Anthony Keane, Order of St Benedict

Plank by plank and celebration by celebration, Ilen inches ever closer to the sea. Built in Baltimore in 1926 and delivered to the Falklands by Conor O’Brien and Cadogans Denis and Con, she felt the Furious Fifties for seventy years, telling to the Southern Cross her sad tale of woes, until brought back to Ireland by Gary McMahon in 1997.

Official hammering: Rear Admiral Mark Mellett DSM and Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, secure the whiskey plank. Photo Anne Minihane

Regaining her strength and waxing fat in the Corn Store in Liam Hegarty’s boatyard in Oldcourt, her shivered oak frames replaced and newly planked with magnificent Bavarian larch fixed with bronze from Pete Langley’s Port Townsend Foundry, she moves again irresistibly to the sea. Whiskey plank in place The final bronze fastening was driven home, the final whiskey plank secured, and the deal sealed by marine minister Simon Coveney on February 16 2015.

Birgit Faye-Roth

Over 100 participants gathered lat October at the National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, to discuss the aims and challenges of preserving Ireland’s maritime heritage.

Topics discussed during the working groups and a plenary session chaired by Marcus Connaughton of RTE’s Seascapes ranged from the potential of Ireland’s maritime museums and the preservation of historic ships and traditional boats as well as shore-built maritime heritage, to maritime archives and genealogy sources, maritime tourism networks and joint marketing initiativesand partnerships.

L-R: Richard McCormick, Library NMMI; Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; Peadar Ward, President NMI and An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Carrie Smyth

A key concern shared by the diverse groups and institutions was the fragmentation of the maritime heritage sector in Ireland, due in part to the geographic location of sites on the outer fringes of the Irish coastline, as well as the small scale of operations ― often driven by volunteers and operating on negligent budgets.

Tim Magennis

Of the 700 U-boats sunk during WWII it is estimated that approximately 60 were lost in the waters surrounding Ireland. 116 subs that survived the war ended up there too.

One of the many stunning photographs shows the mass of surrendered craft that were herded into Lough Foyle prior to being towed out between November 1945 and February 1946 to the Northern Approaches ̵ 120 miles northwest of the Donegal coast ̵ and put to the bottom. In total, between 30,000 ̵ 40,000 mainly young German submariners gave their lives.

By its very nature, the work being done in coastal and ocean surveying in general in Ireland does not lend itself to easy or accurate translation for the understanding of the public at large. It can be technical and not easily translated into readily understood language. This is unfortunate because in its short life – a mere 12 years – it has been acclaimed by people who know what they are talking about [that the project is] the finest of its type currently being undertaken anywhere in the world.