Conor O'Brien, Circumnavigator

Kinsale Yacht Club Member to Deliver Circumnavigator Conor O’Brien Presentation

13th January 2023 Kinsale

Kinsale Yacht Club member Vincent Murphy has put together a presentation on circumnavigator Conor O’Brien, which he will give on Thursday, February 9. Murphy has compiled a booklet on the subject, which he is in the process of having printed…

Solo circumnavigator Conor O’Brien on board the Kelpie

Circumnavigator Conor O’Brien Presentation at Foynes Yacht Club

11th January 2023 Conor O'Brien

Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary welcomes Vincent Murphy on Friday evening, 13th January, at 7.30 pm, to give a 100th-anniversary presentation on the life of the late circumnavigator Conor O’Brien. In 1923-25, O'Brien became the first amateur skipper…

Saoirse pictured in Dun Laoghaire before Conor O’Brien embarked on his historic circumnavigation in 1923

Celebrating Conor O’Brien’s Pioneering Voyage Around the World 100 Years On

7th January 2023 Conor O'Brien

The Journal has highlighted the upcoming centenary of Irish yachtsman Conor O’Brien’s pioneering circumnavigation. In June 1923, Limerick man O’Brien set off on his yacht the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the…

The start of the 2019 National YC Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, with eventual overall winner Rockabill VI (JPK 10.80, Paul O’Higgins RIYC) just ahead of Mick Cotter’s 94ft Windfall, which took line honours and established a new course record. The 30th Anniversary D2D starts in Dublin Bay on June 7th 2023

Sailing In Ireland Had “Bounce-Back Year” in 2022, What Will 2023 Bring?

26th November 2022 W M Nixon

Did we really manage it? Did we really cram all those major special and routine regular sailing events into the one season of 2022? And all that despite its three main months afloat experiencing decidedly mixed weather? And also despite…

Ghost ship? Ilen anchored off Sandycove seems like a wraith-like image from the past

Ilen’s Ancient Appearance at Sandycove in Dun Laoghaire Is Offset By Some Modern Thinking Underwater

22nd September 2022 Ilen

It was good to know of the sail training ketch Ilen lying serenely in the Scotsman’s Bay-Sandycove anchorage south of Dun Laoghaire Harbour last night, like a proper sailing ship of ancient times taking a useful break to await a…

The 42ft world-girdling Saoirse is re-born at Oldcourt near
Baltimore a Century after the original little ship first took to
the seas in West Cork

The Spirit of Conor O'Brien’s Pioneering Saoirse is Afloat Again in West Cork

12th July 2022 Conor O'Brien

Down in West Cork, they have a way of quietly getting on with things until a major waypoint is inevitably passed in the project, and then we’re into new territory. For two or three years now, Liam Hegarty and his…

The Falkland Islands postage stamp of 2001 featured an Irish tricolour to honour the origins of Ilen, while also revealing her very practical propellor installation

Limerick Ketch Ilen's Arrival In London Recalls Irish Tricolour Featured On British Stamp

28th April 2022 Ilen

Following the departure last Saturday for her 700-mile Limerick-London voyage, the trading ketch Ilen under the command of Ilen Marine School Director Gary Mac Mahon was able to sail the track as far as Land's Endin Cornwall, which she rounded…

Gentle start to a great voyage – Saoirse getting under way in Dun Laoghaire on June 20th 1923

Conor O’Brien Circumnavigation Centenary Commemoration Postage Stamps Proposed

23rd April 2022 W M Nixon

Barry Keane and Tony Doherty of Mountaineering Ireland have formally proposed that commemorative postage stamps be issued to celebrate the up-coming Centenary of Conor O’Brien’s pioneering voyage round the world south of the Great Capes with his Irish-built 42ft ketch…

Limerick Ketch Ilen's "Wild Ride" from West Cork Home to Shannon Estuary

5th October 2021 West Cork

While everyone else was staring goggle-eyed at rapidly-changing and decidedly hostile weather charts last Thursday, and wondering whether the weekend's racing was going to be possible at all, in typical style the always-amazing Gary MacMahon was at sea off our…

The newly-built Ilen at Foynes on 22nd July 1926, as recorded in his own highly personal style by Harbour Master Hugh O’Brien

Trading Ketch Ilen to Make Foynes Her Base as 2021 Programme Gets Under Way in May

14th April 2021 Ilen

Global circumnavigator and sailing ship designer Conor O’Brien (1880-1952) inevitably saw his most noted vessels, the 42ft world-girdler Saoirse and the 56ft trading ketch Ilen, being closely associated by the rest of the world with their birthplace in Baltimore. But…

Conor O'Brien's Saoirse gets underway from

Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation Centenary at Dun Laoghaire is Already on Horizon

6th March 2021 W M Nixon

Ireland's Conor O'Brien was the first amateur skipper to circumnavigate the globe by the classic sailing ship route south of the great Capes, running down his easting in the big winds of the Great Southern Ocean which blow unhindered round…

The form of the re-born Saoirse is now sufficiently complete for meaningful comparisons to be made with the original

Conor O’Brien’s Historic Ketch Saoirse Re-emerges in West Cork

27th April 2018 West Cork

While the 56ft 1926-built restored ketch Ilen is a flurry of activity at Oldcourt near Baltimore in West Cork with the final stages of work before her re-launching late next month, in the Top Shed nearby where Conor O’Brien’s pioneering…

Conor O’Brien’s Saoirse comes back to life in West Cork, as seen on Friday night. The installation of the temporary moulds on the oaken backbone has given the Saoirse project an encouraging glimpse of what the future will bring. Photo: Gary MacMahon

Suddenly, Conor O’Brien’s World-Girdling Saoirse Re-Appears in West Cork

26th March 2018 West Cork

In recent weeks, much of the attention on the traditional boat-building Mecca of Oldcourt in West Cork has been focused around the complex moves involved in vacating the 56ft ketch Ilen from the boat-building shed writes W M Nixon. This…

The multi-purpose Markets Field in Limerick has been an unexpected source of quality teak. Teak seating slats salvaged from the re-vamp of the Markets Field Gaelic Football ground have found a new purpose in the restoration of the ketch Ilen. In addition to its historic links with Gaelic Football and greyhound racing, the Markets Field has also been used for soccer – as seen here – and by Garryowen Rugby Club before they moved to Dooradoyle.

Conor O’Brien Ketch Ilen Re-uses Old Gaelic Stadium Teak

19th November 2017 Ilen

The process of restoring the 1926-built 56ft Conor O’Brien ketch Ilen in Limerick and Baltimore has seen a countrywide network developing, a network in which anyone with access to redundant classic quality timber has been happy to see it finding…

It may be November outside, but aboard Ilen the lights glow warmly in welcome

Conor O’Brien Ketch Ilen Starts to Feel Like a Living Ship Again

8th November 2017 Ilen

The process of transforming the restored hull and deck of the 1926-built 56ft Conor O’Brien historic ketch Ilen into a living ship continues writes W M Nixon. The programme is co-ordinated and combined between the Ilen Boatbuilding School in Limerick,…

Conor O’Brien’s Saoirse as she was in the 1950s under Eric Ruck’s ownership. This eccentric-looking 42ft ketch achieved daily mileages in the Southern Ocean which showed she was something very special

Conor O’Brien’s World–Girdling Saoirse Will Sail Again

3rd December 2016 W M Nixon

The process towards re-creating Conor O’Brien’s famous Baltimore–built 42ft ketch Saoirse, in which he gained his place in international sailing’s Hall of Fame with the first circuit of the world by a small vessel south of the great capes in…

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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