. Anderson, and were beneficiaries of a large scale city-wide relief effort and treated to a meal in the Guildhall.

As referred above the bell exhibition will be on display in the Guildhall from today and continue to Wednesday, 24 January.

Published in Historic Boats

Ireland's Sailor of the Year Awards

Created in 1996, the Afloat Sailor of the Year Awards represent all that is praiseworthy, innovative and groundbreaking in the Irish sailing scene.

Since it began 25 years ago, the awards have recognised over 500 monthly award winners in the pages of Ireland's sailing magazine Afloat, and these have been made to both amateur and professional sailors. The first-ever Sailor of the Year was dinghy sailor Mark Lyttle, a race winner at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

And since then it's gone on to read like a who's who of Irish sailing.

The national award is specially designed to salute the achievements of Ireland's sailing's elite. After two decades the awards has developed into a premier awards ceremony for water sports.

The overall national award will be announced each January to the person who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to, Irish sailing in the previous year.

A review of the first 25 years of the Irish Sailor the Year Awards is here

Irish Sailor of the Year Award FAQs

The Irish Sailor of the Year Awards is a scheme designed by Afloat magazine to represent all that is praiseworthy, innovative and groundbreaking in the Irish sailing scene..

The Irish Sailor of the Year Awards began in 1996.

The awards are administered by Afloat, Ireland's boating magazine.

  • 1996 Mark Lyttle
  • 1997 Tom Roche
  • 1998 Tom Fitzpatrick & David McHugh
  • 1999 Mark Mansfield
  • 2000 David Burrows
  • 2001 Maria Coleman
  • 2002 Eric Lisson
  • 2003 Noel Butler & Stephen Campion
  • 2004 Eamonn Crosbie
  • 2005 Paddy Barry & Jarlath Cunnane
  • 2006 Justin Slattery
  • 2007 Ger O'Rourke
  • 2008 Damian Foxall
  • 2009 Mark Mills
  • 2010 Anthony O'Leary
  • 2011 George Kenefick
  • 2012 Annalise Murphy
  • 2013 David Kenefick
  • 2014 Anthony O'Leary
  • 2015 Liam Shanahan
  • 2016 Annalise Murphy
  • 2017 Conor Fogerty
  • 2018 Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove
  • 2019 Paul O'Higgins

Yes. The boating public and maritime community can have their say to help guide judges in deciding who should be crowned Ireland's Sailor of the Year by using an Afloat online poll). The judges welcome the traditional huge level of public interest in helping them make their decision but firmly retain their right to make the ultimate decision for the final choice while taking voting trends into account. By voting for your favourite nominee, you are creating additional awareness of their nomination and highlighting their success.

Anthony O'Leary of Crosshaven and Annalise Murphy of Dun Laoghaire are the only contenders to be Afloat.ie "Sailors of the Year" twice – himself in 2010 and 2014, and herself in 2012 and 2016.

In its 25 year history, there have been wins for 15, offshore or IRC achievements, nine dinghy and one designs accomplishments and one for adventure sailing.

Annually, generally in January or February of the following year.

In 2003 Her Royal Highness Princess Anne presented the Awards.

©Afloat 2020