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Displaying items by tag: King George VI monument

Guided tours of Dun Laoghaire Harbour's 'Seafront Memorials' that includes the anchor of RMS Leinster, the Crimean War Cannon and the 1895 Lifeboat Disaster start this Saturday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Tours will also be held on every Saturday (1 per day) until 3 September and the maximum number participating is 20 people. Each tour is approximately an hour-long and the outdoor event is wheelchair accessible.

The tour which is free starts at the meeting point of the Queen Victoria Fountain which too forms part of the tour alongside the George VI memorial
and the Christ the King monument.

The outdoor event is part of the 'Summer of Heritage' which is organised by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The initiative is now in its fourth year and this year's highlight of the programme are tours of the newly renovated Seapoint Martello tower.

The coastal structure has been restored and is a fine example of these 19th century defensive forts, built along the coast to defend during the Napoleonic wars.

This summer also sees Carrickbrennan graveyard feature for the first time, the resting place of many sailors lost in maritime disasters since the 17th century.

Sightseeing along 'The Metals', a historic pathway that linked the quarry in Dalkey to the harbour in Dún Laoghaire also returns in the programme due to its popularity last year.

To read more about the the Summer of Heritage other free events in the arts, literature, sports, music and for the family, go to www.dunlaoghaire.ie/summer-of-heritage/ and www.dlrevents.ie/heritage11.html

Published in Dublin Bay

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.