The Ilen is the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships.

Who designed the Ilen?

The Ilen was designed by Conor O’Brien, the first Irish man to circumnavigate the world.

Where does the name Ilen get her name?

Ilen is named for the West Cork River which flows to the sea at Baltimore, her home port.

The Ilen was built by Baltimore Sea Fisheries School, West Cork in 1926. Tom Moynihan was foreman.

What is Ilen built from?

Ilen's wood construction is of oak ribs and planks of larch.

What are the dimensions of the lIen?

As-built initially, she is 56 feet in length overall with a beam of 14 feet and a displacement of 45 tonnes.

How did the Ilen get from Baltimore to the Falkland Islands in 1926?

Conor O’Brien set sail in August 1926 with two Cadogan cousins from Cape Clear in West Cork, arriving at Port Stanley in January 1927 and handed it over to the new owners.

How much did the Ilen cost in 1926?

The Ilen was delivered to the Falkland Islands Company, in exchange for £1,500.

What roles has Ilen performed in her lifetime?

Ilen served for over 70 years as a cargo ship and a ferry in the Falkland Islands, enduring and enjoying the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties. She stayed in service until the early 1990s.

Who from Ireland rediscovered the Ilen in the Falkland Islands?

Limerick sailor Gary McMahon and his team located Ilen. MacMahon started looking for her in 1996 and went out to the Falklands and struck a deal with the owner to bring her back to Ireland.

What condition was Ilen in when she was found in the Falkland Islands?

After a lifetime of hard work in the Falklands, Ilen required a ground-up rebuild.

How did the Ilen come back to Ireland?

A Russian cargo ship transported her back on a 12,000-mile trip from the Southern Oceans to Dublin. The Ilen was discharged at the Port of Dublin 1997, after an absence from Ireland of 70 years.

Who restored the Ilen?

It was a collaboration between the Ilen Project in Limerick and Hegarty’s Boatyard in Old Court, near Skibbereen. Much of the heavy lifting, of frames, planking, deadwood & backbone, knees, floors, shelves and stringers, deck beams, and carlins, was done in Hegarty’s. The generally lighter work of preparing sole, bulkheads, deck‐houses fixed furniture, fixtures & fittings, deck fittings, machinery, systems, tanks, spar making and rigging is being done at the Ilen boat building school in Limerick.

How long did it take to restore Ilen?

Ten years. The boat was much the worse for wear when it returned to West Cork in May 1998, and it remained dormant for ten years before the start of a decade-long restoration.

What is the role of the Ilen today?

Ilen now serves as a community floating classroom and cargo vessel – visiting 23 ports in 2019 and making a transatlantic crossing to Greenland as part of a relationship-building project to link youth in Limerick City with youth in Nuuk, west Greenland.

What is so good about Ilen’s relatively small size as a sailing cargo ship?

At a mere 56ft, Ilen is capable of visiting most of the small harbours of Ireland.

All Ireland

11th November 2010

All Ireland Champs Move to Kinsale

The re-run of the All Ireland Sailing Championships will take place in Kinsale and not Crosshaven on November 20th according to a press release from the Irish Sailing Association published today.

A minimum of three races must be completed for the competition to conclude and the ISA Helmsman's Trophy awarded.

The final, originally scheduled to take place in Royal Cork Yacht Club on the 26th of September, had to be abandoned due to an absence of wind.

The competition will be sailed in the ISA SailFleet J80's which are currently based in Kinsale Yacht Club. Due to the difficulty in safely sailing the fleet from Kinsale to Crosshaven the venue had to be changed, however the host club remains Royal Cork Yacht Club who are now kindly assisted by Kinsale Yacht Club.

8 teams will be competing for the ISA Helmsmans Trophy. As this competition is recognised as a new event, no previous points shall be carried forward. Each competitor begins with a blank score card.
The finalists are:
Anthony O'Leary
Ewen Barry
Garrett May
James Espey
Neil Kenefick
Niall Henry
Nicholas O'Leary
Nick Walsh

Who'll win? We're starting a readers poll on Monday. Click back to cast your vote!

Published in All Irelands

Tagged under

12th October 2010

All Ireland's Eye New Date at End of November

Following the abandonment of the Irish Sailing Association's All Ireland Sailing Championships in the last weekend of September the national authority is still seeking a suitable resail date. "Currently we're in touch with the competitors. It's looking like the end of November", Racing manager Ed Alcock told Afloat.ie this week. The event was scrubbed due to lack of wind but a junior event was completed elsewhere in Cork Harbour.

A new Notice of Race (NOR) will be published for the event. Eight helmsmen, including the double winner Nicholas O'Leary will be invited in a new final consisting of five races. The eight finallists are Anthony O'Leary, Neil Kenefick, Nicholas O'Leary, Garrett May, Niall Henry, James Espey, Nick Walsh, Ewen Barry.

Published in ISA

Tagged under

1st October 2010

ISA Seek New Date for All Ireland Event

Following the abandonment of the All Ireland Sailing Championships at Royal Cork last weekend due to lack of wind the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has yet to announce dates for the rescheduled event. An autumn date to accomodate all concerned is the objective, the association said yesterday. The eight finalists involved are; Anthony O'Leary, Neil Kenefick, Nicholas O'Leary, Garrett May, Niall Henry, James Espey, Nick Walsh and Ewen Barry.

Published in ISA

Tagged under

27th September 2010

Doran Reigns In Junior All Ireland Event

It was a very long day of sailing in very light conditions for the Juniors on the second and final day of the All Ireland Junior Championship writes Claire Bateman. PRO Richard Leonard raced the fleet on the Curlane Bank in Cork harbour and was very fortunate to be able to get in three races in extremely difficult conditions.

The final result saw Philip Doran of Courtown Harbour SC taking first place with Rory Lynch of of Blessington Sailing Club second and Ross Vaughan of
Royal North of Ireland YC third.

In the Girls Fleet Sophie Murphy of Quoile YC took first place with Emma Geary of RCYC second and Katherine Geoghegan of Dungarvan Harbour SC third.

Photos of the Junior All Ireland Prizegiving and competition by Bob Bateman HERE.

alljuniors

Published in ISA

Tagged under

26th September 2010

All Ireland Championships Abandoned Due to Lack of Wind

Lack of wind in Cork harbour forced the abandonment of the All Ireland sailing championships this afternoon. Although each flight had been able to sail two rounds since the competition began on Friday the invited class champions had a long wait for wind before Royal Cork organisers scrubbed the event at 4p m today. The Irish Sailing association say the event will be rescheduled. Discussion on the forum HERE.

Published in ISA

Tagged under

25th September 2010

Defending Champion Enters Final After Light Air Contest

As a high pressure sits over Ireland the big question at tonight's Royal Cork celebration dinner for the All Ireland championships is what wind will there be for tomorrow's final?

After a second day of heats and with some racing postponed with light winds it is clear defending champion Nicholas O'Leary will be going through to tomorrow's final and a chance of a record breaking hat trick of wins in the event.

Just four knots of breeze showed for the first gun of the J80 fleet and although the sun was up the north east breeze kept shifting.

PRO for the J80 fleet, David O’Brien, got in two races for Flight 2. The third race was postponed and the race area was moved to the outer harbour at Ringabella Bay and Race 1 of Flight 3 was completed with a shortened course.

An attempt at a second race was abandoned when the wind shifted more into the west. However, on the second attempt having changed the course, a second race was completed in this Flight.

Pictures from Bob Bateman on the gallery HERE

Provisional results from Flight 3, Race 2

Boat Helm Race 2

5 Neil Kenefick 1

4 Flor O'Driscoll 2

3 Anthony O'Leary 3

6 James Espey 4

2 Sean Craig 5

1 Laurence Hanley 6

8 Andrew Creighton 7

*** *** ***

Provisional results from Flight 3, Race 1