NEWSLETTER Autumn 2016 Wanderer of Liverpool See story by Cormac Lowth Pages 14, 15, 16. Biannual Newsletter of the Maritime Institute of Ireland. Published October 2016 Free for Members. Non Members €2.00. Edited by Pat Sweeney and Eoghan Ganly. Please Note: An Electronic copy of this Newsletter is available on the Website: www.mariner.ie [email protected] Mariners Church, Haigh Tce., Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland. 01 2143 964 / 01 2800 969 1 President’s Address - Autumn 2016 The Museum is also attracting its fair share of media During 2016 positive signs emerged that maritime attention and due credit must be given to the sub- heritage is being taken more seriously in this Decade stantial contributions of Marcus Connaughton of of Commemorations. The £16m launch of HMS RTE’s Seascapes Programme, Tom Mac Sweeney of CAROLINE commemorating the centenary of the Community Radio Youghal 104 FM and the Marine Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916 was a milestone Times, Jehan Ashmore of Afloat Magazine, Lorna by any standards on the Island of Ireland. The refur- Siggins of the Irish Times and Newstalk’s Bobby Kerr bishment of this historic battleship and the all-Ireland Down to Business plus its Talking History Pro- nature of the ceremonies was a credit to the restora- grammes. In addition the Port of Dublin Company’s tion team and the event organisers. Such an auspi- Starboard Home Concert kept the maritime musical cious beginning merits success and this historic heritage flag flying this year. vessel will prove a worthy tourism complement to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s Spring Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and the restored SS NO- into Summer 2016 initiative followed immediately by MADIC. their Summer of Heritage 2016, featuring the Mu- The long awaited public display in Portsmouth’s His- seum and connecting to Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin a toric Dockyard of the stabilised wooden hull of Henry Breath of Fresh Air campaign, heightened public visi- VIII’s flagship MARY ROSE which sank in 1545 with bility at minimal cost. Engaging with science and his- the loss of 500 lives is a truly magnificent achieve- tory teachers at their AGMs and the development of a ment for maritime heritage. The success of this proj- new Children’s Educational Programme by UCD’s ect may well have influenced a £2m UK government third group of Library & Information Masters students grant to explore the wreck of the British warship In- and utilising the Marine Institute funded audio visual vincible lost in 1758 with the intention of excavating equipment are new departures that should bear fruit her from the Solent. This innovative 74-gun Third in future years. In addition, the appointment of an Rate French prize captured in 1747 influenced Royal Honorary Librarian and Honorary Research Officers Navy warship design in the period between the Mary strengthens the Museum’s ability to add context to its Rose and Nelson’s HMS VICTORY. Detailed design historic artefacts and respond authoritatively to com- information on 74-gun ships-of-the-line translated plex maritime history research and genealogy from French is available in the Museum’s Library. queries which are the bedrock of any Maritime Mu- Closer to home, the Anniversary of the Battle of the seum. Somme in the Irish National War Memorial Gardens In the 1916 National Commemoration Year and in ho- Islandbridge and the National Day of Commemora- nour of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Maritime tion ceremony in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Institute of Ireland, the Annual Ecumenical Memorial July demonstrated that shared heritage can be a uni- Service for Mariners Lost at Sea will be hosted in the fying force for good. The unveiling of a magnificently Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire on Sunday 20th evocative statue to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton November. It is entirely fitting here to recall Tom at the Athy Heritage Centre-Museum was also a sin- Moran, a highly regarded stalwart of the Institute for gularly auspicious occasion. The Museum’s notewor- many years, who died this year after a long illness, thy 1916 display and seven accompanying lectures who will be sorely missed by his family and many funded by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. under the auspices of the Ireland 1916 – 2016 Cente- nary Programme demonstrates that a volunteer run Richard McCormick President Museum can design and host a national commemo- ration programme to a high standard. Richard Confirmation that the City of Derry will get its long McCormick, awaited £11.3m Maritime Museum in 2020 not only President, officially recognises the Maiden City’s maritime her- with the itage, but also highlights the modern approach of co- chain of locating maritime history and genealogy to maximise office their contribution to tourism and the local economy. of the This is all due to forward thinking maritime enthusi- Maritime asts who preserved irreplaceable maritime artefacts and documents that have now assumed international Institute historic importance. Much as the Maritime Institute of has being doing for decades. Its time too has come Ireland. and hence the Institute made a formal submission to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs Culture 2025 ten-year policy docu- ment, focused not solely on itself, but on the entire maritime heritage sector. Pge 2 UCD Children’s Educational Capstone Project Appointments Cont. 2016 has co-ordinated replies to the ever increasing mar- In January of this year four UCD Masters level stu- itime history and genealogy queries directed towards dents, Emily Stakem, Kelly Clancy, Niamh Hammel the Library through emails and personal visits to the and Enda Kehoe commenced a Capstone Project Museum. jointly supervised by Dr. Crystal Fulton, Senior Lec- Recognising that the Institute must attract qualified turer in UCD’s School of Information and Library maritime historians capable of publishing papers in Studies and the staff of the Museum’s Library & peer reviewed academic journals to increase the Archive. This is the third such project involving the recognition index of the Institute, the Board has ap- Library & Archive and the focus this time was on pointed long standing and well known member Mr “Enhancing the Visitor Experience of the National Joe Varley as an Honorary Research Officer. Mr Var- Maritime Museum of Ireland”. ley holds a MA in Naval Studies from the University Following familiarization with the Maritime Museum of Exeter and is currently studying for a PhD at the and its displays, the students selected the themes of University of Hull. Along with with Rev. John Ellis he Navigation, Safety at Sea and Communication. delivered the lecture entitled “Dr John De Courcy Ire- Based on these three interlinked themes they devel- land: A Tribute to a Maritime Historian” as part of the oped a one hour tour suitable for 9-12 year age Museum’s 1916 – 2016 commemoration Programme group school children. This tour involves learning In addition, Dr John Treacy, a qualified maritime his- about a fictitious shipwreck by solving clues covering torian and a Director of the Spanish Point San Mar- the main elements of the story and working out the cos Armada Project has also been appointed cause of the shipwreck. In the process the children Honorary Research Officer. Dr Treacy’s PhD focused use communication techniques involving Morse Code on the Irish Naval Service and he recently delivered and Nautical signal flags. the 1916 lecture entitled The Silent Shore: The Aud, Some trial runs of the tour were carried out by the Roger Casement and Banna Strand in the Museum. Museum’s Volunteer Guides with family groups or- The institute is fortunate that these admirably quali- ganized by the UCD students, with very good partici- fied historians join Mr David Snook who was ap- pation by the children involved. The students pointed Honorary Research Officer following the subsequently interviewed the Volunteer Guides and demise of the Institute’s long standing Honorary Re- visiting families after the tour and received positive search Officer Dr John de Courcy Ireland in 2006. Mr responses to their project, which will add to the Snook who recently lectured on the Working Condi- Museum’s portfolio of activities for younger genera- tions of Seamen in 1916 was awarded a M. Litt. from tion visitors. University College Dublin for his research on World War One Merchant Seamen CR-10 Cards held by Brian Ellis Southampton City Archives from which he developed Honorary Librarian the valuable www.irishmariners.ie research website. and Research Officer Appointments in 2016 The appointment of Mr Brian Ellis as Honorary In April 2016 the Board of the Maritime Institute ap- Librarian responsible for the Library and the contribu- pointed Mr Brian Ellis, a long standing Museum Vol- tion of these three highly qualified Honorary Re- unteer Guide who took a leading role in the search Officers will serve to increase the Museum’s reinstatement of the Library as Honorary Librarian. knowledge base and enhance the reputation of the Mr Ellis is extremely knowledgeable on the Library’s Maritime Institute as the leading authority on Irish book collection and is well versed in online maritime maritime history. history and genealogy resources. He is a regular Richard Mc Cormick. contributor to this Newsletter and for some time now Pge 3 Science and History Teachers Fund Raising Events Autumn 2016 at the Maritime Museum In the Maritime Museum If ever there was a venue where science, discovery unless otherwise stated. and history intersect it must be the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire. The scientific potential of 8.00 pm “Shackleton” the Maritime Museum www.mariner.i.e.