Displaying items by tag: Clontarf Baths

19th August 2023

Clontarf Baths Left ‘Destroyed’ by Storm Betty

The Clontarf Baths have been left “destroyed” by the impact of Storm Betty as it passed over Ireland late on Friday and early Saturday (18-19 August), as RTÉ News reports.

A lifeguard at the baths who joined the clean-up operation on Saturday morning said damage caused is “very upsetting” and it could be up to a fortnight before the baths are returned to normal.

“It’s paradise working here, and to see it like this after the work we’ve put in to keep it clean and safe, and it’s just destroyed,” Anne Miller said.

Boats from nearby Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club were also damaged by the storm, with a wooden Kestrel that’s been in the club for nearly 50 years among three vessels affected.

Across Dublin Bay in Dun Laoghaire, a Cape 31 was blown off its hard-standing cradle and into the water, where it was later retrieved by crane.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour