The complex and long-standing relationship between the ancient city ports of Limerick and London will be celebrated with a ceremony on the historic Trading Ketch Ilen in the London city-centre St Katharine Dock, beside Tower Bridge on the River Thames, on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 4th at 3.0pm.
The host for the inaugural event on May 4th will be celebrated international movie and TV star Dominic West, who is himself a lifelong waterways enthusiast with the bonus of close links to the Shannon Estuary through his marriage into the FitzGerald family of Glin Castle.
The Ilen departs from Limerick city this Saturday – April 23rd – London-bound on a voyage towards a cultural exchange which will see the restored 1926-vintage Baltimore-built 56ft ketch staying on in St Katharine Dock as the focal point for number of events until May 14th.
A much-travelled veteran – the Ilen in Greenland in 2019 (left), and the voyage from Limerick to London which gets under way this Saturday (April 23rd).
ILEN DIRECTOR OUTLINES THE PROJECT
Gary Mac Mahon, Director of the Ilen Marine School, takes up the story:
“The Ilen Marine School’s Limerick to London project is a celebration of Limerick-London and Anglo-Irish maritime links. The project involves sailing the Limerick-registered heritage ship Ilen from the Shannon Estuary to that of the Thames, departing April 23 from Steamboat Quay, Limerick and arriving at St. Katharine Dock, London, in the last days of April 2022. Port to port, a distance of approximately 750 nautical miles, and a voyage of nothing less than six days.
The Ilen, today in her 96th year, is owned and operated by the Ilen Marine School, Limerick, a not-for-profit community educational organisation whose mission finds expression through the medium of the marine. Specifically, the maritime traditions of western Ireland’s Shannon River and the Atlantic ebb and flow that gives her life.
The Ilen straddles two oceans and two nations. Built in Ireland in 1926 for the Falkland Islands, her genesis can be ascribed to a serendipitous 1925 encounter in London between Limerickman Conor O’Brien, the pioneering voyager and global circumnavigator, and a Mr Goddard of the Falkland Islands Company in London.
Goddard had been tasked with procuring a new service vessel for the island farms of East Falkland. O’Brien, a trained architect, took Goddard’s boat-building commission from London to his drawing board in Limerick, and later that year Ilen’s keel was laid at Baltimore, where she took her name from the nearby River Ilen.
Delivered under his own command by O’Brien, Ilen duly arrived in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in January 1927 - that same stout Baltimore-laid keel having cut straight through the waters of the North and South Atlantic oceans.
At the heart of a great port city - St Katharine Dock will be home to Ilen for two weeks in May
This May, Ilen’s first visit to her place of conception will see her provide a broad cultural platform for British-Irish events on the Thames River, in the shadow of London’s Tower Bridge. This programme of cultural events on the Thames River – which will include a visit to Greenwich - welcomes all who wish to celebrate British-Irish relationships through Limerick-London maritime links and the voyage of the good ship Ilen.”
LINEUP OF NOTABLE SPEAKERS ON ILEN IN LONDON
In his role as MC on May 4th, Dominic West will be introducing an eclectic line-up of speakers, including the Sheriff of the City of London, Alderman Alison Gowman, the Mayor of Limerick City and County Daniel Butler, Michael Lonergan of the Irish Embassy to Great Britain, and the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Member for Port Stanley, Gavin Short.
The supporting organisations and individuals backing this unusual and intriguing venture include Ilen Marine School, Limerick Limerick City & County Council , Limerick Civic Trust , The University of Limerick Heritage Council - Irish Walled Towns Network, the Earl of Limerick, the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, the Port of London, the Irish Embassy to Great Britain, Tourism Ireland, the Falkland Islands Government, and the Royal Museum Greenwich.
A visit to historic Greenwich will also be included in the Ilen programme
