The last timber-built sailing trading ship in Ireland, the 56ft Ilen, will set off from the river port of Limerick on the Shannon in April, bound for the great river city of London on the Thames in England writes Gary Mac Mahon.
With fair winds, the Ilen should arrive at St Katharine Docks in the maritime heart of London beside Tower Bridge at the beginning of May, where she will be berthed until 14th May, with a possible transit of Tower Bridge in prospect.
The voyage’s purpose is to celebrate the centuries-old cultural and trading relationship between the two port cities. It will be the culmination of a series of voyages undertaken by the Ilen in 2021 – the Kingship Voyages – to many of the Irish towns and cities that have grown from medieval walled settlements built on tidal river estuaries. Limerick and London are both highly evolved metropolitan bastions of maritime and riverine heritage, and they share a long history.
Shared situation. Limerick’s great estuary comes in from the west, while London’s come in from the east.
The word “trade” itself seems to be a cognate of the word “track” – as in the track of a sailing ship. Thus a voyage like this aboard a heritage sailing ship is an ideal way to explore and bring to broader attention the way in which, in times past, inter-community trade followed swiftly in the effervescent wake of maritime cultural exchange.
PROSPECTS & PARTICIPATION
The Ilen network will be inviting leading and representative groups and individuals from both cities to share in this venture. The multiple historical, cultural, social and commercial strands interwoven within the Limerick to London Cultural Voyage 2022 are many and their unfurling, unravelling and interweaving offer exciting and productive possibilities for many involved.
In May, the Ilen will offer a highly visual and culturally redolent platform in the heart of London to celebrate Angloe-Irish relationships and enjoy exploratory conversations on prospective commercial and cultural collaborations and exchanges.
Enquiries at [email protected], and more details from the Ilen Marine School, www.ilen.ie
The Limerick ketch Ilen is now back home after spending Christmas and New Year in Galway. She availed of the remarkably good weather to make the return passage south, and this photo was taken at Carrigaholt in the Shannon Estuary on January 22nd. Photo: Gary Mac Mahon
