Displaying items by tag: Commodore Frank Lynch

26th January 2011

Appointment of New Head of the Naval Service

Captain Mark Mellett has been appointed as the new head of the Naval Service, the Mayo born native replaces Commodore Frank Lynch as Flag Officer Commanding, who retired in December.

During his career, Captain Mellett has commanded the Peacock class CPV sisters L.E. Orla (P41) in 1992, L.E. Ciara (P42) in 1997 and the 'flagship' L.E. Eithne (P31) in 2005. The following year, his command of the OPV L.E. Eithne included the first tour of an Irish naval vessel to South America. On that occasion the visit was to commemorate Admiral Brown (of Foxford, Co. Mayo), who founded the Argentinian Navy.

To read more about this new appointment as reported by RTE click HERE

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Minister For Defence Attends Naval Service Commissioning Ceremony In Cork

Minister for Defence, Mr. Tony Killeen, TD today attended the Naval Service Commissioning Ceremony of the 48th Naval Service Cadet Class at Haulbowline in Cork.

The Minister was welcomed to the Naval Base by the Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations), Major General Ralph James and the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service, Commodore Frank Lynch.

Speaking at the Commissioning Ceremony for 5 members of the 48th Naval Cadet Class, Minister Killeen said: "Today's ceremony is the culmination of two years of hard work and dedication by these five young people. Over the last two years they have undergone a rigorous training programme, covering both professional and academic subjects, and of course hands on experience on the high seas. The training they have received has equipped these young professionals with the skills necessary to face the many and varied challenges they will encounter in the course of their military careers. They have successfully achieved the high standards required of them in a wide variety of activities and I have no doubt that they will be at the helm of the development of the Naval Service long into the future."

Minister Killeen added: "As you will all be aware, my colleague the Minister for Finance and I were very pleased to be able to announce during our recent visit to the Naval Base that Government approval had been granted for the purchase of two new Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Naval Service.

"The Government's decision is of course subject to the negotiations with the preferred bidder, Babcock Marine, reaching a satisfactory conclusion. Today, I am delighted to report that very good progress has been made since the announcement and I am confident that I will be in a position to formally place a contract within a number of weeks.

"It is indeed very heartening that such positive news for the Naval Service coincides with the commissioning today of this new class of cadets. These young officers can look forward to careers which will be served on these modern new vessels.

"The Naval Service makes an important contribution across a wide variety of roles assigned by Government. The success of the Naval Service in the areas of fishery protection, search and rescue and the provision of aid to the civil power is clear for all to see. These high profile roles have the added benefit of conveying the importance of the Naval Service to the wider community. In this context, as Minister for Defence, I am committed to continuing the development of the Naval Service to ensure that it is capable of fulfilling the full range of tasks assigned to it by the Government. To this end there is a Cadetship competition currently being held in order to recruit a total of thirty Cadets, six of whom will join the Naval Service. It is anticipated that their training will commence in December of this year.

"I would like to pay tribute to the Naval College staff involved in preparing these cadets for officer duty. Today however, belongs primarily to these new officers. They are charged with providing leadership and guidance to others, a responsibility, I have no doubt they will discharge with excellence", the Minister concluded.

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

At A Glance - National Yacht Club 2024 Events

24th February Optimist Sprint
25th February Leinster Schools Team Racing
3rd March Leinster Schools Team Racing
13th April Lift in
20th April Leinster Schools Team Racing
23rd – 24th, 27th – 28th April University Invitational Match Racing Championships
11th – 12th May 29er Easterns and Invitational Match Racing Nationals
25th – 26th May Women at the Helm Regatta
15th June NYC Regatta
22nd – 23rd June Topper Southern Champs
10th July NYC Junior Regatta
5th September NYC End of Season Race
21st – 22nd September F15 East Coast Championships
5th October Start of F15 Frostbite Series
12th October Lift Out
19th – 20th October RS Aero Easterns