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Displaying items by tag: Stella Maris Seafarers' Club

#Lecture – A talk will be given on Shackleton's Endurance Expeditions: 1914-17 next Thursday (21 March) at 8pm in the Stella Maris Club, Beresford Place, Dublin city centre.

All are welcome to the lecture, where there is an entrance fee (recommended donation €5) per person

The Stella Maris Club is located close to the Irish Life (ILAC) Mall complex car park, the Customs House and Busaras. It is convenient to the Luas (Red Line: Busaras stop) and the DART (Connolly and Tara Street stations).

The Maritime Institute runs a maritime museum, the National Maritime Museum of Ireland located in Dun Laoghaire. Co. Dublin. For further details visit: www.mariner.ie

 

Published in Boating Fixtures

#LectureSmugglers – Following Joe Varley's lecture held last week in the Poolbeg Y&BC Marina, Dublin, there's another chance to hear his lecture "Smuggling in the 18th Century".

The lecture is to take place this Thursday (21 February) at 20.00hrs at Stella Maris Seafarers Club, Beresford Place, in the city-centre.

The illustrated talk is hosted by the Maritime Institute of Ireland and is part of the winter/spring lecture programme.

Varley will demonstrate why the 18th century is regarded as the golden age of smuggling. This contention will be examined from mainly the viewpoint of the smuggler.

Examples of Irish and British smuggling activity will be given, including a detailed example of wool smuggling from Roundstone in Connemara in the 1730's.

The Stella Maris is located close to the Irish Life Mall car park (ILAC), the Customs House and Busaras. It is convenient to the Luas (Red Line: Busaras stop) and DART (either Connolly or Tara Street stations).

The Maritime Institute has a maritime museum, the National Maritime Museum of Ireland located in Dun Laoghaire. Co. Dublin. For further details on lectures, museum and more click HERE.

Published in Boating Fixtures

#LECTURE - This month's lecture organised by the Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) is about 'The East India Company in Kinsale', presented by Paddy O'Sullivan.

The lecture will be held next Thursday (15th March) starting at 8pm and as usual takes place in the Stella Maris Seafarers Club on Beresford Place, close to Busaras and behind the Customs House.

O'Sullivan is an engineer, diver, author, and lecturer has uncovered a vast amount of information about the activities of the East India Company in Munster, regarding ship-building, trading, iron smelting, and cannon casting.

All are welcome to attend the evening where a bar and refreshments are available. A voluntary contribution is at the door. The organisers would be pleased for anyone to kindly forward details about the lecture programme, held monthly (third Thursday) at the city-centre venue.

Public transport: The nearest DART stations are Connolly Station and at Tara Street in addition to the LUAS (Red) line stop at Busáras. Car parking is located in the Irish Life Mall (ILAC) on Lower Abbey Street. For information of the lecture programme call 086 150 3766 and by visiting www.mariner.ie/lectures-spring-2012

Published in Boating Fixtures

#LECTURE – This month's lecture organised by the Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) is about 'Building Dun Laoghaire Harbour' and is to be presented by Colin Scudds.

The lecture next Thursday (16th February) starts at 8pm and as usual takes place in the Stella Maris Seafarers Club on Beresford Place, close to Busaras and behind the Customs House.

All are welcome to attend the evening where a bar and refreshments are available. A voluntary contribution is at the door. The organisers would be pleased for anyone to kindly forward details about the lecture programme, held monthly (third Thursday) at the city-centre venue.

Public transport: The nearest DART stations are Connolly Station and at Tara Street in addition to the LUAS (Red) line stop at Busáras. Car parking is located in the Irish Life Mall (ILAC) on Lower Abbey Street.

For further information and of the lecture programme, contact 086 150 3766 and visit www.mariner.ie/lectures

Published in Boating Fixtures
The Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) hosts a Spring lecture series in Dublin city-centre. The next lecture is 'The Kowloon Bridge & Her Sisters' by Paddy Barry and is on this Thursday, 24 March starting at 8pm in the Stella Maris Seafarers' Club, Beresford Place.
The 89,438 tonnes dry-bulk carrier was left to founder at Staggs' Rocks (photo) off the scenic west Cork-coastline in 1986 which resulted in the pollution of those waters. Built in the 1970's by Swan Hunter, Haverton Hill, she measuered 294.13 x 44.19 x 25.01 metres and is the believed to be one of the largest wrecks in Europe. Her sisters were the Furness Bridge (photo) and Derbyshire.

The Stella Maris Seafarers' Club, Beresford Place, is located beside Busaras and faces opposite the rear of the Customs House. Nearby is the Irish Life Center (ILAC) which is convenient for car-parking and buses, the 'Red' Luas (Busaras stop) and DART stops at Connolly /Tara St. stations. All are welcome, bar and refreshments and a voluntary contribution is appreciated.

For further information about lectures and updates on the M.I.I's maritime museum located in the Mariners Church, Dun Laoghaire log on to www.mariner.ie. The museum which is due to reopen this year are looking for volunteers to help, for further details click here.

Published in Boating Fixtures
The Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) hosts a Winter /Spring lecture series. The next lecture of the is 'The Newfoundland Voyage' by Paddy Barry
The lecture is on 17 February and starts at 8pm and is to be held in the Stella Maris Seafarers' Club, Beresford Place. The club is located beside Busaras and faces opposite the rear of the Customs House. Nearby is the Irish Life Center (ILAC) which is convenient for car-parking and buses, the 'Red' Luas (Busaras stop) and DART stops at Connolly /Tara St. stations.

All are welcome, bar and refreshments and a voluntary contribution is appreciated. Further lectures will be held throughout the winter, mostly on the third Thursday of each month and in the Stella Maris. Note that the March lecture is due to be held on the 'fourth' Thursday of that month.

For further information about lectures and updates on the M.I.I's maritime museum in Dun Laoghaire, log on to www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures
The Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) hosts a Winter lecture series. The next lecture of the season is next Thursday (18 November) and is entitled 'Liffey Ships and Shipbuilding' by Pat Sweeney.

The lecture starts at 8pm and is held in the Stella Maris Seafarers' Club, Beresford Place and is located beside Busaras and faces opposite the rear of the Customs House. The club is also close to the Irish Life Center (ILAC) which is convenient for car-parking and buses, the 'Red' Luas (Busaras stop) and DART at Connolly /Tara St. stations.

All are Welcome, bar and refreshments and a voluntary contribution is appreciated. Further lectures will be held throughout the winter, mostly on the third Thursday of each month and in the Stella Maris. For further information, Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) website www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures
17th October 2010

Lecture: Ferries of Cork

The Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) hosts a Winter lecture series. The second lecture of the season is next Thursday (21st October) and is entitled 'Ferries of Cork' by Jack Phelan.
The lecture starts at 8pm and is held in the Stella Maris Seafarers' Club, Beresford Place and is located beside Busaras and faces opposite the rear of the Customs House. The club is also close to the Irish Life Center (ILAC) which is convenient for car-parking and buses, the 'Red' Luas (Busaras stop) and DART at Connolly /Tara St. stations.

All are Welcome, bar and refreshments and a voluntary contribution is appreciated. Further lectures will be held throughout the winter, mostly on the third Thursday of each month and in the Stella Maris. For further information, Maritime Institute of Ireland (M.I.I.) website www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures

Sharks in Irish waters

Irish waters are home to 71 species of shark, skates and rays, 58 of which have been studied in detail and listed on the Ireland Red List of Cartilaginous fish. Irish sharks range from small Sleeper sharks, Dogfish and Catsharks, to larger species like Frilled, Mackerel and Cow sharks, all the way to the second largest shark in the world, the Basking shark. 

Irish waters provide a refuge for an array of shark species. Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry provides a habitat for several rare and endangered sharks and their relatives, including the migratory tope shark, angel shark and undulate ray. This area is also the last European refuge for the extremely rare white skate. Through a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) project, Marine Institute scientists have been working with fishermen to assess the distribution, diversity, and monthly relative abundance of skates and rays in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays.

“These areas off the southwest coast of Ireland are important internationally as they hold some of the last remaining refuges for angel shark and white skate,” said Dr Maurice Clarke of the Marine Institute. “This EMFF project has provided data confirming the critically endangered status of some species and provides up-to-date information for the development of fishery measures to eliminate by-catch.” 

Irish waters are also home to the Black Mouthed Catshark, Galeus melastomus, one of Ireland’s smallest shark species which can be found in the deep sea along the continental shelf. In 2018, Irish scientists discovered a very rare shark-nursery 200 nautical miles off the west coast by the Marine Institute’s ROV Holland 1 on a shelf sloping to 750 metres deep. 

There are two ways that sharks are born, either as live young or from egg casings. In the ‘case’ of Black Mouthed Catsharks, the nursery discovered in 2018, was notable by the abundance of egg casings or ‘mermaid’s purses’. Many sharks, rays and skate lay eggs, the cases of which often wash ashore. If you find an egg casing along the seashore, take a photo for Purse Search Ireland, a citizen science project focusing on monitoring the shark, ray and skate species around Ireland.

Another species also found by Irish scientists using the ROV Holland 1 in 2018 was a very rare type of dogfish, the Sail Fin Rough Shark, Oxynotus paradoxus. These sharks are named after their long fins which resemble the trailing sails of a boat, and live in the deep sea in waters up to 750m deep. Like all sharks, skates and rays, they have no bones. Their skeleton is composed of cartilage, much like what our noses and ears are made from! This material is much more flexible and lighter than bone which is perfect for these animals living without the weight of gravity.

Throughout history sharks have been portrayed as the monsters of the sea, a concept that science is continuously debunking. Basking sharks were named in 1765 as Cetorhinus maximus, roughly translated to the ‘big-nosed sea monster’. Basking sharks are filter feeders, often swimming with their mouths agape, they filter plankton from the water.

They are very slow moving and like to bask in the sun in shallow water and are often seen in Irish waters around Spring and early Summer. To help understand the migration of these animals to be better able to understand and conserve these species, the Irish Basking Shark Group have tagged and mapped their travels.

Remarkably, many sharks like the Angel Shark, Squatina squatina have the ability to sense electricity. They do this via small pores in their skin called the ‘Ampullae of Lorenzini’ which are able to detect the tiny electrical impulses of a fish breathing, moving or even its heartbeat from distances of over a kilometre! Angel sharks, often referred to as Monkfish have a distinctively angelic shape, with flattened, large fins appearing like the wings of an angel. They live on the seafloor in the coastal waters of Ireland and much like a cat are nocturnal, primarily active at night.

The intricate complexity of shark adaptations is particularly noticeable in the texture of their skin. Composed of miniscule, perfectly shaped overlapping scales, the skin of shark provides them with protection. Often shark scales have been compared to teeth due to their hard enamel structure. They are strong, but also due to their intricate shape, these scales reduce drag and allow water to glide past them so that the shark can swim more effortlessly and silently. This natural flawless design has been used as inspiration for new neoprene fabric designs to help swimmers glide through the water. Although all sharks have this feature, the Leafscale Gulper Shark, Centrophorus squamosus, found in Ireland are specifically named due to the ornate leaf-shape of their scales.