Sky Set Sail for “Treasure Island” Shoot

16th November 2010

Emmy award winning actor Eddie Izzard is to star in a sailing remake of "Treasure Island" which will feature the 145-foot tall-ship 'Earl of Pembroke' which arrived into Dun Laoghaire Harbour yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The British comedian, voice-over artist and actor will play in the role of the iconic one-legged pirate, Long John Silver in the classic Robert Louis Stevenson 18th century tale of adventure and treasure. Also starring is Rupert Penry-Jones, best known for his spy role in the BBC TV series Spooks.

Shooting is scheduled for a five-week period, starting late November in Dublin and Cork. The Earl of Pembroke is currently berthed at Dun Laoghaire's Carlisle Pier, where SquareSail crew are adapting the vessel in preparation for shooting which includes the use of the East Pier Battery. Also assisting the shoot will be the Irish National Sailing School (INSS) based in Dun Laoghaire, which for over twenty years has provided marine co-ordination services for film and TV work.

The two-part, 120 minute drama was commissioned for the Sky 1 HD TV channel. The director is Steve Barron (Arabian Nights, Merlin, England Manager) and the producer is Laurie Borg (Made in Dagenham, Little Voice, Sense and Sensibility). Also coming on-board the film-team are Irish costume designer, Lorna Marie Mugan (Killing Bono) and line producer Des Martin (Tara Road).

In the New Year the production moves to the Caribbean island nation of Puerto Rico. It is expected that the drama be released on Sky 1 HD TV in Christmas 2012.

The Earl of Pembroke is owned by Cornwall based SquareSail which specialises in providing tall-ships for film productions. The Swedish built vessel was launched as Orion in 1948 and worked bringing timber from Scandinavia to the UK. In 1974 the vessel was laid-up for several years until SquareSail purchased her in 1979. She underwent an extensive restoration programme to emerge in 1994 in the appearance of an 18th century barque.

Setting 9,500 square foot of sails, the tall-ship has 14 sails. Should the winds be slack, the 174 ton vessel has a MAN 6 –cylinder, 300hp engine which drives a three-bladed propeller. As for her silver-screen credits, they include Cutthroat Island, Frenchman's Creek, Hornblower Series III and Longitude.

Treasure Island follows the recent filming of Neverland which included shooting locations in Dalkey and Killiney in Co. Dublin and neighbouring Co. Wicklow. Both productions are part of a multi-million pound investment by Sky for their high-definition (HD) drama department.

Looking for further reading on Tall Ships in Ireland? Click the links below:

Click this link to read all our Tall Ships Stories on one handy page

Previewing Ireland's Tall Ships 2011 Season

Can Ireland Get a New Tall Ship?

Published in Tall Ships

Tagged under

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

Email The Author

Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.