Author: ilen

Limerick City honours Ilen Project at Mayoral Reception

The Ilen Project was celebrated by Limerick City and County Council with a Mayoral Reception at its chambers on Merchants Quay last Monday evening It was a cozy gathering that saw in attendance many principal individuals, who for over the past 20 years were complicit in its genesis, it’s intermediate stages, and in recent years the achievement of … Continue reading Limerick City honours Ilen Project at Mayoral Reception

Heritage award for Ilen restoration project

Limerick’s Ilen Project this week picked up the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland’s Award – Best Restoration of 2019 for its management of the rebuilt sailing ship Ilen and its community education work in Limerick. The Association’s President Paul McMahon presented the award at the IHAI Awards 2019 in the ESB Archive Building, Finglas. The … Continue reading Heritage award for Ilen restoration project

All Decked Out! – Ilen’s traditional decking out ceremony

Last Saturday the final deck plank on the sailing vessel Ilen was laid at a traditional decking out ceremony, in Hegarty’s Boatyard, Skibbereen. The ceremony, hosted by the Ilen Project, Limerick, marked a significant milestone in a re-build project whose primary goal is to bring Ireland’s sole surviving wooden sailing ship back to Limerick. The … Continue reading All Decked Out! – Ilen’s traditional decking out ceremony

30-11-15: Rebuild and Relaunch of the Auxillary Ketch Ilen

For many years now, since her return from the Falklands, the Ilen has been nursed back to strength by the best of Ireland’s traditional shipwrights in Liam Hegarty’s yard in Oldcourt. To those who wondered whether and when, to those who asked about times and seasons, the answer was that the destination was the journey itself, and that the Ilen served as an educational … Continue reading 30-11-15: Rebuild and Relaunch of the Auxillary Ketch Ilen

16-11-15: Designing & making a new traditional rig for the good ship Ilen

An international gathering at the Ilen School, Roxboro, Limerick of expert marine traditional riggers, sailmakers and classic boatbuilders, might induce one to speculate that a sailing ship is somewhere in Ireland nearing completion. And yes, this gathering of last Friday, clearly marks a significant juncture in the rebuild of Ireland’s 1926 wooden sailing ship Ilen  The … Continue reading 16-11-15: Designing & making a new traditional rig for the good ship Ilen

06-11-15: Ilen documentary film wins award

The Ilen is a short film on the joy of working with wood, and documents the words and skills of Ireland’s few remaining traditional shipwrights, currently occupied in the rebuilding of Ireland’s sole surviving sail trading ketch Ilen. The awarded comes with a prize of $10,000 from the World Wood Day 2015 through their ‘Wood … Continue reading 06-11-15: Ilen documentary film wins award

10-07-15: Ilen School Sail Training Programme For Limerick’s Youth

The Ilen School’s newly launched sail training programme gets underway this month, with its first cadre of trainees assembled and ready to voyage upon the sea. It is planned that this five day voyage on board the Spirit of Oysterhaven will begin at Galway on Monday 27th July and finish at Limerick City Docks, Friday … Continue reading 10-07-15: Ilen School Sail Training Programme For Limerick’s Youth

09-07-15: River Shannon Adventure on a Small Cot

The Ilen School, Roxboro, are today celebrating a great River Shannon adventure. This adventure involved 180–miles of Rowing from Belleek in Fermanagh to Limerick City, over a two week period, by a team of two Ilen School boatmen – Tony Daly and Liam O’Donoghue, both residents of Ballynanty. Not only did this intrepid duo navigate … Continue reading 09-07-15: River Shannon Adventure on a Small Cot